Wednesday, August 29, 2007
Monday, August 27, 2007
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany's Landesbanken face obstacles on path to consolidation
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany's Landesbanken face obstacles on path to consolidation
Germany's Landesbanken face obstacles on path to consolidation
By Ivar Simensen in Frankfurt
Published: August 27 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 27 2007 03:00
LBBW's takeover of Sachsen LB will likely be followed by more consolidation in Germany's public bank sector, but power games among their owners are bound to complicate the process.
The liquidity squeeze in the capital markets has already had a lasting impact on the German banking sector. The rescue of Sachsen LB, after it was unable to provide credit facilities it had pledged to one of its investment funds, yesterday led to the Landesbank for the state of Saxony being sold to LBBW, its bigger peer.
Many banks have come under pressure to merge, after the most recent market turmoil has unveiled that they are too small and unprofitable on their own.
"I am convinced that we need a further consolidation in the Landesbanken," said Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, at the end of last week.
The Landesbanken have changed dramatically from their 19th century roots, when they were founded to support local business. For decades, the Landesbank was a cornerstone in the region's economy, acting as the core corporate lender and central bank to the local savings banks. But a few years ago the banks' position started to wane.
The banks were already facing rising competition from private and co-operative banks, the two other pillars of Germany's three-pillar banking system, when the economic downturn in 2002 sent bad loans surging. Two years ago the banks lost their state guarantees, which had allowed them to borrow at cheaper rates than their commercial rivals, creating savings they could pass on to their customers.
Falling profits at home forced the Landesbanken to change their business models and seek new revenue sources. Each bank chose a different strategy, but all started investing more in the capital markets, via investment vehicles that required little capital.
"It all stems from the end of the state guarantees," said a senior executive at one Landesbank, who declined to be named. "It changed the way they behaved. They went into more risky funds. It was a pattern across all Landesbanken, but some did it irresponsibly."
The varying degrees of success in establishing a new business model will dictate who dominates the consolidation process in the future. The largest players, Landesbank Baden-Würtemberg and Bayern LB, have clearly expressed their desire to consolidate.
The takeover of Sachsen LB will be followed by at least one deal.
WestLB is working on finding a partner, after its attempts to build a presence in investment banking have brought it into severe difficulties more than once.
Politicians in North-Rhine Westphalia had already decided to divest the state's stake in the bank when it lost more than €200m this year on failed speculation in the stock market.
As the deadline for potential M&A advisers to audition for WestLB expired at midday on Friday (August 24), Stuttgart's LBBW will again line up in the front line of suitors.
However, unlike in commercial takeovers, which are by and large decided by price, based on synergies, takeovers in the public banking sector are complicated by the diverging motives of the owners.
Political sensitivities and local history also make synergies hard to achieve. A merged WestLB-LBBW would have five corporate headquarters - in Düsseldorf, Münster, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Talks of a deal have already triggered protests by politicians worried their town will lose influence and jobs.
"The history of the Landesbanken sector has been about the battle between the local politicians and the savings banks associations," said a banker in Frankfurt.
In North-Rhine Westphalia, the situation is further complicated by an apparent power struggle between the two savings bank associations that together with the state own WestLB.
The Landesbanken can not even count on the support of its own trade association.
Despite all being members of the German savings banks association (DSGV), thesavings banks and Landesbanken are "far from a happy family," said another senior advisor to German banks.
"The savings banks associations are worried that LBBW could become too powerful," said a Landesbank executive.
Indeed Heinrich Haasis, president of DSGV, and Siegfried Jaschinski, chief executive of LBBW, have already clashed once this year, in the auction for Landesbank Berlin.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany's Landesbanken face obstacles on path to consolidation
By Ivar Simensen in Frankfurt
Published: August 27 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 27 2007 03:00
LBBW's takeover of Sachsen LB will likely be followed by more consolidation in Germany's public bank sector, but power games among their owners are bound to complicate the process.
The liquidity squeeze in the capital markets has already had a lasting impact on the German banking sector. The rescue of Sachsen LB, after it was unable to provide credit facilities it had pledged to one of its investment funds, yesterday led to the Landesbank for the state of Saxony being sold to LBBW, its bigger peer.
Many banks have come under pressure to merge, after the most recent market turmoil has unveiled that they are too small and unprofitable on their own.
"I am convinced that we need a further consolidation in the Landesbanken," said Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, at the end of last week.
The Landesbanken have changed dramatically from their 19th century roots, when they were founded to support local business. For decades, the Landesbank was a cornerstone in the region's economy, acting as the core corporate lender and central bank to the local savings banks. But a few years ago the banks' position started to wane.
The banks were already facing rising competition from private and co-operative banks, the two other pillars of Germany's three-pillar banking system, when the economic downturn in 2002 sent bad loans surging. Two years ago the banks lost their state guarantees, which had allowed them to borrow at cheaper rates than their commercial rivals, creating savings they could pass on to their customers.
Falling profits at home forced the Landesbanken to change their business models and seek new revenue sources. Each bank chose a different strategy, but all started investing more in the capital markets, via investment vehicles that required little capital.
"It all stems from the end of the state guarantees," said a senior executive at one Landesbank, who declined to be named. "It changed the way they behaved. They went into more risky funds. It was a pattern across all Landesbanken, but some did it irresponsibly."
