US home improvement chain Home Depot buys craft retailer SRS for billion-dollar sum

ATLANTA - Home Depot, the world's largest home improvement chain, is expanding its specialty retail business with a billion-dollar acquisition. The group is buying the DIY specialist SRS and valuing the company, including debt, at around 18.25 billion US dollars (16.8 billion euros), as the US company announced in Atlanta on Thursday. Home Depot is aiming to complete the acquisition, which is financed by cash and debt, by the end of the financial year, which runs until the end of January. Home Depot CEO Ted Decker wants to use the takeover to boost growth in the home improvement business.

ROUNDUP: Stratec continues to struggle with customer destocking - share price falls

BIRKENFELD - The diagnostics specialist Stratec is counting on an upturn in business from the second quarter onwards. The company announced in Birkenfeld on Thursday that business momentum was expected to be very subdued in the first quarter of the year. Subsequently, customers' order forecasts, for example, suggest a "strong upturn" in sales and earnings, it said. For the year as a whole, the management is hoping for at least stable business development. The news was not well received on the stock market: The share was one of the biggest losers in the small-cap segment SDax with a 10 percent discount.

ROUNDUP/Following jump in profits: Energiekontor expects decline in 2024 - share price falls

BREMEN - After a record year, wind and solar park developer and operator Energiekontor expects earnings to fall in 2024, burdened by the currently difficult environment for new projects. Long delivery times from turbine and component manufacturers and limited availability of wind turbines are causing delays in the completion and commissioning of projects. The statements were poorly received by the market.

ROUNDUP: Jungheinrich raises medium-term targets and dividend - investors pleased

HAMBURG - After a strong 2023, forklift truck manufacturer Jungheinrich is optimistic about the current and coming year. Management raised some of its expectations for 2025, exceeding the estimates of analysts surveyed by Bloomberg. The mean values of the company's forecasts for 2024 are also above the experts' average expectations. The MDax-listed share rose by around 2 percent on Thursday.

ROUNDUP: Takkt expects weaker business in 2024 - shares lose ground

STUTTGART - In view of the sluggish economic environment, office furniture retailer Takkt expects a decline in sales from its own resources in 2024. After a weak start, growth is expected to improve from quarter to quarter, but organic sales are still likely to fall "in the high single-digit to low double-digit percentage range", said CFO Lars Bolscho in a statement on Thursday. The fact that business is expected to pick up again in the coming years could hardly lift investor sentiment. The share price fell, erasing its gains for the year to date.

ROUNDUP: Kontron earns more than expected - less dividend

LINZ - The Austrian technology group Kontron is cutting its dividend in half despite an increase in profits in the previous year. Shareholders are to receive EUR 0.50 per share, as the company announced in Linz on Thursday. A year earlier, the dividend was still one euro. Kontron recently acquired the German electronics company Katek and spent money on it. Kontron had already presented key data on business in 2023 and the outlook for the new year. The share price fell sharply.

ROUNDUP: Baywa slips into the red - short-time work possible in the construction sector

MUNICH - 2023 was a difficult year for agricultural trader and conglomerate Baywa. After the boom year of 2022, earnings and sales plummeted, with the bottom line even showing a loss. The company had already announced in mid-March that it would be cutting its dividend. Baywa pushed back its medium-term targets by one year. The news was not well received on the financial market. The share, which is listed in the small-cap segment SDax, lost around three percent on Thursday afternoon.

ROUNDUP: IT company Cancom targets significant growth in 2024 - share price up

MUNICH - The IT service provider Cancom expects significant growth in the current year in a difficult environment. CEO Rüdiger Rath sees the company on track for the coming years following a number of cost-cutting and efficiency measures. The company made progress last year, particularly in terms of cash inflow from operating activities. The SDax group intends to keep the dividend stable. The share price rose after the start.

ROUNDUP 3: Arbitration brings Lufthansa only partial tariff peace

FRANKFURT - Lufthansa passengers can breathe a sigh of relief. At least for Easter and the days after, there is no threat of new strikes at the core company of Europe's largest aviation group, and German airports will also be spared further industrial action at least until April 7. However, the agreement reached by mediators with Verdi for ground staff cannot conceal the fact that further conflicts are smouldering within the Group with its numerous collective bargaining partners, which could disrupt flight operations again at any time.

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Further news

-Verdi demands 12.5 percent more money in collective bargaining round for public banks

-ROUNDUP: Commission proposes limit for cannabis at the wheel

-More flights at Frankfurt Airport in summer

-Sentence for ex-crypto king Bankman-Fried to be announced

-Italian banking giant Intesa Sanpaolo reshuffles its top management

-France to commission new nuclear power plant in summer

-ROUNDUP 2/Lidl and Kaufland: No restrictions due to Verdi warning strike

-ROUNDUP: Bridge collapse in Baltimore affects German car manufacturers differently

-Automotive supplier Grammer continues to have problems in US business

-Chinese cell phone manufacturer Xiaomi launches e-car on the market

-ROUNDUP: Expansion plans for Porsche test track in southern Italy halted for the time being

-Zeppelin Group expects investment restraint

-Less bureaucratic hurdles for balcony power plants

-ROUNDUP: Munich Regional Court must retry truck cartel case

-ROUNDUP: Diesel scandal at Mercedes - consumer advocates achieve partial success

-BVB does not want another lesson in Munich - 'It's about time'

-ROUNDUP 2: Bridge collapse in Baltimore affects carmakers differently

-Scholz supports Tesla expansion - Attack was 'terrorist act'

-Scout24 raises dividend by a fifth - experts had expected a little more

-Czech investor Kretinsky holds almost half of Metro shares

-Strike at Austrian Airlines - Flights canceled until Good Friday

-Berentzen expects slight increase this year

-UBS 2023 surplus slightly lower than previously reported

-Strong year for Knaus Tabbert

-EU states want stricter customs requirements for Ukrainian agricultural goods

-Dishwashing detergent manufacturer Fit invests in production expansion

-Baywa Supervisory Board: No misconduct on the part of company boss Pollinger

-Amazon invests billions more in AI start-up Anthropic

-Post has discontinued its letter flights°

Customer tip:

ROUNDUP: You are reading a summary in the company overview. There are several reports on this topic on the dpa-AFX news service.

/jha