ROUNDUP: TV advertising slump pushes ProSiebenSat.1 into loss zone - job cuts

UNTERFÖHRING - Media group ProSiebenSat.1 slipped into the red at the start of the year due to the persistently weak TV advertising business. Advertisers are still dragging their feet on TV advertising because consumer spending remains sluggish. For the rest of the year, however, Group CEO Bert Habets is counting on an improvement in the advertising market and at the same time wants to reduce costs by cutting jobs. "We will cut jobs, especially in the second half of the year," the manager said in an interview with financial news agency dpa-AFX on Friday. The share price fell by half a percent by midday Friday. The papers have been under pressure since the end of April, following the announcement at the time that it would slash its dividend.

Lufthansa to take over Ita Airways in three steps

FRANKFURT - The Lufthansa Group wants to take over the Italian state-owned airline Ita Airways in three steps. The conditions for this are laid down in the contract with the government, Group CEO Carsten Spohr explained during a conference call on Friday. First, the MDax group will take over a minority stake of 41 percent for 325 million euros. From 2025, Lufthansa would be able to take over a further 49 percent of the shares under certain conditions and then, in a third margin, the remaining 10 percent.

Knof: Commerzbank fully on course to increase profits in 2023

FRANKFURT - Following its highest annual profit since 2007 and a good start to the current year, Commerzbank is promising its shareholders further growth. "After the strong start, we are confident of continuing our positive development for the rest of the current year - notwithstanding the volatile environment and growing competitive pressure," CEO Manfred Knof affirmed in his speech text for the Frankfurt-based Dax group's online annual general meeting next Wednesday (May 31), which was published in advance on Friday. "We are fully on track to achieve our annual targets. We want to earn significantly more on the bottom line than last year."

Siemens Energy aims to profit from 'investment wave'

BERLIN - The energy industry is currently in a state of upheaval. Climate change, for example, is demanding new solutions for clean energy. Regions such as the U.S. and Europe have therefore set ambitious expansion targets, which entail investment programs worth billions. The power engineering group Siemens Energy wants a piece of the pie and, following its reorganization, considers itself well equipped for the task. But there are also major challenges that make it difficult to implement the climate programs: The uncertain geopolitical environment, complicated regulations, protracted approval processes, and concerns about bottlenecks in the supply of raw materials are among them.

OpenAI chief Altman: Artificial intelligence should be regulated

MUNICH - The head of ChatGPT creator OpenAI, Sam Altman, has reiterated his agreement in principle with the regulation of artificial intelligence (AI) - but he is critical of concrete considerations in the EU. "I think regulation for technologies like this is really good," the U.S. entrepreneur said at an event at the Technical University of Munich (TUM) on Thursday. While he generally believes it's better to wait and see what happens first, and then react responsibly, he said. "But there are situations - and I think this is one of them - where we should be proactive."

Shareholder advisor ISS also opposes Brenntag candidate for supervisory board

ESSEN - Pressure is mounting on chemicals trader Brenntag, with voting rights advisor ISS siding with activist investor Primestone Capital and backing its candidate for the company's supervisory board, according to a report. In the report, ISS urged shareholders to reject Brenntag's proposed election of Richard Ridinger as chairman of the supervisory board and Suja Chandrasekaran as a member of the supervisory body in return. A decision on the supervisory body is to be taken at the upcoming Annual General Meeting in mid-June.

British Airways cancels many flights at Heathrow due to IT problems

LONDON - British Airways (BA) has once again canceled several flights at London's Heathrow Airport due to IT problems. As the PA news agency reported on Friday, more than 50 outgoing flights from Heathrow had to be canceled on Thursday. Mainly affected were connections within the UK and Europe. More than 20 flights to Heathrow were also unable to operate, according to the report.

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Further messages

-Winter tourism in Austria back to pre-Corona level

-Wissing critical of EU plans for new Euro 7 emissions standard

-Federal government to increase demand for climate-friendly new construction

-First green light for construction of a section of the Suedlink route

-Fritz to referee BVB season finale - Jablonski in Koln

-ROUNDUP/Scholz: Heating bill to go before parliament before summer break

-ROUNDUP: BASF puts new ship for Rhine low water into service

-Credit Suisse ordered to pay high damages in Singapore

-Data protection authority intervenes after suspected Tesla leak

-Climate protest against oil pipeline at annual general meeting of Totalenergies

-Strong earthquake shakes Tokyo area

-Savings Banks Finance Group and EnBW agree on TransnetBW sale

-Experts expect grain harvest at last year's level°.

Customer note:

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

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