The varying degrees of success in establishing a new business model will dictate who dominates the consolidation process in the future. The largest players, Landesbank Baden-Würtemberg and Bayern LB, have clearly expressed their desire to consolidate.
The takeover of Sachsen LB will be followed by at least one deal.
WestLB is working on finding a partner, after its attempts to build a presence in investment banking have brought it into severe difficulties more than once.
Politicians in North-Rhine Westphalia had already decided to divest the state's stake in the bank when it lost more than €200m this year on failed speculation in the stock market.
As the deadline for potential M&A advisers to audition for WestLB expired at midday on Friday (August 24), Stuttgart's LBBW will again line up in the front line of suitors.
However, unlike in commercial takeovers, which are by and large decided by price, based on synergies, takeovers in the public banking sector are complicated by the diverging motives of the owners.
Political sensitivities and local history also make synergies hard to achieve. A merged WestLB-LBBW would have five corporate headquarters - in Düsseldorf, Münster, Stuttgart, Mannheim and Karlsruhe. Talks of a deal have already triggered protests by politicians worried their town will lose influence and jobs.
"The history of the Landesbanken sector has been about the battle between the local politicians and the savings banks associations," said a banker in Frankfurt.
In North-Rhine Westphalia, the situation is further complicated by an apparent power struggle between the two savings bank associations that together with the state own WestLB.
The Landesbanken can not even count on the support of its own trade association.
Despite all being members of the German savings banks association (DSGV), thesavings banks and Landesbanken are "far from a happy family," said another senior advisor to German banks.
"The savings banks associations are worried that LBBW could become too powerful," said a Landesbank executive.
Indeed Heinrich Haasis, president of DSGV, and Siegfried Jaschinski, chief executive of LBBW, have already clashed once this year, in the auction for Landesbank Berlin.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Friday, August 24, 2007
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany celebrates surplus for first time since 1989
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany celebrates surplus for first time since 1989
Germany celebrates surplus for first time since 1989
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: August 24 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2007 03:00
After nearly 20 years of public deficits, Germany generated a budget surplus in the first half of the year, consecrating the country's transformation from fiscal delinquent to champion of financial rectitude.
Figures released yesterday by the Federal Statistical Office showed the public sector - the federal and regional governments and the social security system - had booked a €1.2bn ($1.6bn, £812m) surplus in the six months to July against a €23bn deficit in the same period last year.
The pace of Germany's fiscal consolidation, largely due to booming tax revenues on the back of the economic recovery, has taken both observers and the finance ministry by surprise, with the government still forecasting a deficit of 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product this year.
The European Commission welcomed the news while Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said this was "something that has not happened for a long time, though we should not rest on our laurels".
Holger Schmieding, chief Europe economist at Bank of America, said that "given the magnitude of the improvement on last year, I would now likely project a minor surplus already this year".
Alfred Boss, public finance expert at the IfW economic institute in Kiel, who correctly predicted the half-year figure, now expects a full-year surplus of €2bn-€3bn.
This would be a historic milestone. With the exception of the second half of 2000, when the government booked a huge one-off windfall from the auction of third-generation mobile phone licences, Germany has achieved a net lending position only twice in 34 years - in 1989 and 1973.
From 2002 to 2005, as the economy was stagnating and unemployment rocketing, Berlin repeatedly breached the European Union's fiscal rules, which ban public-sector deficits of more than 3 per cent of GDP. Since then, however, the economy has rebounded vigorously, helping to fill the state's coffers.
"Germany has been much stricter in its expenditure control than most other countries", said Mr Schmieding, pointing to the 0.7 per cent rise in public spending in the first half. "The fiscal reins are still tighter than in France, the UK, the US and almost any other comparable economy.
"Having said that, most of the good news on the expenditure side is over," he said. "From now on we will see a very gradual erosion of public discipline."
The finance ministry warned against such a relaxation in its monthly report yesterday, saying there was "no margin for tax cuts beyond those included in the recently adopted corporate tax reform".
Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, said in a German newspaper interview, "those calling for tax cuts now are shamelessly advocating a return to the policies that left us with a €1,500bn debt mountain".
The minister is concerned that the development could weaken his hand as Ms -Merkel's cabinet, which is today concluding its mid-term conclave north of Berlin, discusses potentially costly policies.
Among the steps being floated are higher unemployment benefits, new family allowances, more spending on education and an ambitious climate-change package, including tax incentives.
Meanwhile, corporate tax reform, which takes effect next year, will cost €25.3bn between 2008 and 2011 while rising interest rates are boosting yearly repayments linked to the public debt.
The detail of the yesterdays figures showed a sharp increase in revenues from income and corporate tax - up 29.8 and 11.9 per cent respectively - reflecting the steep fall in unemployment over the past two years, a gradual rise in wages and record corporate profits.
"There is a trend," said Dietrich Stache of the Statistical Office, "but people should not extrapolate the first-half figures to the full year as the pattern of expenditures and revenues varies greatly between the first and second half."
The government, for instance, receives an inflow of money from the Bundesbank's profits in the first half while Christmas bonuses and seasonal sales generate more income and value-added tax in the second half.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany celebrates surplus for first time since 1989
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: August 24 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 24 2007 03:00
After nearly 20 years of public deficits, Germany generated a budget surplus in the first half of the year, consecrating the country's transformation from fiscal delinquent to champion of financial rectitude.
