FRANKFURT, March 12 (Reuters) – German airport operator
Fraport predicted zero growth in passenger numbers at
its main Frankfurt hub this year and lower net profit as a weak
economic climate prompts airlines to reduce capacity.

Fraport, whose biggest customer is German flagship carrier
Lufthansa, said on Tuesday net profit would shrink
this year from the 238 million euros ($310 million) reported for
2012.

FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, March 11 (Reuters) – Shareholders at
ThyssenKrupp AG want a new chairman independent of the
Krupp Foundation, its major stakeholder, in order to keep
management at Germany’s biggest steelmaker on a tighter leash
after a series of botched investments.

Chairman Gerhard Cromme unexpectedly quit on Friday after
coming under fire over cartel investigations and a failed
multibillion-euro project in the Americas.

FRANKFURT/DUESSELDORF, March 8 (Reuters) – ThyssenKrupp
Chairman Gerhard Cromme has resigned from the German
steelmaker’s supervisory board after coming under fire for a
botched multibillion-euro project in the Americas.

The announcement on Friday was unexpected, coming after a
defiant Cromme had resisted shareholder pressure to step down in
January when he admitted at the company’s annual meeting that he
had made mistakes that contributed to massive losses.

FRANKFURT, March 7 (Reuters) – A dentist’s office may not be
everyone’s idea of a perfect holiday destination.

But a growing number of Europeans are travelling abroad for
medical treatment to save money, or maybe to combine a visit to
the doctor with some sightseeing, creating a fast-growing market
that is still largely untapped by traditional tour operators.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Post DHL (DPWGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) forecast a rise in profits this year after robust demand for package delivery from online shoppers bolstered its earnings in the final quarter of 2012.

“As the market leader in the German parcel sector, we are strongly benefiting from the current e-commerce boom,” Chief Executive Frank Appel said on Tuesday.

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Germany’s steel
sector should not get its hopes up following some positive data
at the start of the year, with demand remaining weak and
competition in global markets intensifying, a trade group said
on Wednesday.

“I don’t expect any major leaps,” Hans Juergen Kerkhoff,
president of the German steel association, told Reuters, adding
he did not see any sustainable recovery across Europe either.

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Feb 13 (Reuters) – Signs of recovery
for Europe’s steel sector, a bellwether for the broader economy,
may be a mere flash in the pan, a German trade group said on
Wednesday.

“I don’t see any sustainable recovery of the European
market,” Hans Juergen Kerkhoff, president of the German steel
association, told Reuters on Wednesday.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – ThyssenKrupp AG (TKAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Germany’s biggest steelmaker, warned that the coming months would remain bleak after weak steel and car markets caused a drop in profit, and said it did not expect a return to growth until the next financial year.

Steel companies have been struggling to make a profit in the rapidly shrinking European market, where austerity has cut sales of cars and new buildings, and demand is seen declining further this year.

FRANKFURT, Feb 12 (Reuters) – ThyssenKrupp AG,
Germany’s biggest steelmaker, warned it saw no global economic
recovery this year after a slump in steel prices and weak car
markets caused a 38 percent drop in quarterly core profit.

Steel companies have been struggling to make a profit in the
rapidly shrinking European market, where austerity has cut
demand for cars and new buildings, and demand is seen declining
further this year.

MUNICH (Reuters) – German industrial bellwether Siemens (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it would stick with its focus on cost cuts to catch up with peers such as General Electric (GE.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as a weak global economy saps demand for factory equipment.

With China’s economy growing at its slowest pace in 13 years in 2012, the euro zone in recession and recovery in the United States still cautious, companies have curbed investment in new machinery and software.