Flix bundles long-distance bus business in North America in its own company
Flix also operates long-distance buses in the USA.
The travel company Flix bundles its long-distance bus business in North America in its own company. The new company will operate the Flixbus and Greyhound brands in North America under the name “Flix North America”, the company announced on Thursday. By merging the brands that continue to operate independently, “we are now strengthening the interaction between the two units,” said Flix co-founder André Schwämmlein.
Flix, which at the time was still operating under the name Flixmobility, took over the US market leader for long-distance bus trips, Greyhound, in October last year. Since then, the company, based in Munich, USA, has served more than 2,000 destinations.
Former senior banker arrested for “cum-ex” stock deals
(dpa) The judiciary has arrested a former high-ranking banker for involvement in “cum-ex” stock deals. The 56-year-old was arrested on Wednesday by the Spanish criminal police in Mallorca based on an arrest warrant from the Frankfurt district court, the Frankfurt public prosecutor announced on Thursday.
The former managing director is accused of having initiated and implemented a cum-ex short sale model several times in the years 2008 to 2010, “leading and together with other co-accused”. It is determined because of the suspicion of tax evasion in particularly serious cases. The investigators estimated the damage at more than 51 million euros.
The Attorney General’s office did not name the institute even when asked. According to DPA information, the arrest is related to a search in November 2019 at the German branch of ABN Amro in Frankfurt, the legal successor to Fortis Bank.
In “Cum-Ex” deals, investors used a loophole in the law to cheat the German state out of money for years. Around the dividend record date, several participants pushed shares with («cum») and without («ex») dividend rights back and forth. As a result, tax offices reimbursed capital gains taxes that had not been paid at all. The state suffered billions in damage. In 2012 the tax loophole was closed.
According to the information, the accused who has now been arrested is to be brought before the magistrate in Palma de Mallorca. The public prosecutor’s office in Frankfurt is operating the extradition of the man to Germany.
E-car maker Tesla back on record course
(dpa) Tesla was slowed down in the past quarter by corona lockdowns in China and supply chain problems. For the second half of the year, however, the electric car pioneer expects a return to the record course. The ambitious goal of delivering around 50 percent more cars than in 2021 remains. The demand for Tesla’s vehicles is unbroken, emphasized company boss Elon Musk.
In the second quarter, Tesla beat analysts’ expectations for earnings. Thanks to strong price increases, among other things, the electric car manufacturer earned a bottom line of 2.3 billion dollars, 98 percent more than a year ago. Tesla increased sales by 42 percent year-on-year to $16.9 billion.
At the same time, Tesla only brought 254,695 vehicles to customers in the second quarter – the first decline compared to the previous quarter in around two years. The company is expecting a “record-breaking” second half of the year. In Tesla’s large US car plant in Fremont and in Shanghai – where there were recently failures due to China’s corona lockdowns – the highest monthly production rates to date have recently been recorded, Tesla explained.
The European factory in Grünheide near Berlin is also gradually getting going. Here, 1,000 Model Y vehicles rolled off the assembly line in just one week, which Tesla described as an “important milestone”.
Italian government bonds crash
Italian Prime Minister Mario Draghi addresses Parliament on July 21.
(Reuters)
Italian bonds plummeted after Prime Minister Mario Draghi failed to garner enough support from his coalition partners. The yield on the 10-year bond rose as much as 19 basis points to 3.58 percent, its highest level since late June. The spread to equivalent German bonds, a common measure of risk, rose to 232 basis points. FTSE MIB futures slipped as much as 3 percent.
In Italy, the conditions are in place for early elections and a longer phase of political uncertainty in one of the most indebted economies in Europe. It also raises doubts about the progress of the reforms needed to receive 200 billion euros in aid from the European Union.
Attention now turns to the European Central Bank, which is expected to unveil details of a plan aimed at curbing the impact of higher interest rates on the region’s weaker economies. The upheaval complicates the ECB’s task, as the instrument aims to curb the unwarranted rise in government bond yields, rather than to mitigate the impact of domestic political machinations on the market.
Gold prices fall to their lowest level in almost a year
(dpa) Gold is still under pressure on the financial markets. On Thursday morning, the price of the precious metal temporarily fell to its lowest level in eleven months. At the low, a troy ounce (about 31.1 grams) was sold in London for 1685 US dollars. That’s the lowest price since August 2021. Silver prices also continued to fall, but were still above their two-year low of $18.15 a troy ounce marked last week.
Several factors have weighed on precious metals in recent months. These include, on the one hand, the significantly appreciating dollar, which makes the precious metals traded in the US currency more expensive for many investors due to the exchange rate and weighs on demand. On the other hand, rising capital market interest rates mean that investors are less interested in gold and silver. In contrast to fixed-income securities, precious metals do not generate any regular income.
Technology group ABB withdraws from Russia
An e-car charging station from ABB in Zurich-Oerlikon.
(dpa) The Swiss technology group ABB is giving up its business in Russia. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine and the effects of the sanctions, the group has decided to completely withdraw from this market, ABB announced on Thursday. The move resulted in financial charges of $57 million in the completed second quarter of 2022.
According to its own statements, the manufacturer of industrial robots, charging stations for electric cars or automation solutions has not accepted any new orders in Russia since the outbreak of war. However, a few existing obligations with local customers have been met in accordance with the sanctions.
ABB employed around 750 people in Russia at two production sites in the greater Moscow area and in Lipetsk and at several service centers. The majority of the Russian workforce has been on furlough since March of this year. Before the Ukraine war, business with Russia accounted for around one to two percent of annual sales.
The software manufacturer SAP reports bad figures
Above all, the Ukraine war is causing problems for the software manufacturer SAP.
(dpa) Europe’s largest software manufacturer, SAP, reported a significant drop in earnings in the second quarter due to costs in Ukraine and a weak license business. Earnings before interest and taxes, adjusted for special effects, fell by 13 percent to 1.68 billion euros compared to the previous year, as the company announced on Thursday. The net profit even collapsed by 86 percent and was only 203 million euros. This was partly due to the fact that participation in startups was less successful than in the previous year.
For the year as a whole, the management around boss Christian Klein also cut the forecast for the operating result. Adjusted for currency effects, earnings before interest and taxes adjusted for special effects should fall by 4 to 8 percent this year compared to the previous year, the DAX group announced on Thursday. Previously, the group management expected a stagnating up to 5 percent falling operating result.
The group announced another €500 million share buyback program. A previous program worth almost one billion euros expired this year.
Nokia can increase its profit significantly
Nokia writes good numbers.
(dpa) Network supplier Nokia increased sales and profits in the second quarter. Group sales rose by eleven percent compared to the same period last year to almost 5.9 billion euros, as the company announced on Thursday. Adjusted for currency effects, the increase was three percent. Despite bottlenecks in the supply chain, adjusted operating profit increased by five percent to EUR 714 million. The bottom line was a profit of 460 million euros, an increase of 31 percent.