Figures released yesterday by the Federal Statistical Office showed the public sector - the federal and regional governments and the social security system - had booked a €1.2bn ($1.6bn, £812m) surplus in the six months to July against a €23bn deficit in the same period last year.
The pace of Germany's fiscal consolidation, largely due to booming tax revenues on the back of the economic recovery, has taken both observers and the finance ministry by surprise, with the government still forecasting a deficit of 0.5 per cent of gross domestic product this year.
The European Commission welcomed the news while Angela Merkel, the chancellor, said this was "something that has not happened for a long time, though we should not rest on our laurels".
Holger Schmieding, chief Europe economist at Bank of America, said that "given the magnitude of the improvement on last year, I would now likely project a minor surplus already this year".
Alfred Boss, public finance expert at the IfW economic institute in Kiel, who correctly predicted the half-year figure, now expects a full-year surplus of €2bn-€3bn.
This would be a historic milestone. With the exception of the second half of 2000, when the government booked a huge one-off windfall from the auction of third-generation mobile phone licences, Germany has achieved a net lending position only twice in 34 years - in 1989 and 1973.
From 2002 to 2005, as the economy was stagnating and unemployment rocketing, Berlin repeatedly breached the European Union's fiscal rules, which ban public-sector deficits of more than 3 per cent of GDP. Since then, however, the economy has rebounded vigorously, helping to fill the state's coffers.
"Germany has been much stricter in its expenditure control than most other countries", said Mr Schmieding, pointing to the 0.7 per cent rise in public spending in the first half. "The fiscal reins are still tighter than in France, the UK, the US and almost any other comparable economy.
"Having said that, most of the good news on the expenditure side is over," he said. "From now on we will see a very gradual erosion of public discipline."
The finance ministry warned against such a relaxation in its monthly report yesterday, saying there was "no margin for tax cuts beyond those included in the recently adopted corporate tax reform".
Peer Steinbrück, finance minister, said in a German newspaper interview, "those calling for tax cuts now are shamelessly advocating a return to the policies that left us with a €1,500bn debt mountain".
The minister is concerned that the development could weaken his hand as Ms -Merkel's cabinet, which is today concluding its mid-term conclave north of Berlin, discusses potentially costly policies.
Among the steps being floated are higher unemployment benefits, new family allowances, more spending on education and an ambitious climate-change package, including tax incentives.
Meanwhile, corporate tax reform, which takes effect next year, will cost €25.3bn between 2008 and 2011 while rising interest rates are boosting yearly repayments linked to the public debt.
The detail of the yesterdays figures showed a sharp increase in revenues from income and corporate tax - up 29.8 and 11.9 per cent respectively - reflecting the steep fall in unemployment over the past two years, a gradual rise in wages and record corporate profits.
"There is a trend," said Dietrich Stache of the Statistical Office, "but people should not extrapolate the first-half figures to the full year as the pattern of expenditures and revenues varies greatly between the first and second half."
The government, for instance, receives an inflow of money from the Bundesbank's profits in the first half while Christmas bonuses and seasonal sales generate more income and value-added tax in the second half.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Kabinettsklausur in Meseberg Regierung öffnet Arbeitsmarkt für Ausländer - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Kabinettsklausur in Meseberg Regierung öffnet Arbeitsmarkt für Ausländer - Deutschland - sueddeutsche.de
Erste Ergebnisse der Kabinettsklausur in Meseberg: Um dem Mangel an Fachkräften in Deutschland entgegenzutreten, will die Bundesregierung den Arbeitsmarkt für osteuropäische Ingenieure in einzelnen Branchen öffnen. Zudem verabschiedete das Kabinett den Klimaschutzpakt.
Erste Ergebnisse der Kabinettsklausur in Meseberg: Um dem Mangel an Fachkräften in Deutschland entgegenzutreten, will die Bundesregierung den Arbeitsmarkt für osteuropäische Ingenieure in einzelnen Branchen öffnen. Zudem verabschiedete das Kabinett den Klimaschutzpakt.
Tuesday, August 21, 2007
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany's skills gap costs it €20bn a year
FT.com / Home UK / UK - Germany's skills gap costs it €20bn a year
Germany's skills gap costs it €20bn a year
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00
Germany's chronic skills shortage is costing its economy up to €20bn ($27bn, £13.6bn) a year, or one percentage point of gross domestic product, according to a study commissioned by the economics ministry.
The failure of Germany's education system to foster skills required by its fast-growing export industry could inflict "long-term damage" to Europe's largest economy, Michael Glos,economics minister, saidyesterday.
The publication, the first attempt at putting a price on Germany's skills bottleneck, comes as the cabinet of chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing to meet at Meseberg, north of Berlin, on Thursday for its two-day mid-term conclave.
Government officials said the "grand coalition" of Christian and Social Democrats had agreed on a "national qualification offensive" aimed at addressing the skills problem.
This matched proposals unveiled by Mr Glos yesterday, including more public and private spending on education and closer co-operation between business and academia. He also urged universities to adapt to the market's requirements and companies to hire more women, older workers and foreigners living in Germany.
The minister was cautious in advocating more immigration, however, reflecting concern among the ruling parties about the vote-losing potential of opening Germany's tight borders.
Currently, non-EU residents who wish to work in Germany must have a yearly income of €80,000. Germany also has the toughest restrictions in the European Union on citizens from new member states.
The skills shortage has become a source of tension between business and politics. While the large industry federations have called for a relaxation of Germany's immigration laws, politicians have accused companies of preferring cheap foreign labour over costly in-house training.
