ROUNDUP: Consortium around former Kaufhof owner wants to take over Galeria

ESSEN - A consortium consisting of the US investment company NRDC Equity Partners and the entrepreneur Bernd Beetz wants to take over the insolvent department store chain Galeria Karstadt Kaufhof. Deutsche Presse-Agentur learned this from negotiating circles on Tuesday. The "Handelsblatt" had previously reported. Neither the spokesman for the insolvency administrator Stefan Denkhaus nor a spokesman for the company would comment on the matter when asked. NRDC and Beetz, who is president of the third-division soccer club SV Waldhof Mannheim, did not respond to requests for comment.

Daimler Truck sells fewer vehicles in the first quarter

LEINFELDEN-ECHTERDINGEN - Commercial vehicle manufacturer Daimler Truck sold fewer vehicles in the first quarter of the year than in the same period last year. The DAX-listed company sold 108,911 trucks and buses in the first three months, a decrease of 13 percent, as the company from Leinfelden-Echterdingen near Stuttgart announced on Tuesday. The drop was mainly due to a sharp decline in trucks on the Asian markets. The bus division, on the other hand, increased its sales by one percent. The sales figures reflected the expected normalization of the global truck markets and a weak environment in important markets in Asia, said Daimler Truck CEO Martin Daum according to the press release.

ROUNDUP: Siemens Supervisory Board extends contract with CEO Roland Busch

MUNICH - Roland Busch will remain CEO of the technology group Siemens. The Supervisory Board announced the extension of the contract by five years to April 1, 2025, as Siemens announced in Munich on Tuesday. There are also plans to extend the mandate of Managing Board member Cedrik Neike by five years in June 2025, when his current contract expires. Neike heads the Digital Industries division.

Change of chief executive at Aareal Bank

WIESBADEN - LBBW Management Board member Christian Ricken is to become the new CEO of Aareal Bank. The Supervisory Board appointed Ricken as of August 1, subject to the approval of the supervisory authority, as the bank announced in Wiesbaden on Tuesday. The previous CEO Jochen Klosges is leaving the commercial real estate financier, which recently had to set aside a lot of money for endangered office properties in the USA.

Head of Pfeiffer Vacuum surprisingly resigns with immediate effect

ASSLAR - The vacuum pump manufacturer Pfeiffer Vacuum is surprisingly parting ways with its CEO Britta Giesen. The Supervisory Board reached an amicable agreement with the manager on the immediate termination of her contract, the SDax-listed company announced on Tuesday in Asslar, Hesse. "The Supervisory Board would like to thank Dr. Britta Giesen for her services and commitment to Pfeiffer Vacuum," the statement said. It was initially unclear who would succeed Giesen and whether the search for a replacement had already begun. It was only in March that the company's Supervisory Board decided on a new Management Board structure and appointed an additional Management Board member in this context.

HSBC sells Argentina business - pre-tax profit burdened

HONG KONG/LONDON - The major British bank HSBC is selling its business in Argentina. As the bank announced on Tuesday, it will sell the business to the Argentine financial services provider Grupo Financiero Galicia for 550 million US dollars (507 million euros), subject to some price adjustments. The transaction includes all of HSBC Argentina's banking, asset management and insurance businesses as well as 100 million dollars of subordinated debt. The sale will have a negative impact of one billion US dollars on pre-tax profits in the first quarter, the statement added.

HUK Coburg wants to raise prices further - car insurance makes a loss

MUNICH - Germany's largest car insurer, HUK Coburg, wants to further increase its prices in the motor vehicle sector due to its high losses. Although the company was able to almost double its net profit in 2023 from 146 to 298 million euros due to good capital results, the motor insurance division posted a deficit of almost 547 million euros. On Tuesday in Munich, CEO Klaus-Jürgen Heitmann blamed the increase in spare parts prices as well as higher damage caused by storms and an unexpectedly high number of accidents and other claims from customers.

IPO/Circles: Stada owners discuss renewed IPO and put options

BAD VILBEL - According to insiders, the pharmaceutical group Stada could return to the stock exchange. The owners of the Bad Vilbel-based company, the financial investors Bain Capital and Cinven, are discussing an IPO, the Bloomberg news agency reported on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. A decision has not yet been made. A complete sale or the sale of a minority stake is also possible. Alternatively, Bain and Cinven could retain the manufacturer of products such as Grippostad and Ladival.

Slightly weaker growth in car sales in China

PEKING - The Chinese car market grew slightly less strongly in March than recently expected. Deliveries of cars rose by six percent year-on-year to just under 1.7 million vehicles, the industry association PCA (China Passenger Car Association) announced on Tuesday on the basis of final data in Beijing. Previously, the estimate based on preliminary figures was an increase of seven percent. The decisive factor was the almost 30 percent increase in sales of electric cars (NEV - new energy vehicles). The PCA association recently attributed this to high price discounts. The Chinese authorities also want to further boost car sales.

Arbitration award for aviation security forces accepted

BERLIN/FRANKFURT - The collective bargaining dispute for the approximately 25,000 private aviation security workers has finally been settled. The committees of both the employers and the unions involved have accepted the arbitration recommendation presented on Monday by former Bremen State Councillor for Finance Hans-Henning Lühr (SPD), as they reported on Tuesday.

Automotive supplier Grammer with decline in sales and earnings

AMBERG - The Bavarian automotive and rail supplier Grammer has made a weak start to the current year. Group sales from January to March fell by almost 6 percent to 557 million euros compared to the same quarter last year, while earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) fell by two thirds to 3.9 million euros. On Tuesday, the company cited unexpectedly weak customer demand in Europe and Asia, higher costs due to fluctuating plant capacity utilization and start-up costs for the new commercial vehicle plant in the USA as the reasons. The Executive Board is sticking to its forecast for the year.

Bad Bank FMS shrinks successfully

MUNICH - The Munich-based bad bank FMS, which was tasked with winding up the legacy of the scandalous bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE), is shrinking with a profit. Last year, the state-owned company reduced its portfolio of former HRE securities by five billion euros and made a net profit of 36 million euros. "Another very successful financial year," said CEO Christoph Müller on Tuesday. The rise in interest rates was helpful for the FMS - as it was for normal banks: the

Motel One doubles profit

MUNICH - The Motel One hotel chain made a strong profit last year. At 156 million euros, profit after tax was almost twice as high as a year ago, as the company announced on Tuesday. Turnover rose by a third to 852 million euros. The hotel chain spoke of the most successful financial year in the company's history.

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Further news

-Commercial real estate crisis: International investors avoid Frankfurt

-Change in ownership of Saxon newspapers - authorities approve deal

-ROUNDUP: Worries despite upward trend: Computer games industry wants demand money

-Scholz pledges support for Germany as a pharmaceutical location

-Joussen new chairman of the supervisory board of Rheinische Post Mediengruppe

Test of nerves in Madrid: BVB dreams of the semi-finals

-Number of complaints about criminal Internet content doubles

-Trial in the 'Panama Papers' financial scandal begins in Panama

-Circles: UBS considers swap deal in China

-Tesla wants to end proceedings in 'Autopilot' death case with settlement

-Mail order company Otto loses eight percent in sales

-20 more Rheinmetall infantry fighting vehicles to help Ukraine

-Computer games industry grows significantly

-Rewe makes significantly more profit - but not with food

-Foreign press calls for unhindered access to Gaza

-EU agreement on stricter customs regulations for Ukrainian agricultural goods

-Association: Country acts as Tesla spokesman against people's interests

-NB head Jordan sees potential for digital central bank money

-More deterrence? Initiative wants to change cigarette vending machines°

Customer tip:

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

/stw