FRANKFURT, Oct 9 (Reuters) – Eckhard Cordes, chief executive
of German retailer Metro , said he no longer wishes to
renew his contract, just weeks after winning support from the
group’s top shareholder.

Cordes had seemed in danger of losing his job last month
after reports that he had fallen out of favour with some
supervisory board members, who were due to vote later in the
autumn on whether his contract would be extended past October
2012.

FRANKFURT, Sept 30 (Reuters) – Investigations are continuing
into the death of a 90-year-old German multi-millionaire who
died shortly after marrying a 26-year-old model who inherited
his beer-brewing fortune, Frankfurt state prosecutors said on
Friday.

Bruno Schubert, who made his millions with his family
brewery Henninger, married Meharit Kifle, a Belgian model of
Ethiopian origin, in August 2009 just months after his first
wife had died.

BERLIN (Reuters) – Europe should stand ready to ease monetary policy if crumbling consumer confidence leads to a big drop in spending, the head of Europe’s biggest home improvements retailer said on Tuesday.

So far, spending levels have remained fairly steady, albeit subdued, in the face of a euro zone sovereign debt crisis, Kingfisher (KGF.L: Quote, Profile, Research) chief executive Ian Cheshire told Reuters.

BERLIN, Sept 27 (Reuters) – Africa is starting to appear on
the radar screens of western retailers as they look for the next
growth opportunity in emerging markets while having to cope with
subdued consumer spending at home.

Consultants Deloitte and Planet Retail on Tuesday identified
five African countries — Algeria, Kenya, Morocco, Nigeria and
South Africa — as being among the 10 new markets most likely to
appeal to multinational store groups in the coming years.

BERLIN, Sept 26 (Reuters) – The euro zone debt crisis is
sapping consumer confidence and if policymakers do not take
effective action soon the consequences will be felt the world
over, retail executives warned on Monday.

A survey of 100 retailers with annual turnover of more than
$1 billion, published on the first day of the World Retail
Congress in Berlin, showed western European store groups more
pessimistic about domestic consumer confidence than those in any
other part of the world, except Australia.

HAMBURG (Reuters) – State-owned carrier Emirates Airline EMIRA.UL is not yet seeing a downturn in business and bookings for the next few months are at high levels, even as other airlines warn stuttering economies are affecting sales.

“As yet, fingers crossed, we have not seen any diminution of demand,” President Tim Clark told Reuters in an interview at Hamburg airport.

FRANKFURT, Sept 21 (Reuters) – Germany’s two largest
airlines said on Wednesday they were cutting capacity and fleets
to salvage profits, as economic turbulence hits bookings numbers
and prompts customers to put off booking flights until the last
minute.

Air Berlin said it hoped to pass on planes it no
longer needed to Asian rivals, while German flagship airline
Lufthansa , which on Tuesday shocked investors with a
profit warning, said it would now only increase capacity over
the winter by 4 percent.

FRANKFURT, Sept 20 (Reuters) – German airline Lufthansa
no longer expects to improve on last year’s operating
profit as economic uncertainties stack up and after its
passenger airlines unit had a weaker than expected August.

“As viewed currently, the target of a further increase on
the previous year’s figure no longer appears to be achievable,”
the company said in a brief statement on Tuesday.

COLOGNE, Germany (Reuters) – Lufthansa (LHAG.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz) is still seeing stable demand for seats in the premium sections of its planes despite turbulence in financial markets, an executive at Germany’s largest airline said on Wednesday.

“We are still seeing that we can sell most of the additional premium capacity we introduced to the market in the summer,” Jens Bischof, sales chief of Lufthansa’s passenger business told Reuters on the sidelines of a travel conference in Cologne.

COLOGNE, Germany, Sept 13 (Reuters) – Travel groups are
juggling exclusive, luxury products and package deals to ensure
they attract customers and maintain returns in the face of
online competition and consumer cutbacks, a travel and tourism
conference heard.

“No business model is immune to shocks and our industry is
more susceptible,” Horst Baier, chief financial officer of
German tourism and shipping group TUI AG (TUIGn.DE: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), told the
conference on Tuesday.