FRANKFURT, Jan 25 (Reuters) – German consumer goods group Beiersdorf beat forecasts for 2011 profit, helped by a restructure that axed unprofitable lines like haircare and make-up and by heavy investment in its Nivea brand, including campaigns that featured singer Rihanna.

After losing market share to rivals in recent years, Beiersdorf, which also makes La Prairie luxury skincare and Labello lip balm, refocused its product line last year.

That helped it to limit damage to profit margins at its core consumer products division.

The group said on Wednesday 2011 earnings before interest, tax and special items fell 7.6 percent to 646 million euros ($839 million), compared with a forecast for 624 million.

Its EBIT margin — earnings as a percentage of revenue – was 11.5 percent for the group and 11.4 percent for the consumer division. That compared with its target for 10-11 percent.

Shares in the group jumped as much as 5.8 percent to 46.50 euros, their highest level in over a year, and were up 4 percent at 0931 GMT against a flat blue-chip Dax index.

Beiersdorf is expected to give a 2012 outlook when it publishes full results on March 1.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Simple elegance for debt-ridden Europe, glitzy diamonds and gold for booming Asia.

The pieces being unveiled by Switzerland’s luxury watchmakers at the Geneva watch fair harked back to bygone eras with classic shapes, roman numerals and a good dash of gold to lend a sheen to troubled economic and political times.

“The high-end watch industry has a duty to make the world smile,” Richard Mille, the founder and CEO of Richard Mille watches, told Reuters.

With 1920/30s fashion on the catwalks ahead of the cinema release of “The Great Gatsby”, king of jewelers Cartier presented its first pocket watch in years, a limited edition 18-carat white gold piece with matching chain and stand.

Less of a trinket to be carried around and more an object of desire to be displayed proudly on a desk, the Cartier pocket watch is limited to 10 pieces.

Cartier declined to comment on how much the piece would retail for, saying it was priced on demand only. Watch blogs speculated it could be anywhere upwards of 500,000 euros ($640,800).

Many brands delved through their back catalogues from the 1940s and 50s for inspiration while Parmigiani, a newcomer among high-end watch brands , said a desire for old-style glamour meant its quietly elegant designs were proving more popular than ever.

GENEVA, Jan 18 (Reuters) – Swatch Group’s decision to lower watch part supplies to rival watchmakers this year has already impacted the industry, forcing some brands to hold back production and others to scramble for alternatives, executives told a fair this week.

The outlook for 2012 might be more gloomy than it was for 2011 but the Swiss watch industry is enjoying record demand, having recovered much faster than expected from the 2008/2009 downturn, putting unprecedented pressure on its production base.

Swatch Group has for decades served as the industry’s “supermarket,” to use its own words, with its ETA unit providing as much as 80 percent of Swiss movements and its Nivarox arm dominating the market for escapement and oscillating parts, which make up the heart of a watch’s mechanism.

In 2011 Swatch’s production unit, which supplies the industry’s watch parts, had sales of 2 billion Swiss francs ($2.12 billion).

Since Jan. 1, Swatch Group is able to lower deliveries of watch parts to rivals to ensure that it has enough supplies for its own brands such as Breguet, Omega and Longines.

The move was approved in Dec. by Switzerland’s Federal Administrative court, pending the outcome of an investigation by competition authorities.

Many brands at the Geneva watch fair, the luxury industry’s first gathering in 2012, said they were confident they could cope with Swatch Group’s decision, pointing to good relations with the group, but others hinted of tough times ahead.

GENEVA (Reuters) – Swiss watchmakers expect slower growth this year after a record 2011 as strong demand from Asia is unlikely to make up for weakness in America and Europe, executives at the Geneva watch fair warned this week.

Demand might not have softened yet for some but many watch brands predict that worries about euro zone debt and unemployment in America will weigh on discretionary spending.

“Brands are worried about Europe,” Jean-Daniel Pasche, head of the Swiss Watch Federation, told Reuters. “It’s not like buying milk. If things are bad, people stop buying watches.”

