Conglomerate 3M to pay six billion U.S. dollars in ear-stopping settlement

ST. PAUL - In a dispute over allegedly defective ear plugs for the U.S. military, conglomerate 3M has agreed to a multibillion-dollar settlement. A total of six billion U.S. dollars (5.55 billion euros) is to be paid between 2023 and 2029 to settle the legal dispute, the company announced Tuesday in St. Paul (U.S. state of Minnesota). Five billion 3M wants to settle in cash, the rest is to be settled in company shares. The conglomerate therefore expects a charge of around 4.2 billion dollars before taxes in the third quarter.

ROUNDUP: Technical problem stops Toyota production in Japan

TOKYO - At Japanese car giant Toyota, technical problems have led to a complete production stoppage in Japan. The Volkswagen rival announced on Tuesday that a fault in the system for managing parts orders was to blame, which is why the parts required for production could no longer be procured. Toyota was initially unable to predict when the problem would be resolved.

New SAP human resources chief comes from Siemens Energy

WALLDORF - Software company SAP has found a new head of human resources. Gina Vargiu-Breuer has been appointed to the Executive Board as Chief People Officer and Labor Director effective Feb. 1, 2024, the DAX-listed company announced Tuesday in Walldorf. The 48-year-old comes from power engineering company Siemens Energy, where she built up the global HR function and was responsible for the group's HR strategy, according to the statement. Vargiu-Breuer has been appointed to the board for three years and will be based at the company's headquarters in Walldorf, it said. She succeeds Sabine Bendiek.

ROUNDUP: Evotec heavily burdened by hacker attack - share hardly moved

HAMBURG - Drug discovery company Evotec has taken significant blows in the first half of the year due to the cyberattack that took place. Operating profit fell significantly due to the direct follow-up costs and weak capacity utilization, while earnings grew somewhat more strongly than the company had recently forecast. Group CEO Werner Lanthaler confirmed the annual forecast, which had been lowered in July due to the hacker attack, on Tuesday. The Hamburg-based company's MDax-listed shares were virtually flat.

Study: More discounts for combustion engines and price shock for e-cars

DUISBURG/FRANKFURT - Immediately before the IAA motor show in Munich, many manufacturers have offered higher purchase incentives for their combustion models. At the same time, according to the regular market study by the Duisburg-based CAR Institute, a price shock is looming for e-cars because the German government is cutting its subsidies at the turn of the year.

Real estate group Adler loses billions

LUXEMBOURG - The crisis-stricken Adler Group real estate group reported a significant drop in earnings in the first half of the year. Rental income and operating profit fell, and because of higher interest rates Adler - like other companies in the sector - had to devalue its portfolio. The so-called fair value of the entire portfolio, including development projects, amounted to 6.4 billion euros as of June 30, down from 7.4 billion euros at the end of the year, according to Tuesday's data. The net loss in the first six months was just over one billion euros, compared with 604 million a year earlier.

^

More news

-Circuits: German government plans tax relief for housing construction

-ROUNDUP: DZ Bank raises forecast for 2023 after jump in profits in first half of year

-Survey: More industrial companies planning to leave the country

-Eibensteiner remains head of steel group Voestalpine

-Roche reports approval of Tecentriq variant in the UK

-London eases environmental regulations and aims to boost house building

-Selenskyj announces ramp-up of weapons production

-Russia reports successful testing of domestic aircraft

-Energy sector: Very comfortable with e-charging stations

-Storms in northern Italy - Flood gates activated in Venice

-SPD presses for industrial electricity price - Scholz stays away from debate

-Boehringer takes action against evaluation of pharmaceuticals

-Aldi Süd tests food delivery service in Ruhr area

-ROUNDUP: Fixed cab prices to keep industry competitive

-Report: BVB interested in Augsburg striker Berisha

-Textile industry calls for concept for affordable energy prices

-More money in the care sector: Heil wants to raise minimum wage

-Spiegel Group acquires majority stake in soccer magazine '11 Freunde

-ROUNDUP 2: Continued heavy disruptions to flights to and from Great Britain°.

Customer Notice:

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

/jha