"There is no short-term solution to this problem," said Oliver Koppel, economist a the IW Institute on the German Economy and author of the study. "The eastern European graduates who would have come a few years ago are all in the UK and the US now."
Even there, there is little the federal government can do directly to boost university budgets since education falls within the remit of 16 state governments.
Mr Koppel's study was based on a survey of 2,400 companies, about 85 per cent of which have returned their questionnaires. The cost of the skills shortage was calculated by multiplying the number of unfilled vacancies by a worker's average contribution to Germany's GDP.
Though the estimate of €20bn might appear high, he said, the figure reflected only direct costs. "There are a range of indirect costs too that we did not take into account."
The survey showed the drought of engineers, natural scientists and programmers was acute in sectors with high research and development budgets.
Carmakers, capital goods manufacturers and electronics companies, some of Germany's best export sectors, were among the most affected.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany's skills gap costs it €20bn a year
By Bertrand Benoit in Berlin
Published: August 21 2007 03:00 | Last updated: August 21 2007 03:00
Germany's chronic skills shortage is costing its economy up to €20bn ($27bn, £13.6bn) a year, or one percentage point of gross domestic product, according to a study commissioned by the economics ministry.
The failure of Germany's education system to foster skills required by its fast-growing export industry could inflict "long-term damage" to Europe's largest economy, Michael Glos,economics minister, saidyesterday.
The publication, the first attempt at putting a price on Germany's skills bottleneck, comes as the cabinet of chancellor Angela Merkel is preparing to meet at Meseberg, north of Berlin, on Thursday for its two-day mid-term conclave.
Government officials said the "grand coalition" of Christian and Social Democrats had agreed on a "national qualification offensive" aimed at addressing the skills problem.
This matched proposals unveiled by Mr Glos yesterday, including more public and private spending on education and closer co-operation between business and academia. He also urged universities to adapt to the market's requirements and companies to hire more women, older workers and foreigners living in Germany.
The minister was cautious in advocating more immigration, however, reflecting concern among the ruling parties about the vote-losing potential of opening Germany's tight borders.
Currently, non-EU residents who wish to work in Germany must have a yearly income of €80,000. Germany also has the toughest restrictions in the European Union on citizens from new member states.
The skills shortage has become a source of tension between business and politics. While the large industry federations have called for a relaxation of Germany's immigration laws, politicians have accused companies of preferring cheap foreign labour over costly in-house training.
"There is no short-term solution to this problem," said Oliver Koppel, economist a the IW Institute on the German Economy and author of the study. "The eastern European graduates who would have come a few years ago are all in the UK and the US now."
Even there, there is little the federal government can do directly to boost university budgets since education falls within the remit of 16 state governments.
Mr Koppel's study was based on a survey of 2,400 companies, about 85 per cent of which have returned their questionnaires. The cost of the skills shortage was calculated by multiplying the number of unfilled vacancies by a worker's average contribution to Germany's GDP.
Though the estimate of €20bn might appear high, he said, the figure reflected only direct costs. "There are a range of indirect costs too that we did not take into account."
The survey showed the drought of engineers, natural scientists and programmers was acute in sectors with high research and development budgets.
Carmakers, capital goods manufacturers and electronics companies, some of Germany's best export sectors, were among the most affected.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Friday, August 17, 2007
Bund - Politik - FAZ.NET - Terrorismus: Frühere RAF-Terroristin Haule kommt frei
Bund - Politik - FAZ.NET - Terrorismus: Frühere RAF-Terroristin Haule kommt frei
17. August 2007
Die ehemalige RAF-Terroristin Eva Haule wird nach 21 Jahren aus dem Gefängnis entlassen. Das Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Frankfurt am Main entschied in einem am Freitag veröffentlichten Beschluss, den Rest ihrer lebenslangen Freiheitsstrafe zur Bewährung auszusetzen. Von der inzwischen 53 Jahre alten Haule gehe keine Gefahr mehr für die Allgemeinheit aus, erklärte das Gericht.
17. August 2007
Die ehemalige RAF-Terroristin Eva Haule wird nach 21 Jahren aus dem Gefängnis entlassen. Das Oberlandesgericht (OLG) Frankfurt am Main entschied in einem am Freitag veröffentlichten Beschluss, den Rest ihrer lebenslangen Freiheitsstrafe zur Bewährung auszusetzen. Von der inzwischen 53 Jahre alten Haule gehe keine Gefahr mehr für die Allgemeinheit aus, erklärte das Gericht.
Wednesday, August 15, 2007
Bücher - Feuilleton - FAZ.NET - Buchpreis: „Außergewöhnliche Vielfalt und Vitalität“
Bücher - Feuilleton - FAZ.NET - Buchpreis: „Außergewöhnliche Vielfalt und Vitalität“
15. August 2007
Die Jury für den Deutschen Buchpreis 2007 hat 20 deutschsprachige Belletristik-Werke für die Auszeichnung nominiert. Der Preis ist mit insgesamt 37.500 Euro dotiert und wird zum dritten Mal vergeben. „Ohne uns von Prominenz verführen oder von Originalitätsdruck ablenken zu lassen, haben wir eine Auswahl von zwanzig Titeln getroffen, die die außergewöhnliche Vielfalt und Vitalität spiegelt, mit der sich die deutschsprachige Literatur zumal in diesem Herbst präsentiert“, sagte Jury-Sprecherin Felicitas von Lovenberg, Redakteurin der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, am Mittwoch in Frankfurt.
