DUESSELDORF/ZURICH, Feb 29 (Reuters) – German builder Hochtief
(HOTG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research) and Swiss cement maker Holcim (HOLN.VX: Quote, Profile, Research) are banking on a growing
number of building projects in Asia to drive demand in 2012, after charges at
both companies hit earnings last year.

Infrastructure and residential construction projects in the Asia Pacific
region will buoy demand for building materials, said Holcim, which expects to
grow operating profit this year, excluding acquisitions.

VIENNA, Feb 21 (Reuters) – Austria’s Wienberger
, the world’s largest brickmaker, expects to remain
profitable this year, helped by higher prices and demand from
homebuilders in France and Germany, after earning more than
expected in 2011.

The Vienna-based company did not provide a detailed outlook
for 2012 after posting 2011 net profit of 41 million euros
($54.39 million), up from a 35 million euro loss a year earlier.

FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) – Germany’s RWE
is set to make big savings after amending some
contracts that forced it to buy gas at prices higher than it
could sell it for.

As a result of those contracts, which tied the gas price to
the oil price, the utility lost hundreds of millions of euros,
as did peers such as E.ON or GDF Suez.

FRANKFURT/LONDON (Reuters) – Germany has enough power capacity to make up for its planned exit from nuclear energy while ongoing grid and renewables expansion makes a supply surplus likely until at least 2020.

The country’s electricity consumption is around 550 terawatt-hours (TWh) per year and the outlook is stable, according to data from renewable energy association BDEW.

FRANKFURT, Oct 27 (Reuters) – Deutsche Lufthansa
slashed its plans to expand capacity next year, signalling dim
prospects for a recovery of the air travel industry.

“The outlook for the world economy has become much gloomier
over the course of the year,” Europe’s biggest airline by market
value said on Thursday as it published weaker than expected
third-quarter results.

FRANKFURT, Oct 25 (Reuters) – Power grids in Germany are
set for a smaller hit to their profitability than initially
planned by the grid regulator, said a person with knowledge of
the matter.

That would make investment in power grids more attractive
as Europe’s largest electricity market seeks billions of euros
to make its energy supply greener.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Germany’s E.ON (EONGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s largest utility by sales, has made an offer to the Portuguese state for its minority stake in national power provider EDP, a person with knowledge of the matter told Reuters on Tuesday.

A spokesman for E.ON declined to comment.

Portugal is selling its stakes in EDP as well as power grid operator REN (RENE.LS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) — held to have some control over vital infrastructure and services — as part of a 78-billion-euro EU/IMF bailout, which states the country has to divest the shareholdings by year-end.

STUTTGART, Germany (Reuters) – The constitutional court of the German state of Baden-Wuerttemberg ruled on Thursday that the state government’s purchase of EDF’S (EDF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) 45 percent stake in utility EnBW (EBKG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) was unlawful.

The court said that Stefan Mappus, the state’s conservative premier at the time, should have consulted the state parliament in Stuttgart before agreeing to the 4.7 billion euro ($6.26 billion) deal in December 2010.

FRANKFURT, Sept 30 (Reuters) – German publisher
Axel Springer AG (SPRGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) has made an offer for parts of WAZ
media group, one of the country’s largest publishing houses,
setting up a bid battle with a WAZ shareholder.

A spokeswoman for Axel Springer on Friday confirmed a media
report, saying the Berlin-based publisher made an offer and that
due diligence was still pending, declining to say how much money
Springer had offered.

FRANKFURT, July 20 (Reuters) – Germany’s nuclear phase-out
has prompted the country’s largest utilities to look to energy
heavyweight Russia for investments and for natural gas for
low-carbon power production.

RWE , Germany’s largest power producer, last week
revealed it had begun exclusive talks with Russian gas monopoly
Gazprom , the world’s largest gas producer, about gas
and power joint-ventures.