DUESSELDORF, March 22 (Reuters) – Metro AG (MEOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), the world’s No.4 retailer, said risks to economic recovery had risen after the Japanese earthquake and unrest in north Africa, knocking its shares despite forecast-beating 2010 earnings.

“We had a good start into the year, but since February the macro-economic situation has impaired sales,” Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes told analysts on Tuesday.

The German group, which runs cash & carries, electronics stores, hypermarkets and department stores, said it would step up investment in fast-growing emerging markets and online as it looks to offset weaker European markets.

But its forecast for a 10 percent rise in underlying 2011 earnings disappointed some analysts, as it suggested a figure of about 2.65 billion euros ($3.8 billion) — in line with existing expectations despite the better-than-anticipated 2010 outcome.

“The guidance for this year is a little uninspiring,” said Bernstein analyst Chris Hogbin, adding 2010 profit was boosted by proceeds from property transactions.

Metro shares were down 4.8 percent at 47.68 euros at 1330 GMT, the biggest fall among European blue-chip stocks .FTEU3 and compared with a 0.4 percent decline on the STOXX Europe 600 retail index .

“The outlook is a bit shy and the uncertainty in Japan and the Middle East hurts,” said a Frankfurt-based trader.

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) – Metro, the world’s No.4 retailer, said risks to economic recovery had risen after the Japanese earthquake and unrest in north Africa, knocking its shares despite forecast-beating 2010 earnings.

The German group, which runs cash & carries, electronics stores, hypermarkets and department stores, said on Tuesday it would step up investment in fast-growing emerging markets and online as it looks to offset weaker European markets.

Its forecast for a 10 percent rise in underlying 2011 earnings signalled an outcome in line with analyst expectations, despite a better-than-anticipated performance in 2010 driven, to a large extent, by cost cutting.

“The guidance for this year is a little uninspiring,” said Bernstein analyst Chris Hogbin, adding 2010 profit was boosted by property proceeds.

Metro shares were down 3.9 percent at 48.11 euros at 1142 GMT, the biggest faller among European blue-chip stocks and compared with a STOXX Europe 600 retail index down 0.4 percent.

“The outlook is a bit shy and the uncertainty in Japan and the Middle East hurts,” said a Frankfurt-based trader.

Metro stock had outperformed the retail index by 22 percent over the past year, boosted by optimism over its Shape 2012 restructuring plan and signs of economic recovery in its main developing markets in eastern Europe.

DUESSELDORF (Reuters) – Metro AG (MEOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research), the world’s No.4 retailer, is stepping up investment in fast-growing emerging markets and the internet after beating 2010 profit forecasts, helped by cost cutting in weaker European markets. The German group, which runs cash & carries, electronics stores, hypermarkets and department stores, said on Tuesday it expected sales growth to accelerate this year and earnings to rise about 10 percent, provided the economic recovery continues.

That would suggest a figure of about 2.65 billion euros (2.3 billion pounds), in line with analysts’ existing expectations.

“It cannot be excluded that market conditions might deteriorate and affect the targeted earnings momentum,” Metro added, citing the disaster in Japan, North African unrest and the weak finances of some European countries.

“The guidance for this year is a little uninspiring,” said Bernstein analyst Chris Hogbin, who added that 2010 profits were helped by property proceeds.

At 0858 GMT, Metro shares were down 2.1 percent at 49.03 euros, compared with a 0.1 percent fall on the STOXX Europe 600 retail index .

The shares have outperformed that index by 22 percent over the past year, boosted by optimism over Metro’s Shape 2012 restructuring plan and signs of economic recovery in its main developing markets in eastern Europe.

International retailers are increasingly looking to hot-spots of demand like emerging markets and the internet as austerity measures hold back consumers in the developed world.

TOKYO/FRANKFURT, March 17 (Reuters) – Airlines pulled in extra, larger aircraft to help thousands of people leave Tokyo and European carriers began screening aircraft and crew for radiation as Japan rushed to prevent a nuclear disaster.