Die nominierten Romane (in alphabetischer Reihenfolge der Autoren):
- Thommie Bayer: Eine kurze Geschichte vom Glück (Piper, August 2007)
- Larissa Boehning: Lichte Stoffe (Eichborn Berlin, August 2007)
- Julia Franck: Die Mittagsfrau (S. Fischer, September 2007)
- Thomas Glavinic: Das bin doch ich (Hanser, August 2007)
- Lena Gorelik: Hochzeit in Jerusalem (SchirmerGraf, März 2007, siehe: Gorelik, Lena: Hochzeit in Jerusalem)
- Sabine Gruber: Über Nacht (C.H. Beck, Januar 2007, siehe: Gruber, Sabine: Über Nacht)
- Peter Henisch: Eine sehr kleine Frau (Deuticke, August 2007)
- Michael Köhlmeier: Abendland (Hanser, August 2007)
- Katja Lange-Müller: Böse Schafe (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2007)
- Michael Lentz: Pazifik Exil (S. Fischer, August 2007)
- Harald Martenstein: Heimweg (C. Bertelsmann, Februar 2007, siehe: Martenstein, Harald: Heimweg)
- Pierangelo Maset: Laura oder die Tücken der Kunst (kookbooks, September 2007)
- Robert Menasse: Don Juan de la Mancha (Suhrkamp, August 2007)
- Martin Mosebach: Der Mond und das Mädchen (Hanser, August 2007, siehe: Mosebach, Martin: Der Mond und das Mädchen und Online-Feature: Martin Mosebachs Roman „Der Mond und das Mädchen“)
- Mathias Nolte: Roula Rouge (Deuticke, März 2007)
- Gregor Sander: abwesend (Wallstein, März 2007, siehe: Sander, Gregor: Abwesend)
- Arnold Stadler: Komm, gehen wir (S. Fischer, Mai 2007, siehe: Stadler, Arnold: Komm, gehen wir)
- Peter Truschner: Die Träumer (Zsolnay, März 2007)
- John von Düffel: Beste Jahre (DuMont, August 2007)
- Thomas von Steinaecker: Wallner beginnt zu fliegen (FVA, Februar 2007, siehe: Junge Deutsche Literatur: Blut ist schicker als Wasser)
15. August 2007
Die Jury für den Deutschen Buchpreis 2007 hat 20 deutschsprachige Belletristik-Werke für die Auszeichnung nominiert. Der Preis ist mit insgesamt 37.500 Euro dotiert und wird zum dritten Mal vergeben. „Ohne uns von Prominenz verführen oder von Originalitätsdruck ablenken zu lassen, haben wir eine Auswahl von zwanzig Titeln getroffen, die die außergewöhnliche Vielfalt und Vitalität spiegelt, mit der sich die deutschsprachige Literatur zumal in diesem Herbst präsentiert“, sagte Jury-Sprecherin Felicitas von Lovenberg, Redakteurin der Frankfurter Allgemeinen Zeitung, am Mittwoch in Frankfurt.
Die nominierten Romane (in alphabetischer Reihenfolge der Autoren):
- Thommie Bayer: Eine kurze Geschichte vom Glück (Piper, August 2007)
- Larissa Boehning: Lichte Stoffe (Eichborn Berlin, August 2007)
- Julia Franck: Die Mittagsfrau (S. Fischer, September 2007)
- Thomas Glavinic: Das bin doch ich (Hanser, August 2007)
- Lena Gorelik: Hochzeit in Jerusalem (SchirmerGraf, März 2007, siehe: Gorelik, Lena: Hochzeit in Jerusalem)
- Sabine Gruber: Über Nacht (C.H. Beck, Januar 2007, siehe: Gruber, Sabine: Über Nacht)
- Peter Henisch: Eine sehr kleine Frau (Deuticke, August 2007)
- Michael Köhlmeier: Abendland (Hanser, August 2007)
- Katja Lange-Müller: Böse Schafe (Kiepenheuer & Witsch, August 2007)
- Michael Lentz: Pazifik Exil (S. Fischer, August 2007)
- Harald Martenstein: Heimweg (C. Bertelsmann, Februar 2007, siehe: Martenstein, Harald: Heimweg)
- Pierangelo Maset: Laura oder die Tücken der Kunst (kookbooks, September 2007)
- Robert Menasse: Don Juan de la Mancha (Suhrkamp, August 2007)
- Martin Mosebach: Der Mond und das Mädchen (Hanser, August 2007, siehe: Mosebach, Martin: Der Mond und das Mädchen und Online-Feature: Martin Mosebachs Roman „Der Mond und das Mädchen“)
- Mathias Nolte: Roula Rouge (Deuticke, März 2007)
- Gregor Sander: abwesend (Wallstein, März 2007, siehe: Sander, Gregor: Abwesend)
- Arnold Stadler: Komm, gehen wir (S. Fischer, Mai 2007, siehe: Stadler, Arnold: Komm, gehen wir)
- Peter Truschner: Die Träumer (Zsolnay, März 2007)
- John von Düffel: Beste Jahre (DuMont, August 2007)
- Thomas von Steinaecker: Wallner beginnt zu fliegen (FVA, Februar 2007, siehe: Junge Deutsche Literatur: Blut ist schicker als Wasser)
Tuesday, August 14, 2007
Thursday, August 09, 2007
Wednesday, August 08, 2007
Sunday, August 05, 2007
Saturday, August 04, 2007
FT.com / World - Rising demand stirs Leipzig’s top properties
FT.com / World - Rising demand stirs Leipzig’s top properties
Rising demand stirs Leipzig’s top properties
By Hugh Williamson in Leipzig
Published: August 4 2007 05:20 | Last updated: August 4 2007 05:20
For the past decade Leipzig’s property market has been known for one thing: a surfeit of places to rent or buy.