Pasche confirmed expectations expressed by Hublot (LVMH.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Swatch Group (UHR.VX: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) earlier this month that the Swiss watch industry’s growth would slow down in 2012 after a 22 percent rise last year to record levels.

Swatch Group, the world’s biggest watchmaker whose brands include Omega, Longines and Breguet, predicts 5-10 percent growth this year.

Emmanuel Vuille, chief executive of niche watchmaker Greubel Forsey, said it was difficult to see how the industry could remain untouched by what was happening in the world.

“We hope that growth will continue, but we are very cautious. There are a lot of watches in the shops that aren’t on people’s wrists.”

GENEVA, Jan 17 (Reuters) – Metro, the world’s fourth-biggest retailer, has halted the sale of its Kaufhof department stores, blaming a difficult economic backdrop which also knocked fourth-quarter sales as cash-strapped Europeans cut spending on non-essentials.

“We have always stressed that a sale must reflect the potential of Galeria Kaufhof. Currently, the earnings potential can be better tapped by us than by a sale”, chief executive Olaf Koch said on Tuesday.

Merck Finck analyst Robert Greil told Reuters: “I would have expected them to postpone the sale in order to allow more time to negotiate with the bidders, rather than put it on ice.”

Plans to sell Kaufhof and hypermarkets business Real were first set out by former chief executive Eckhard Cordes.

With few synergies between Metro’s businesses, the plan was to sell off these assets and focus on its cash and carry and electrical goods operations before eventually, perhaps, spinning off the latter as well.

The euro zone debt crisis has unsettled consumers and with rising prices, muted wage growth and austerity measures squeezing disposable incomes across much of the region, retailers have been suffering.

Metro also said fourth-quarter sales at Kaufhof dropped 4.6 percent, while overall group sales fell 1.3 percent to 19.5 billion euros ($24.7 billion). That compared with a forecast for 19.3 billion euros in a Reuters poll.

ZURICH/GENEVA, Jan 16 (Reuters) – Sales growth at Richemont held up in the company’s third quarter, easing fears the sector might be in for a marked slowdown this year and allowing the Swiss luxury goods group to confirm its profit goal for the year.

The maker of Cartier jewellery and IWC watches said on Monday sales rose 24 percent at constant exchange rates between October and December against the year before, beating forecasts for a 20 percent rise in a Reuters poll.

Buoyant Asian demand for pricey timepieces, as well as Chinese tourists flocking to Europe’s luxury boutiques, have so far helped the industry sail relatively unscathed through the latest bout of economic turmoil, though recent comments from some in the sector have suggested this picture may be changing.

U.S. jeweller Tiffany & Co, which generates over half its sales in the Americas, said last week Christmas sales weakened markedly and lowered its full-year profit forecast.

Swiss rival Swatch Group SA warned sales growth would slow to between 5 and 10 percent this year, compared with almost 22 percent in 2011.

Company comments at this week’s Geneva watch fair (SIHH), which unites Richemont brands and some independent watchmakers, could shed more light on the health of the luxury goods industry and brands’ expectations for the year.

Richemont gave no outlook for sales growth in the coming year but confirmed its earlier guidance for a significant rise in operating profit for its current fiscal year through March.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – The family of Douglas Holding AG (DOHG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) Chief Executive Henning Kreke aims to take the German fragrance-to-jewelry retailer private with the help of financial investors.

“The Kreke family fully backs the Douglas Group and is considering raising its stake jointly with financial investors,” Kreke told Reuters in e-mailed comments on Thursday.

Douglas, which has a market value of about 1.2 billion euros ($1.5 billion), earlier said unspecified board members with major holdings were in talks with several financial investors for a substantial stake in the company.

Thursday’s news of the buyout plan came a day after the company predicted falling profit this year.

Two people familiar with the matter told Reuters that Kreke’s family had approached buyout firms including Apax Partners APAX.UL and BC Partners BCPRT.UL to discuss possible plans to take Douglas private.

