LONDON/FRANKFURT, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Two of Europe’s biggest
consumer products groups showed tough times were catching up on
them on Thursday with Unilever warning of flat to lower
profit margins for 2011 while Beiersdorf saw only
marginal sales growth.

Both were reporting third-quarter results with Anglo-Dutch
Unilever cautioning about rising commodity costs and
poor consumer confidence, while Hamburg-based Beiersdorf saw a
fall in profits as it invested heavily behind its Nivea brand.

DUESSELDORF, Germany, Nov 3 (Reuters) – Metro AG ,
the world’s No.4 retailer, said Europe’s debt crisis and
weakening economic growth meant it was unlikely to meet its goal
of 10 percent earnings growth this year without a bumper
Christmas.

However the German group, which runs cash-and-carry stores,
hypermarkets, electrical goods and department stores, said on
Thursday it should at least meet analysts’ forecasts for 5
percent growth after a solid third quarter, aided by cost cuts.

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Metro AG (MEOG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) could become the latest European retailer to warn on profits next week, piling pressure on the German group to sort out a successor to Chief Executive Eckhard Cordes.

Europe’s shoppers are curbing spending as their disposable incomes are squeezed by rising prices, subdued wage growth and government austerity measures.

FRANKFURT, Oct 25 (Reuters) – German sporting goods maker
Puma said it had more work to do to attract customers
in the United States after sales there fell in the third
quarter.

“The North American market is more arduous than we had
expected,” finance manager Michael Laemmermann said after the
group affirmed 2011 targets for 3 billion euros ($4.2 billion)
in sales and a mid single digit percentage rise in net earnings.

FRANKFURT, Oct 20 (Reuters) – German airline Lufthansa AG
said a court ruling halting night flights from its
cargo unit’s Frankfurt hub would cost it tens of millions of
euros in rescheduled flights, result in lost customers and hurt
the logistics industry.

Lufthansa Cargo has yet to come up with a long-term
alternative for its operations should the night flight ban be
upheld by a new court ruling, due in 2012, the unit’s CEO said
on Thursday.

LONDON/FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Deutsche Lufthansa AG (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) may have to break up its British bmi unit to sell the underperforming carrier, as larger airlines eye its access at Heathrow airport and smaller players look to pick off its budget and regional operations.

Lufthansa, which has seen loss-making bmi drag on its earnings since acquiring it in 2009, has effectively admitted turnaround efforts are stumbling, by saying it is now also seeking a partner for the airline.

FRANKFURT, Oct 14 (Reuters) – With the first two weeks of
the U.S. basketball season cancelled and more games under
threat, German sporting goods maker Adidas faces
losing half its licensed NBA apparel sales, analysts estimate.

Games that have been dropped from the 2011/12 season, due to
start on Nov. 1, include defending champions Dallas Mavericks at
home to the Chicago Bulls.

FRANKFURT, Oct 12 (Reuters) – The German air traffic control
authority has reached a deal on pay and conditions with the GdF
union, thus averting a strike that would have disrupted
thousands of flights across Europe.

The DFS authority said on Wednesday it had agreed to
increase pay by a total 5.2 percent in two stages over a 17
month period, while certain employees would be moved up the pay
scale, thus receiving a further increase.

FRANKFURT (Reuters) – German sporting goods maker Puma plans to use a new Formula One partnership to gain consumers in Asia’s emerging markets and reassert its sports performance credentials, a Puma executive said on Wednesday.

Puma earlier signed a deal to provide Formula One team Mercedes GP Petronas with fire-proof racewear for drivers and pit teams, and to produce licensed apparel.

FRANKFURT, Oct 11 (Reuters) – A German court has banned
night flights at Frankfurt airport after complaints from
residents, dealing a blow to cargo and passenger operations as
Germany’s largest airport prepares to open a new runway.

The administrative supreme court of Hesse said the ban would
start on Oct. 30 with the new winter flight schedule, drawing
consternation from German airlines at the lack of time in which
to alter internationally agreed flight schedules.