Posts Tagged German Market
Euro crisis subdues exports and economic activity in 1st quarter
May 20th, 2013 | Thema: News
According to the latest figures from the Federal Statistical Office (Destatis) the German economy only grew by 0.1 per cent in the first quarter of 2013. In addition, the economy contracted more strongly in the final quarter of last year than previously assessed at 0.7 per cent. In the opinion of the DIW Berlin the export sector is primarily responsible: “The crisis in the eurozone and the weak world economy have burdened German economic growth more strongly and longer than expected,” said the DIW Germany expert Simon Junker. As a result companies had also held back investments. He added that economic development was primarily being supported by private consumption expenditure.
The DIW Berlin remains optimistic for 2013: the institute expects continuing positive impulses from abroad, primarily from emerging markets. In the course of the year this should cause companies to use the cheap financing conditions to invest in equipment. The DIW Berlin expects noticeable growth in economic output, primarily in the second half of the year.
German industrial companies curb production
May 13th, 2013 | Thema: News
Due to falling demand and declining new orders industrial companies in Germany curbed their production in April for the first time since the start of the year. This is one of the results of the seasonally adjusted Markit/BME Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI). Although the decline in production was low, it covered all three industrial sectors. Production volumes fell most strongly in the consumer goods industry, followed by capital goods. The lowest fall was posted by manufacturers of intermediate goods. The total PMI for manufacturing industry fell from 49.0 in March 2013 to 48.1 points now and was thus below the growth threshold of 50 points once again.
The various PMI sub-indices all declined in April. The downwards trend was particularly noticeable in purchasing prices. They fell to the lowest level since August 2009. Many raw materials became noticeably cheaper, especially steel and products based on crude oil. For the first time in three months industrial companies have also granted lower price discounts on their finished products. In the opinion of DIHK Chief Economist Dr Alexander Schumann, the clear decline in the PMI strengthened the picture of a weak start to the year with a subdued outlook for the rest of the year.
Weaker business situation but higher sales expected
April 22nd, 2013 | Thema: News
Just over half – 50.4 per cent – of small and medium sized enterprises in Germany assess their business situation as good or very good. This is the result of the Spring 2013 Creditreform survey on the economic situation and financing in the Mittelstand. One year ago it was even more at 58.6 per cent. In contrast, the proportion of companies expecting increasing sales has remained almost the same: it rose slightly from 37.6 to 38.6 per cent.
The balance of good and poor assessments of the business situations totals plus 47.1 points. This is the third highest level in the past ten years. In the good marks service companies lead the sector field with 55.3 per cent. In retail only 45 per cent of companies gave a good mark. Sales rose at a good fifth of SMEs; last year this was only the case at a quarter. In contrast, 28.6 per cent recorded a decline.
Capital resources in the German Mittelstand have also developed positively: for the first time in the Creditreform survey the proportion of companies with an equity ratio of more than 30 per cent of the balance sheet total was higher than the proportion of businesses with an equity ratio of below 10 per cent – 32.8 compared to 28.3 per cent. In manufacturing industry 40.7 per cent of businesses have an equity ratio of more than 30 per cent. In the construction sector, which traditionally tends to be weak in equity, there has been considerable growth from 15.2 to 20.7 per cent.
New orders in mechanical engineering at previous year’s level
April 2nd, 2013 | Thema: News
New orders in mechanical and plant engineering in Germany moved at exactly the same level as in the previous year in February 2013, i.e. plus-minus zero. Domestic business went up by two per cent but foreign business was one per cent below the previous year’s level, the Verband Deutscher Maschinen- und Anlagenbau (VDMA, or German Engineering Association) has just reported. In the three month comparison from December 2012 to February 2013, which is less influenced by short-term, fluctuations, there is an overall plus of one per cent in comparison with the previous year. Domestic orders were at minus one per cent, foreign orders at plus two per cent.
Thus, according to the VDMA’s assessment the, “rather unspectacular business activity oriented on holding onto what has been reached continued.” This was also reflected in orders in hand, which at 5.8 months corresponded exactly to last October’s level.
Positive labour market subdues start-up activities
March 25th, 2013 | Thema: News
The labour market in Germany continued to develop positively in 2012. Therefore, last year there were good opportunities for finding employment. This negatively influenced start-up activity: 775,000 people – and thus 60,000 or seven per cent fewer than in 2011 – decided on moving into self-employment last year. This is a record low for start-ups in Germany since 2000. This is the central result of the current KfW survey on business start-ups in Germany.
According to the evaluations of the KfW questionnaire, lower start-up activity has primarily manifested itself in fewer full-time founder start-ups (315,000 vs. 381,000 in 2011). This has also had an influence on employment effects. In 2012 a total of 383,000 full-time positions were created by new start-ups; of these 212,000 were accounted for by the business founder themselves and correspondingly 171,000 by jobs for employed staff. In comparison with 2011 this is a decline of 15 per cent. The number of jobs created fell to the lowest level since the start of the time series in 2005.