Apax and BC Partners declined to comment.

Douglas shares soared as much as 30 percent, hitting a five-month high, and stood 26.9 percent higher at 32.20 euros by 1304 GMT. Before Thursday’s surge, the shares had lost almost 40 percent through the past 12 months.

ABERDEEN, Scotland (Reuters) – The northern Scottish town of Aberdeen is much maligned for being as grey as its nickname of the Granite City suggests but its compact city centre can sparkle when the sun shines off its grey stone buildings.

The oil capital of Europe, a North Sea base for the likes of BP, Shell and Exxon and also home to a fledgling offshore renewables industry, is a useful starting point for exploring the whisky distilleries, castles, Highlands and golf links of the northeastern region of Scotland.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors make the most of a 48-hour stay in the Granite City.

FRIDAY

5:00 p.m. – Kick off your trip by saying hello to one of the most famous Scots – William Wallace, immortalised in the film Braveheart, and famed for being hanged, drawn and quartered by the English after fighting in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

You’ll find the statue of Wallace across from Union Terrace Gardens, opposite His Majesty’s Theatre.

6 p.m. – For dinner, make your way to the Moonfish Cafe on Correction Wynd, a quiet street just off the main Union Street shopping drag. Chef Christian Recomio came to Scotland after working in Barcelona and France and these influences are reflected in the modern European menu, which of course includes Aberdeen Angus beef. (www.moonfishcafe.co.uk/)

ABERDEEN, Scotland, Dec 6 (Reuters) – The northern Scottish town of Aberdeen is much maligned for being as grey as its nickname of the Granite City suggests but its compact city centre can sparkle when the sun shines off its grey stone buildings.

The oil capital of Europe, a North Sea base for the likes of BP, Shell and Exxon and also home to a fledgling offshore renewables industry, is a useful starting point for exploring the whisky distilleries, castles, Highlands and golf links of the northeastern region of Scotland.

Reuters correspondents with local knowledge help visitors make the most of a 48-hour stay in the Granite City.

FRIDAY

5:00 p.m. – Kick off your trip by saying hello to one of the most famous Scots – William Wallace, immortalised in the film Braveheart, and famed for being hanged, drawn and quartered by the English after fighting in the Wars of Scottish Independence in the late 13th and early 14th centuries.

You’ll find the statue of Wallace across from Union Terrace Gardens, opposite His Majesty’s Theatre.

6 p.m. – For dinner, make your way to the Moonfish Cafe on Correction Wynd, a quiet street just off the main Union Street shopping drag. Chef Christian Recomio came to Scotland after working in Barcelona and France and these influences are reflected in the modern European menu, which of course includes Aberdeen Angus beef. (www.moonfishcafe.co.uk/)

FRANKFURT, Jan 5 (Reuters) – German shoppers were out in force over Christmas, with strong sales from DIY stores operator Praktiker and fashion house Gerry Weber suggesting consumers have not been fazed by the euro zone debt crisis.

The sales may have been partly the result of discounting, which has helped to lure cash-strapped shoppers in other European countries, like Britain.

“There is no mention (by Praktiker) of margins, so it is unclear whether profits have been sacrificed in order to drive this sales growth,” Espirito Santo analyst Richard Cathcart said on Thursday.

Praktiker announced a surprise return to sales growth for its namesake German stores in November and December, while Gerry Weber said revenue in Germany jumped 28 percent in December.

While Chancellor Angela Merkel has said 2012 will be harder than last year and Europe has a long way to go before overcoming the crisis, German consumer morale has remained surprisingly upbeat, helped by low unemployment and improving wage expectations in Europe’s largest economy.

The Federal Statistics Office said retail sales fell 0.9 percent in November but it would probably revise that figure higher after a strong Christmas.

“Record employment, cheap financing conditions and the weak incentives to save due to lower interest rates are helping retail sales,” said Stefan Schilbe at HSBC Trinkaus. “As long as the labour market does not worsen considerably, consumption will continue to support the economy.”