As an increasing number of governments from Britain to New Zealand to South Korea advised citizens to leave quake-affected northern Japan, airlines mobilised for mainly outbound traffic from one of the world’s biggest cities.

Japan has been taking measures to contain a crisis at the Fukushima nuclear power plant crippled by the earthquake and tsunami that devastated the northeast on Friday.

The U.S. State Department said the government had chartered aircraft to help Americans leave Japan and had authorised the voluntary departure of family members of diplomatic staff in Tokyo, Nagoya and Yokohama — about 600 people.

“The situation has deteriorated in the days since the tsunami and … the situation has grown at times worse with potential greater damage and fallout from the reactor,” White House spokesman Jay Carney told reporters.

The U.S. travel advisory came after Australia urged citizens with non-essential roles in Japan to consider leaving Tokyo and the eight prefectures most damaged by the earthquake due to infrastructure problems rather than nuclear concerns.

“We have a real problem in terms of the infrastructure in Japan. We have uncertainty of power supply, we have problems with train services, we have problems with public transport services, many schools have closed and there is this repeated series of aftershocks,” Foreign Minister Kevin Rudd said.

FRANKFURT, March 16 (Reuters) – Airlines raced on Wednesday to clear Tokyo’s airports of a backlog of passengers and help those wanting to leave as fears grew that quake-stricken Japan was losing control of a steadily growing nuclear crisis.

The disaster has transformed parts of Tokyo into a ghost town as people either stay indoors or leave. [ID:nL3E7EG18Z]

France and Austria urged their citizens in Tokyo to leave the country or head to southern Japan.

The French embassy in Tokyo said it had asked Air France (AIRF.PA: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) to mobilise planes for the evacuation of French nationals from Japan, and two were already on their way.

The Association of Asia Pacific Airlines, which represents 17 scheduled international airlines in the region, said domestic flights and air cargo services were now operating normally.

Germany’s Lufthansa (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), however, said it was still diverting planes to Osaka and Nagoya. [ID:nLDE72E16U]

Dutch airline KLM also said it was diverting to Osaka, instead of Tokyo, on flights to Japan on Wednesday, but that it would still fly out of Tokyo Narita to Amsterdam. Private jet companies also said they were being inundated with requests for evacuation flights. [ID:nL3E7EG15Z]

FRANKFURT/CHICAGO, March 15 (Reuters) – Scores of flights to Japan were halted or rerouted on Tuesday and air travelers were avoiding Tokyo for fear of radiation from an earthquake-stricken nuclear plant.

Asian and European carriers were most affected. Deutsche Lufthansa (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it was diverting flights away from Tokyo to Osaka and Nagoya, at least until the weekend. It said planes returning from Tokyo on Monday were not contaminated.

Air China (601111.SS: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it had canceled flights to Tokyo from Beijing and Shanghai, mainly due to lack of operational capacity at some airports. Taiwan’s EVA Airways (2618.TW: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) said it would cancel flights to Tokyo and Sapporo until the end of March.

U.S. airlines reported no significant changes to their flight schedules to Japan, but U.S. aviation authorities said they were prepared to take action, including rerouting flights to Japan, if the nuclear crisis worsened.

Other governments, including Britain, Italy and the Netherlands, issued travel warnings.

<^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

For latest news on the quake click on: [ID:nTOPNOW4]

BERLIN, March 10 (Reuters) – Tour operators and travel officials may be encouraging people to travel to Egypt and Tunisia after their largely peaceful revolutions, but it will take time for holidaymakers to return in their former numbers.

Egypt’s economy ground nearly to a halt during weeks of protests that started on Jan. 25 and toppled the government of Hosni Mubarak, and some of its main sources of foreign exchange, including tourism, have collapsed. [ID:nLDE71327H]

Tourism is a key source of income for Tunisia, too, accounting for 7 percent of its GDP and providing jobs for about 30 percent of the population.

