FRANKFURT, Aug 9 (Reuters) – First-half core net profit at RWE plunged 40 percent, hit by Germany’s decision to phase out nuclear power , a nuclear fuel tax and unprofitable gas sales.

Germany shut down eight nuclear power plants after Japan’s Fukushima nuclear disaster and decided to phase out nuclear power completely by 2022, overturning legislation that had originally extended the lifespan of 17 nuclear power plants.

Germany’s largest power producer said on Tuesday it took provisions to dismantle its nuclear power plants and wrote off nuclear fuel rods, just as billions of euros of investments it made in recent years put a strain on its balance sheet.

The financial burden for the nuclear shut-down and the nuclear fuel tax totalled 900 million euros ($1.27 billion) in the first six months of this year, RWE said.

At the same time, RWE’s gas business suffered from a margin squeeze as market prices remained well below what it has to pay its suppliers in long-term oil-indexed contracts, and the company said it expected burdens to increase over the next year.

First-half recurrent net profit fell to 1.67 billion euros from 2.75 billion a year earlier, just falling short of the 1.71 billion euro average estimate in a Reuters poll.

RWE is especially vulnerable to the nuclear exit because it relies heavily on nuclear and coal-fired power generation and the debt-laden company would need to invest a lot of cash to bolster its gas and renewable energy business.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Post DHL (DPWGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) nudged up its 2011 outlook as it cut costs and garnered more customers seeking supply chain services.

As the economy improves, manufacturers of machine parts, cars and other goods ramp up production and pay Deutsche Post to transport parts and finished products to and from their factories.

Europe’s biggest express delivery and mail company said on Tuesday it now expects full-year operating profit to reach the upper end of the outlook range of 2.2-2.4 billion euros ($3.2-3.5 billion), compared with consensus of 2.36 billion.

The positive earnings trend would last into 2012 if the global economy continues to recover, Deutsche Post said.

“The cyclical divisions showed an excellent performance in particular in view of slowing economic growth and what we saw from competitors,” WestLB analyst Raimon Kaufeld said.

“Express showed roughly twice the margin reported by TNT (Express) (TNTE.AS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as underlying development, forwarding matched the strong earnings growth reported by DSV (DSV.CO: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and the progress at supply chain is significantly better than that seen from almost any competitor.”

FedEx Corp (FDX.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Dutch TNT Express have both reported better than expected quarterly results as cost controls offset high fuel prices.

FRANKFURT/PARIS (Reuters) – European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research) kept up a hot pace of acquisitions with a $960 million (589.9 million pounds) cash deal to buy satellite communications firm Vizada on Monday, chasing steadier sales from high-value services.

The purchase, from private equity owner Apax France, was flagged by Reuters on Sunday and adds to a string of deals designed to help the Airbus parent firm dispose of surplus cash.

Although Vizada is based in Paris, a contract with the U.S. Army will give Franco-German EADS an extra toe-hold in the United States where efforts to expand have met mixed success.

Vizada provides communications services to 200,000 users in the maritime, aviation and defence sectors and will become part of EADS’ Astrium space business.

EADS shares initially rose but dipped 0.9 percent to 23.98 euros in late trading while still outperforming a volatile market.

EADS said the deal would boost its earnings per share and provide “significant” synergies. It did not give a timeframe or amount.

“The key point is synergies. Vizada has high-value products aimed at professionals and its margins can boost EADS earnings. It also makes sense in terms of some pieces of technology that EADS might soon need,” said Kepler analyst Christophe Menard.

FRANKFURT/PARIS, Aug 1 (Reuters) – European aerospace group EADS (EAD.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is to pay $960 million for satellite communications service provider Vizada in the latest of a series of deals making use of surplus cash.

The purchase, from private equity owner Apax France, was flagged by Reuters on Sunday, and is part of a strategy to reduce EADS’s exposure to cyclical manufacturing revenues, especially those at passenger jet unit Airbus.

EADS shares rose 1.2 percent to 24.49 euros in line with a firmer market for European blue-chips.

Owned until now by Apax Partners, Vizada was formed in 2007 from a spin-off and combination of satellite services held by France Telecom (FTE.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Norway’s Telenor (TEL.OL: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

It provides communications services to 200,000 uses in maritime, aviation and defense and will become part of EADS’ Astrium space business.

“The growing demand for maritime services is a perfect cornerstone for Astrium to develop its commercial satellite communications business,” EADS said in a statement.

According to EADS, Vizada expects to generate around $660 million in revenue and $95 million in earnings before interest, tax, depreciation and amortization this year.

PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – French tire maker Michelin (MICP.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and German rival Continental (CONG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) raised full-year sales targets as price hikes offset higher raw material costs.

Cost inflation as well as the impact of supply chain disruption from Japan’s earthquake in March have been in focus as car makers and suppliers have reported quarterly results in recent days.

Michelin and Continental sounded confident on Thursday in the face of these obstacles.

The French tire maker said the market should return to pre-crisis levels of growth in the second half as it increased its full-year sales volume target. Its German rival predicted higher revenues and said it may raise prices again to offset raw materials costs.

On Thursday, U.S. rival Goodyear Tire & Rubber Co (GT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said an improvement on price mix overcame higher raw materials costs, as it beat Wall Street second-quarter profit expectations by a wide margin.

Michelin said on Friday its sales volumes should rise 8 percent in 2011, compared with a previous forecast of a rise of at least 6.5 percent.

The French company stuck to its prediction that high raw material prices would have a 1.8 billion euro negative impact in 2011 and said already announced or implemented price rises would offset it.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Siemens AG (SIEGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Europe’s largest engineering group, cautioned that global economic risks were increasing as its healthcare unit dragged quarterly results below expectations.