Like many towns in eastern Germany, the region’s largest city outside Berlin experienced a large expansion in construction projects after German reunification.
The subsequent pricking of this largely artificial bubble in the late 1990s became synonymous with the economic mistakes made in Germany’s troubled unity process, as investors failed to materialise, generous tax breaks lapsed and financial instruments such as closed-end property funds lost their shine.
But in a sign that Germany’s recovery is reaching even such difficult economic corners, central Leipzig’s property market is stirring. Rental prices have risen as, for the first time in years, demand is again outstripping supply.
At present, it applies largely to “top-of-the-range office properties”, says Elke Engel, Leipzig director of Aengevelt, a real estate company. In the business heart of Leipzig’s old town, Ms Engel shows visitors around an elegant 300 square metre suite of lawyers’ offices with upmarket fittings and a view of the city’s skyline.
“This costs around €11.50 ($15.80, £7.80) per square metre, a very high rent for Leipzig,” if not for west German cities, she says. She adds: “And finding a new tenant [if the lawyers moved out] would be easy – demand is high.”
This contrasts with Leipzig’s bleak years, when top office rents fell from more than €20 per sq m in the early 1990s to below €10 per sq m in 1998.
Rents are also rising for standard office space, says Wolfgang Morenz of EPM Assetis, another Leipzig estate agent.
“Many companies want to move back into the city centre,” he says. The economic upswing also plays a role, he adds: “Companies accept the argument that, as the economy improves, rents go up,” noting that some rents are edging up from €6 per sq m to around €8 per sq m.
Yet in what property experts see as a “tale of two cities”, Leipzig’s pinch in supply of upmarket office property sits alongside a huge oversupply of less desirable older premises.
As much as 740,000 sq m of Leipzig’s office capacity remains empty – a huge 27 per cent share that tops vacancy rates across Germany.
Towards the outskirts of the city, Ms Engel shows another set of offices, this time gapingly empty, with cables hanging from the ceilings. There have been no tenants for more than two years.
She is convinced these premises will soon be rented but admits the offices – despite a price tag of €5 per sq m – have problems, including their location and the lack of modern underfloor cabling facilities.
Uwe Albrecht, Leipzig’s deputy mayor, says city authorities work with businesses and property companies to find appropriate office space, but ultimately it is the responsibility of investors and property owners to deal with empty premises. Market forces have the final say, he argues.
Tobias Just, a property analyst with Deutsche Bank Research, confirms that despite the vacant premises, Leipzig and eastern Germany as a whole are again becoming promising locations for property investors. But he warns of the risks, including the relative weakness of the eastern economy, including its services sector, and the lack of company headquarters in the region. “Ignoring these risks would be a mistake,” he says.
That view is shared by Christian Ullrich, a property expert at Leipzig’s chamber of commerce. He points out the city’s latest, ambitious construction project: three derelict blocks of offices and apartments that are to be replaced by an upmarket shopping centre.
Reflecting a worry that the flaws of the building boom in the 1990s could repeat themselves, he says: “I’m not sure there’s really the demand for more shopping space, especially selling luxury products. People in Leipzig are not very wealthy.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Rising demand stirs Leipzig’s top properties
By Hugh Williamson in Leipzig
Published: August 4 2007 05:20 | Last updated: August 4 2007 05:20
For the past decade Leipzig’s property market has been known for one thing: a surfeit of places to rent or buy.
Like many towns in eastern Germany, the region’s largest city outside Berlin experienced a large expansion in construction projects after German reunification.
The subsequent pricking of this largely artificial bubble in the late 1990s became synonymous with the economic mistakes made in Germany’s troubled unity process, as investors failed to materialise, generous tax breaks lapsed and financial instruments such as closed-end property funds lost their shine.
But in a sign that Germany’s recovery is reaching even such difficult economic corners, central Leipzig’s property market is stirring. Rental prices have risen as, for the first time in years, demand is again outstripping supply.
At present, it applies largely to “top-of-the-range office properties”, says Elke Engel, Leipzig director of Aengevelt, a real estate company. In the business heart of Leipzig’s old town, Ms Engel shows visitors around an elegant 300 square metre suite of lawyers’ offices with upmarket fittings and a view of the city’s skyline.
“This costs around €11.50 ($15.80, £7.80) per square metre, a very high rent for Leipzig,” if not for west German cities, she says. She adds: “And finding a new tenant [if the lawyers moved out] would be easy – demand is high.”
This contrasts with Leipzig’s bleak years, when top office rents fell from more than €20 per sq m in the early 1990s to below €10 per sq m in 1998.
Rents are also rising for standard office space, says Wolfgang Morenz of EPM Assetis, another Leipzig estate agent.
