ROUNDUP: Deutsche Bank increases profit at the start of the year

FRANKFURT - Cost-cutting efforts and booming earnings in the capital market business have brought Deutsche Bank a billion-euro profit at the start of the year. At the same time, Germany's largest financial institution is bracing itself for further setbacks in the commercial real estate market and as a result of the IT breakdowns at Postbank. However, the management assumes that these burdens will decrease over the course of the year, said CFO James von Moltke in a conference call on Thursday. Like the market as a whole, the share recently lost around 0.5 percent of its value.

ROUNDUP: Zuckerberg wants to make Facebook Group the number one in AI

MENLO PARK - Mark Zuckerberg has a new goal: he wants to make his Facebook company Meta the number one in artificial intelligence. The in-house assistant Meta AI is to become the "world's leading AI service in terms of both quality and usage", the Facebook founder announced on Wednesday. At the same time, Zuckerberg warned investors that the AI offensive would be expensive with investments in software and technology - but that it could take years for the company to earn money with it.

ROUDUP: Symrise grows strongly at the start of the year - investors still somewhat disappointed

HOLZMINDEN - Demand for fragrances for expensive perfumes and for additives for personal care and household products provided Symrise with a strong tailwind in the first quarter. The business with additives for pet food also grew significantly on its own. Overall, the company grew faster than analysts had expected on average. However, the expectations of many investors were high after Swiss competitor Givaudan had already impressed with its start to the year. The Symrise share price came under significant pressure on Thursday.

ROUNDUP: Commodities group BHP considers takeover of Anglo American

NEW YORK - One of the biggest takeovers in a long time could be in the offing in the raw materials sector. The mining giant BHP Group is considering a purchase of industry colleague Anglo American < GB00B1XZS820. BHP confirmed that it had approached Anglo American with a corresponding proposal in mid-April. The Group would offer just under 0.71 of its own shares for each Anglo American share in a pure share swap transaction, BHP announced in London on Thursday. This would value the mining group at a total of 31.1 billion British pounds (around 36.2 billion euros). BHP described the offer as "non-binding" and it remains to be seen whether a binding offer will be made.

ROUNDUP: Nestle gets off to a slow start in 2024 - shares under significant pressure

VEVEY - The food giant Nestlé sold less at the start of the year. Thanks to price increases, there was nevertheless positive organic growth. However, this was significantly lower than in the previous year. Nestlé is confident for the rest of the current year 2024 and confirms its targets. Shares came under significant pressure at the start on Thursday. Overall, the Vevey-based company achieved sales of 22.1 billion Swiss francs (around 22.6 billion euros), as announced on Thursday. This is 5.9 percent less than in the first quarter of the previous year. The strong Swiss franc reduced sales by 6.7 percent.

US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co raises forecast

RAHWAY - The US pharmaceutical company Merck & Co has raised its forecast for the current year following good business with its cancer drugs and vaccines at the start of the year. The best-selling anti-cancer drug Keytruda continues to dominate the scene, growing by 20 percent in the first quarter and exceeding expectations with revenues of 6.9 billion US dollars.

Weaker construction and mining demand: Caterpillar sales tread water

IRVING - Lower demand from construction and mining companies slowed down the US construction equipment and commercial vehicle manufacturer Caterpillar in the first quarter. An increase in sales to energy and transportation companies could only offset this to a limited extent. At 15.8 billion US dollars (14.8 billion euros), total revenue for the period from January to the end of March was a tick below the figure for the same quarter of the previous year. Nevertheless, the bottom line profit rose by almost half to 2.86 billion dollars. This was due to lower costs, favorable exchange rate effects and a lower tax rate. While sales fell short of market expectations, profits were somewhat better.

ROUNDUP 2: BASF CEO defends cost-cutting measures and Asia strategy

MANNHEIM - BASF CEO Martin Brudermüller has defended the world's largest chemical company's cost-cutting course and Asia strategy in his last appearance as CEO. These are still stormy times for the chemical industry, said the 62-year-old at the Annual Shareholders' Meeting of the Dax-listed company in Mannheim on Thursday. The chemical giant had performed solidly overall. Even in rough times, BASF is financially strong. However, the figures for the first quarter showed that margins remain under pressure.

ROUNUP: Business with cancer drugs drives Astrazeneca - shares in demand

CAMBRIDGE - Continued strong demand for cancer drugs has given Astrazeneca a tailwind at the start of the year. Business with drugs for cardiovascular, kidney and metabolic diseases as well as for rare diseases also increased. This more than compensated for a significant decline in demand for coronavirus vaccines and medicines. This was well received by the stock market.

ROUNDUP: Wacker Chemie still cautious - analyst: light and shade in the quarter

MUNICH - Despite signs of recovery in the chemical industry, Wacker Chemie remains cautious about future business trends. "Customers have started to replenish their inventories from the recent very low levels," said Group CEO Christian Hartel on Thursday, according to a press release, when presenting the company's first-quarter results. "However, a clear signal for a sustainable turnaround cannot yet be derived from this." The manager confirmed the annual targets.