“Over the past few days we have seen the beginning of recovery; hotel occupancy is increasing, the situation is bouncing back,” Egypt’s new tourism minister Mounir Abdel Nour told visitors to the ITB travel fair in Berlin.

While Nour believes Egypt can match 2010′s visitor total of 14.2 million people, Tunisia expects tourist arrivals to slide this year to 60-80 percent of last year’s 7 million, tourism Minister Mehdi Houas told Reuters. [ID:nLDE7281YZ]

Tour operators in Germany, the world’s biggest spenders on international holidays, say bookings to the countries for the summer have collapsed by as much as 50 percent. [ID:nLDE7271W6]

The big three tour operators, TUI Germany (TT.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Thomas Cook AG (TCG.L: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Rewe, have now restarted holidays to the countries after a hiatus in February. [ID:nLDE71D23A]

BERLIN, March 9 (Reuters) – Hotels and hospitality groups are stepping up efforts to entice travellers from booming Asia by adapting menus, offering Chinese-language booking services and even Indian weddings.

U.S. hospitality firm Carlson, which controls hotel group Rezidor (REZT.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), said there were around 3 million Chinese visits to Europe each year at present, compared with about half a million to the United States.

Starwood Hotels (HOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) CEO Frits van Paasschen said there were some estimates that the number of outbound Chinese travellers could reach more than 100 million a year over the course of the decade as personal wealth increases.

He said Starwood had recently launched a booking engine purely in Chinese and had made sure all of its marketing materials were in Chinese and English.

“We’re making sure that in high traffic destinations for Chinese travellers that we have local language capability,” he told Reuters at the ITB travel fair in Berlin.

Carlson CEO Hubert Joly said cities such as London and Paris especially stood to gain from the influx of Chinese travellers.

“This is just the beginning. What’s very exciting for all of us is the growth opportunity,” he said.

FRANKFURT/BERLIN (Reuters) – Travel companies warned on Wednesday that rising oil prices could hurt demand and squeeze margins in an industry already battling fierce competition, severe weather and political risk.

Starwood Hotels Chief Executive Frits van Paasschen told Reuters that he had not yet seen any effect on demand but warned that a continued rise could pose problems.

“That could slow the economy, and hotel demand is a function of the economy, and if fuel prices were high enough to cut back on air travel, that would also have an effect,” he said.

International oil prices hit a 2-1/2 year high recently, with U.S. crude staying above $100 per barrel due to unrest in Libya.

As long as major oil-producing countries such as Saudi Arabia keep supplying enough crude, the situation should be manageable, he said.

The head of the International Energy Agency (IEA) said last week that top oil exporter Saudi Arabia was capable of covering any Libyan oil production outage.

Cathay Pacific warned that high oil prices could hurt its results this year, and analysts said they expected that the Hong Kong-based carrier would follow rivals including Qantas Airways in raising its fuel surcharge.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Hotel, restaurant and travel group Carlson is investing heavily in its U.S. hotels and believes it could double the size of the TGI Friday’s restaurant chain now the hospitality industry is recovering, its CEO said.

“We only have 600 restaurants in the U.S. and could go to 800-1,000 there,” Hubert Joly told Reuters in an interview on the sidelines of a hotel conference in Berlin on Tuesday.

Minnesota-based Carlson currently operates more than 900 TGI Friday’s restaurants in 60 countries. The casual dining sector was not as heavily impacted by the global recession as the travel industry, Joly said.

“Ultimately, internationally, this is a portfolio that could double in size,” Joly said, adding that the group would focus on adding restaurants in key markets such as China and Britain.

Carlson also owns just over 50 percent of Rezidor Hotel Group (REZT.ST: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), whose brands include Radisson and Park Inn, competing with Starwood (HOT.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) and Marriott (MAR.N: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz).

France-born Joly said the group planned to spend between $1 billion and $1.5 billion on renovating Radisson hotels in the United States, with around $500 million of that already committed.

“As we went through the crisis, we conserved cash and now it’s the year where we’re going to unleash it,” he said.