“Many companies want to move back into the city centre,” he says. The economic upswing also plays a role, he adds: “Companies accept the argument that, as the economy improves, rents go up,” noting that some rents are edging up from €6 per sq m to around €8 per sq m.
Yet in what property experts see as a “tale of two cities”, Leipzig’s pinch in supply of upmarket office property sits alongside a huge oversupply of less desirable older premises.
As much as 740,000 sq m of Leipzig’s office capacity remains empty – a huge 27 per cent share that tops vacancy rates across Germany.
Towards the outskirts of the city, Ms Engel shows another set of offices, this time gapingly empty, with cables hanging from the ceilings. There have been no tenants for more than two years.
She is convinced these premises will soon be rented but admits the offices – despite a price tag of €5 per sq m – have problems, including their location and the lack of modern underfloor cabling facilities.
Uwe Albrecht, Leipzig’s deputy mayor, says city authorities work with businesses and property companies to find appropriate office space, but ultimately it is the responsibility of investors and property owners to deal with empty premises. Market forces have the final say, he argues.
Tobias Just, a property analyst with Deutsche Bank Research, confirms that despite the vacant premises, Leipzig and eastern Germany as a whole are again becoming promising locations for property investors. But he warns of the risks, including the relative weakness of the eastern economy, including its services sector, and the lack of company headquarters in the region. “Ignoring these risks would be a mistake,” he says.
That view is shared by Christian Ullrich, a property expert at Leipzig’s chamber of commerce. He points out the city’s latest, ambitious construction project: three derelict blocks of offices and apartments that are to be replaced by an upmarket shopping centre.
Reflecting a worry that the flaws of the building boom in the 1990s could repeat themselves, he says: “I’m not sure there’s really the demand for more shopping space, especially selling luxury products. People in Leipzig are not very wealthy.”
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Friday, August 03, 2007
Saturday, July 28, 2007
FT.com / World - Germany’s tourists holiday at home
FT.com / World - Germany’s tourists holiday at home
Germany’s tourists holiday at home
By Hugh Williamson
Published: July 28 2007 06:33 | Last updated: July 28 2007 06:33
Wilfried Adolph, a pensioner from Dresden, is posing in the sun outside Sanssouci, a golden 18th century palace in Potsdam, near Berlin. “Germany is such a varied country, you don't need to go further away for a holiday” he says.
As the peak holiday season begins in Germany this weekend, many will share his view, and head not to airports but to the beaches, mountains and resorts their own country has to offer.
In a trend that is injecting new life into a €59bn domestic travel industry long seen as unadventurous and expensive, increasing numbers of Germans are choosing to holiday at home, attracted by offers, new hotels and restaurants, and better service.
Germany's economic recovery is also playing a role, says Birgit Freitag, spokeswoman for the tourism authority in Brandenburg, the region around Berlin where Sanssouci is located.
Over 90 per cent of Brandenburg's visitors are Germans, many of whom are keen on short holidays and long weekends, “especially now that people have a little more money in their pockets”.
The trend marks both continuity and change compared, for instance, with 20 years ago, according to the DZT, Germany’s tourism marketing agency. “Back then, many Germans took a fairly standard annual 3-to-4- week summer holiday at the seaside or in the Alps [in Germany], with few breaks in between,” a spokeswoman says.
Germans still take more holidays in Germany than in other individual destinations such as Spain and Italy. And the number of vacations taken within the country, as a percentage of all trips of four days or more, rose to 32 per cent last year from 29 per cent in 1999.
The increased enthusiasm for German holidays has been spurred by tour operators offering a growing variety of tailor-made holidays ranging from city breaks to “wellness” packages.
Environmental awareness about damaging carbon emissions from long-haul flights, and worries over terror attacks abroad, has also played a role in discouraging foreign trips.
And travel within the country has also increased since German reunification in 1990, which opened up new frontiers for Germans from both east and west.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a relatively poor coastal region in the former communist east, is now the country’s second most popular destination after Bavaria, offering sandy beaches, cycling and water sports.
Brandenburg, also in the former east, has been successful in attracting more German holiday-makers, by, for instance, combining city and countryside attractions, says Ms Freitag.
“We have 3,000 lakes and many rivers, and many western Germans like to hire boats to sail our waterways, and along the way stop in Berlin to see the sights,” she says.
Visitors to Brandenburg made about 8.8m overnight stays last year – up by 1.5m on 1996 – and the region is confident of breaking the 9m mark this year, she adds.
Detlef Naujokat, director of Ring Hotel am See, a 150-bed hotel in the Brandenburg countryside north of Berlin, says his hotel has expanded its spa and wellness area, which attracts both weekend guests and health enthusiasts.
“The improved economy is making a difference. People have more [financial] security, so are willing to spend more money on pampering themselves,” he says, noting that he has recently boosted his staff by four people to a total of 65.
Germany's appeal to its own population was helped by last year’s soccer world cup, when, to quote the DZT, “many Germans took a second, more positive look at their own country”.
Yet foreign trips, especially with budget airlines, remain popular too, so German operators need to keep on their toes, stresses Ms Freitag.
“Some parts of Brandenburg still do not have the best services for tourists,” she admits, acknowledging teething problems in eastern Germany’s embrace of the service culture.
Back at Sanssouci, it is the turn of Christina Müller, a 24-year-old woman from Hamburg, to pose in front of the palace.
She says she used to go on German holidays with her parents, but is now rediscovering the country – travelling this time with a friend from Austria.