US chemical company Dow makes the leap back into the profit zone

MIDLAND - The US chemicals group Dow felt the effects of lower prices in the first quarter. In the first three months, sales shrank by nine percent year-on-year to 10.8 billion US dollars (10.1 billion euros), as the company announced in Midland, Michigan, on Thursday. Analysts had expected this on average.

ROUNDUP: Pernod Ricard suffers from weakness in China and full US warehouses

PARIS - The spirits producer Pernod Ricard has felt the effects of weak demand in China and the USA in recent months. While retailers in North America reduced their high inventories, consumers in China tended to forego the expensive spirits of the producer of brands such as Absolut Vodka, Jameson and Havana Club in the face of a weakening economy. However, CEO Alexandre Ricard is convinced that sales will develop positively in the current quarter and is sticking to his sales target. The share price fell by over 3 percent.

ROUNDUP/Strong demand in Asia: Hermes starts the year better than expected

PARIS - The French luxury group Hermes has benefited from strong demand in Asia in the first three months of the year. Leather goods and jewelry in particular were in demand and compensated for the comparatively weaker sales of accessories. Adjusted for exchange rate effects, total sales rose by 17 percent to 3.8 billion euros, the company announced in Paris on Thursday. Hermes thus performed better than analysts had expected on average.

ROUNDUP: Delivery Hero pushes profitability target - fees rise

BERLIN - The food delivery service Delivery Hero wants to drive its growth with more fees for partner restaurants and end customers. For the current year, the Management Board is now aiming for higher sales growth than previously communicated. "Our focus remains on the interplay of growth and profitability with the result of a positive cash flow," said outgoing CFO Emmanuel Thomassin in a statement on Thursday. Delivery Hero shares rose following the presentation of the quarterly figures: They gained 10 percent in morning trading.

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Further news

-Adyen grows strongly as expected - analyst somewhat disappointed - share falls

-Sanofi increases sales slightly more than expected

-ROUNDUP/Slump in demand for cooking boxes: Hellofresh focuses on ready meals

-ROUNDUP: Customers buy unexpectedly many skin care products from Unilever

-Technology group Schneider Electric grows more strongly than expected

-Office workers hardly fear for their jobs due to AI

-Drägerwerk starts the new year with significantly lower profits

-More connections - Flixtrain expands long-distance train service

-Office furniture retailer Takkt hopes for business recovery in the course of the year

-BNP Paribas profit falls slightly - expectations exceeded

-ROUNDUP/Presse: Habeck employees allegedly ignored criticism of nuclear phase-out

-Pfeiffer Vaccum increases sales slightly - investments depress earnings

-Deutsche Bank subsidiary DWS confirms 2025 forecast

-Edeka increases sales to more than 70 billion euros

-Doctors' conference discusses better patient management

-Weak demand gnaws at Michelin sales

-IPO: CVC-Borsengang could raise more than two billion euros

-Vitesco shareholders approve merger with Schaeffler

-Holcim starts the new year with higher operating profit - annual targets confirmed

-Expansion of rail transportation: Vossloh with sales growth at the start of the year

-Wagenknecht wants a vote in the Bundestag on phasing out combustion engines

-KSB defies difficult environment - sales and profit increase

-Hyundai sells fewer cars in the first quarter

-Automotive supplier Hella confirms forecast

-American Airlines expects a strong second quarter - weak start to the year

-ROUNDUP: Translation service DeepL launches AI language assistant

-Takeover of automotive supplier Voit - workforce informed

-Due to glyphosate: Human rights activists complain to OECD about Bayer

-Consumer protectionists successfully sue Google

-Fraport expands cargo areas within Frankfurt Airport

-ROUNDUP: Aixtron starts the year with a drop in orders - targets confirmed

-ROUNDUP: New multi-million fine in emissions scandal - Continental to pay too

-Government consultant: Germany deploys nurses and doctors inefficiently

-ROUNDUP: Falling zinc price weighs on industrial recycler Befesa

-Federal court rejects lawsuits against connection for LNG terminal

-ROUNDUP: Software provider Atoss remains on course for growth - share price rises

-PEKING: First e-car from Xiaomi is well received by Chinese buyers

-Rossmann invests more and wants to expand its store network

-PEKING/ROUNDUP: German car manufacturers want to get out of the defensive in China

-Mercedes boss on competition in China: 'We are not standing still'

-ROUNDUP: Merck invests 300 million euros in new research center

-ROUNDUP: E-prescription advertising squeezes profit margin of online pharmacy Redcare

-ROUNDUP 2: Five euros for Venice - chaos at the start

-Energy exchange EEX plans auctions of green hydrogen

-Declining demand from the automotive industry weighs on chip group STMicro

-ROUNDUP: Economic weakness depresses order situation at Kion - Share price slide

-ROUNDUP: Visitors to Venice must pay admission for the first time°

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.

/jha