Frauke Petry, the head of the Alternative for Germany, will leave the right-wing party after refusing to join party parliamentarians in the Bundestag. “It’s clear this step must be taken,” she told reporters in Dresden. (NTV)
All parliamentarians elected for the far-right party Alternative for Germany in Sunday’s election appeared at their first meeting in Berlin with the exception of party head Frauke Petry, a party spokesman tweeted.
At least two heads of regional groups of the Christian Social Union called for Bavarian state premier Horst Seehofer to resign as party leader after the CSU suffered its worst election result since 1949.
The number of unemployed in Germany should fall to 2.48 million next year from an expected 2.54 million by the end of 2017, the lowest since reunification, the IAB research institute of the Federal Employment Agency said.
Under a new fee structure being tested by insurer Allianz in the US, investors would only pay fund fees if managers of the fund beat the performance of a reference index.
The Seeheimer Kreis, an association of conservative Social Democratic lawmakers, opposes the election of Labor Minister Andrea Nahles as head of the SPD parliamentary group after chancellor candidate Martin Schulz publicly nominated her for the post. (Spiegel)
Businessman Herbert Eklöh opened Germany’s first supermarket 60 years ago today in Cologne. The country now has 12,000 grocery stores in an industry dominated by Rewe and Edeka.
Bavaria’s state interior minister Joachim Herrmann, a member of the CSU, a sister party to Angela Merkel’s CDU, wants the next government to agree to a hard cap on the number of refugees Germany will accept. (Deutschlandfunk)
Germany’s insurers expect premium income to grow 1.2 percent this year despite a less-than 2 percent decline in life premiums, Alexander Erdland, the outgoing president of the German Insurance Association, told reporters.
The 79 politicians who will be added to Germany’s biggest-ever Bundestag following Sunday’s election will cost taxpayers an additional €200 million over the next four years. (Bild)
Ebitda at SDax debutante Delivery Hero slipped 54 percent in the first half to €45.3 million as sales jumped 66 percent to €247 million. The shares rose less than 1 percent.
Labor union Verdi fears a sale of E.ON’s Uniper to Finnish Fortum could lead to a breakup and sale of the division, sparking job losses. (Westdeutsche Allgemeine)
The Siemens supervisory board will discuss an acquisition of French train company Alstom on Tuesday, sources told Reuters, and has all but ruled out a merger with the rail business of Canadian Bombardier.
ThyssenKrupp raised €1.4 billion in fresh capital after reaching a deal to merge its steel operations with Tata. It sold 56.6 million new shares Tuesday, about 10 percent of its current share capital base.
Siemens could exit the electric car business by the end of 2021 by exercising an option to sell its half of a motor-making joint venture to partner Valeo.
The head of EU border agency Frontex, Fabrice Leggeri, told Handelsblatt that many of the planes taking rejected asylum seekers back to their countries are not full, and urged member states to make better use of them.
Retail cosmetics chain Douglas named Opel marketing chief Tina Müller as new CEO effective Nov. 1, marking her return to the beauty business after helping change the carmaker’s image.
ECB’s Mario Draghi tells EU Parliament he’s confident that inflation “will eventually head to levels in line with our inflation aim.” The ECB’s medium-term goal for inflation is close to 2 percent.
A “Jamaica” coalition between Angela Merkel’s CDU, the Greens and pro-business FDP is not guaranteed, the FDP‘s vice chair said.
Four MPs split off from the AfD in the state of Mecklenburg-Western Pomerania, citing different views and personal frictions. (Ostsee Zeitung)
The euro fell as much as 0.8 percent, dropping to $1.1865 after the German election, with brokers citing the FDP’s critical positions on euro zone integration and a Greek debt reduction.
Industrial groups fear protracted negotiations in forming a new coalition government could slow economic reforms. The AfD’s success could hurt Germany’s business-friendly reputation. (Reuters)
CSU chair Horst Seehofer wants the party’s leadership to vote on continuing cooperation with Angela Merkel’s CDU. (Das Erste) A spokesman later clarified Mr. Seehofer just wants to reaffirm support.
FDP leader Christian Lindner said changes to euro zone fiscal and energy policy are important in considering a “Jamaica” coalition with Angela Merkel’s CDU and the Greens.
VW’s CEO criticized the “xenophobic AfD” entering parliament: “A beggar-thy-neighbor mindset and protectionism are a dead-end street – one that ultimately means the loss of jobs,” he said.
European Commission President Jean-Claude Juncker urged Chancellor Merkel to form a stable coalition government, which could help to shape the EU.
Social Democrat leader Martin Schulz has proposed Andrea Nahles, current labor minister, to lead the party’s new group in German parliament. (Reuters)
Car battery maker Voltabox could raise up to €152 million when it lists on the Frankfurt Stock Exchange on October 13.
British-Dutch consumer goods maker Unilever, a rival of P&G, Henkel and Beiersdorf, will buy Korean cosmetics firm Carver Korea for €2.27 billion from Goldman Sachs, Bain Capital and its founders.
Car parts supplier ElringKlinger expects its sales from electric cars to rise up to as much as 25 percent of total revenue over the next decade, from 4 percent this year. (Reuters)
The Ifo business confidence index for Germany dropped unexpectedly from 115.9 points to 115.2 in September. A Reuters survey of economists had predicted a slight rise.
Luxembourg’s finance minister, Pierre Gramegna, has “great hopes” that the EU banking watchdog will move from London to his country after Brexit. (Handelsblatt)
ABB, a Swiss maker of power stations, motors and robots, agreed to pay $2.6 billion for GE’s power aggregate and converter business.
The leader of the Christian Social Union, Horst Seehofer, said he would remain in office. The Bavarian sister party of Angela Merkel’s Christian Democrats suffered a loss in Sunday’s election.
SAP, the world’s biggest maker of business software, has agreed to buy e-commerce specialist Gigya. The price of the Silicon Valley startup reportedly was $350 million.
Coalition talks among the parties are not likely to be finalized until well into October, according to election commentators.