“I also travel abroad, but having visits at home, especially these sorts of short trips to new places, can be fun too,” she says.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Germany’s tourists holiday at home
By Hugh Williamson
Published: July 28 2007 06:33 | Last updated: July 28 2007 06:33
Wilfried Adolph, a pensioner from Dresden, is posing in the sun outside Sanssouci, a golden 18th century palace in Potsdam, near Berlin. “Germany is such a varied country, you don't need to go further away for a holiday” he says.
As the peak holiday season begins in Germany this weekend, many will share his view, and head not to airports but to the beaches, mountains and resorts their own country has to offer.
In a trend that is injecting new life into a €59bn domestic travel industry long seen as unadventurous and expensive, increasing numbers of Germans are choosing to holiday at home, attracted by offers, new hotels and restaurants, and better service.
Germany's economic recovery is also playing a role, says Birgit Freitag, spokeswoman for the tourism authority in Brandenburg, the region around Berlin where Sanssouci is located.
Over 90 per cent of Brandenburg's visitors are Germans, many of whom are keen on short holidays and long weekends, “especially now that people have a little more money in their pockets”.
The trend marks both continuity and change compared, for instance, with 20 years ago, according to the DZT, Germany’s tourism marketing agency. “Back then, many Germans took a fairly standard annual 3-to-4- week summer holiday at the seaside or in the Alps [in Germany], with few breaks in between,” a spokeswoman says.
Germans still take more holidays in Germany than in other individual destinations such as Spain and Italy. And the number of vacations taken within the country, as a percentage of all trips of four days or more, rose to 32 per cent last year from 29 per cent in 1999.
The increased enthusiasm for German holidays has been spurred by tour operators offering a growing variety of tailor-made holidays ranging from city breaks to “wellness” packages.
Environmental awareness about damaging carbon emissions from long-haul flights, and worries over terror attacks abroad, has also played a role in discouraging foreign trips.
And travel within the country has also increased since German reunification in 1990, which opened up new frontiers for Germans from both east and west.
Mecklenburg-Vorpommern, a relatively poor coastal region in the former communist east, is now the country’s second most popular destination after Bavaria, offering sandy beaches, cycling and water sports.
Brandenburg, also in the former east, has been successful in attracting more German holiday-makers, by, for instance, combining city and countryside attractions, says Ms Freitag.
“We have 3,000 lakes and many rivers, and many western Germans like to hire boats to sail our waterways, and along the way stop in Berlin to see the sights,” she says.
Visitors to Brandenburg made about 8.8m overnight stays last year – up by 1.5m on 1996 – and the region is confident of breaking the 9m mark this year, she adds.
Detlef Naujokat, director of Ring Hotel am See, a 150-bed hotel in the Brandenburg countryside north of Berlin, says his hotel has expanded its spa and wellness area, which attracts both weekend guests and health enthusiasts.
“The improved economy is making a difference. People have more [financial] security, so are willing to spend more money on pampering themselves,” he says, noting that he has recently boosted his staff by four people to a total of 65.
Germany's appeal to its own population was helped by last year’s soccer world cup, when, to quote the DZT, “many Germans took a second, more positive look at their own country”.
Yet foreign trips, especially with budget airlines, remain popular too, so German operators need to keep on their toes, stresses Ms Freitag.
“Some parts of Brandenburg still do not have the best services for tourists,” she admits, acknowledging teething problems in eastern Germany’s embrace of the service culture.
Back at Sanssouci, it is the turn of Christina Müller, a 24-year-old woman from Hamburg, to pose in front of the palace.
She says she used to go on German holidays with her parents, but is now rediscovering the country – travelling this time with a friend from Austria.
“I also travel abroad, but having visits at home, especially these sorts of short trips to new places, can be fun too,” she says.
Copyright The Financial Times Limited 2007
Monday, July 09, 2007
FTD.de - Industrie - Nachrichten - Danone kauft niederländischen Konkurrenten
FTD.de - Industrie - Nachrichten - Danone kauft niederländischen Konkurrenten
Danone expandiert erneut: Der französische Lebensmittelkonzern will den niederländischen Milchkonzern Numico für 55 Euro je Aktie in bar übernehmen - das bedeutet einen Kaufpreis in zweistelliger Milliardenhöhe.
Danone expandiert erneut: Der französische Lebensmittelkonzern will den niederländischen Milchkonzern Numico für 55 Euro je Aktie in bar übernehmen - das bedeutet einen Kaufpreis in zweistelliger Milliardenhöhe.
Thursday, July 05, 2007
FTD.de - Handel + Dienstleister - Nachrichten - Bahn bietet weniger als vier Prozent
FTD.de - Handel + Dienstleister - Nachrichten - Bahn bietet weniger als vier Prozent
Die Deutsche Bahn will ihren Beschäftigten im Tarifstreit eine Erhöhung der Entgelte deutlich unter vier Prozent anbieten. Auch bei den Verhandlungen mit den Lokführern bleibt das Unternehmen hart: 31 Prozent mehr Lohn seien eine "völlig inakzeptable Forderung".
Die Deutsche Bahn will ihren Beschäftigten im Tarifstreit eine Erhöhung der Entgelte deutlich unter vier Prozent anbieten. Auch bei den Verhandlungen mit den Lokführern bleibt das Unternehmen hart: 31 Prozent mehr Lohn seien eine "völlig inakzeptable Forderung".
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