Fiscal third-quarter net profit from continuing operations fell 47 percent to 763 million euros ($1.1 billion), lower than a consensus of about 1 billion euros in a Reuters poll, and while the group brushed off concerns that emerging markets might be cooling, it acknowledged developed countries were a worry.

“In terms of macroeconomic conditions, I think we are seeing a leveling off of growth momentum in the United States and Europe,” Chief Executive Peter Loescher told Reuters Insider TV in an interview, adding the healthcare market was difficult.

Cash-strapped governments across Europe are pushing ahead with a drive to lower costs, while U.S. President Barack Obama is stepping up his drive to get healthcare spending under control in an effort to curb his country’s bloated budget.

“The danger in the short term for the company lies in what will happen if growth in the United States remains subdued for a longer than expected period,” said Markus Huber, head of sales and trading at ETX Capital.

“Another danger lies in the risk of the crisis in Europe spreading, which could lead to weaker growth here and also the risk of China growth slowing down more than expected.”

The results suffered from a charge related to Siemens’ exit from nuclear joint venture Areva NP and one from a halted particle therapy project it had with Rhoen Klinikum (RHKG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German car and truck maker Daimler missed quarterly revenue forecasts and warned strong demand for cars in the key emerging markets of China and India is likely to slow sharply.

Premium and mass-market carmakers have looked to fast-growing markets such as China to make up for sluggish sales growth in Europe, although China’s car market, the world’s biggest, is seen cooling this year due to rising fuel prices and tighter rules on car registrations.

Year-on-year wholesale vehicle sales growth of Daimler’s luxury Mercedes-Benz cars in China tumbled to 8 percent in the second quarter from 82 percent in the first.

“Demand for cars in the major emerging markets of China, India, Brazil and Russia will probably continue to grow. But rates of growth in China and India are likely to be distinctly lower than last year,” Daimler said on Wednesday.

And the global truck market will likely grow only moderately this year, said Daimler, the world’s No.1 truckmaker, on slowing demand in China and a weaker Japanese market following the March 11 earthquake and tsunami.

Daimler, which also makes Smart cars, reported stronger-than-expected operating results for the second quarter, partly thanks to strong sales of vans and buses, and gave an upbeat outlook for the full year.

Its shares were down 0.3 percent at 51.66 euros by 1025 GMT, compared with a 1.2 percent lower STOXX Europe 600 Automobiles & Parts index.

FRANKFURT, May 31 (Reuters) – German carmaker Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) formally launched its bid for MAN (MANG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) on Tuesday, in a move towards creating Europe’s biggest truckmaker.

VW’s chairman Ferdinand Piech has long been itching to combine MAN and Sweden’s Scania (SCVb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to take on the world’s biggest truck maker, Daimler (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), and number two Volvo (VOLVb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), but has been hampered by anti-trust issues and resistance from Scania.

VW aims first to raise its stake in MAN to 35-40 percent of voting rights from just over 30 percent now, which is just enough to get regulatory approval for closer cooperation between MAN and Scania without buying the whole company.

VW made a deliberately low offer of 95 euros per ordinary share for MAN on Tuesday, 1.8 percent below the current market value of 96.69 euros per share.

Under German takeover rules if few investors accept the mandatory offer, which values MAN at about 13.8 billion euros, VW can then go on to gradually buy up shares in the market. <^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

Graphic on European truck market: r.reuters.com/haw79r

Graphic on the VW’s holdings in MAN and Scania:

FRANKFURT/PARIS, May 30 (Reuters) – Volkswagen (VOWG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is set to formalise its approach for truckmaker MAN (MANG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) in coming days, marking another milestone in the German automaker’s bid for global dominance.

The offer is one in a series of ambitious plans Europe’s largest carmaker has on the go as it strives to overtake Japanese rival Toyota Motor (7203.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) as the world’s No.1 player by 2018. [ID:nN24267251]

Earlier this month VW marked the opening of a $1 billion U.S. assembly plant, it has been powering ahead in China, now the world’s largest auto market, but still has progress to make on its alliance with Japanese group Suzuki (7269.T: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

It has also been working to fold sportscar maker Porsche (PSHG_p.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) into its business, and chairman Ferdinand Piech has set his sights on Alfa Romeo. [ID:nLDE71R2MV]

On top of all that, VW wants to combine MAN and Swedish truck maker Scania (SCVb.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to build Europe’s largest truck maker to rival world leader Daimler (DAIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

Analysts are unfazed by VW’s ambition, saying the large number of projects means the risk of any one having a major impact on the company’s shares in the event of a problem or delay is reduced. [ID:nLDE7480ZB]

CREEPING TAKEOVER

PARIS/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – New airspace closure rules decided after last year’s Icelandic volcanic eruption have caused divisions in Europe on how to decide whether airlines can fly near the ash cloud.

A bureaucratic turf war has so far prevented Europe’s controllers from applying the same rules to everyone, with Germany insisting on closing skies as a precaution where there are signs of significant ash, aviation sources said on Tuesday.

A European crisis cell founded after last year’s six-day ash crisis was activated for the first time on Monday and met on Tuesday to try to hammer out a harmonised set of rules.

“Germany has been taking a tougher line than most of the other countries,” a source familiar with the discussions said.

So far weather maps show a paw-shaped “red” zone of Icelandic ash spreading down to Scotland but sparing Germany, after the Grimsvotn volcano erupted on Saturday.

European authorities were criticised by airlines last year for imposing sweeping airspace closures wherever computerised dispersion models told them ash ought to be present.

The bans effectively turned Europe’s air traffic controllers into border guards and grounded more than 10 million passengers.