The lower earnings guidance came just a day after port logistics group Hamburger Hafen und Logistik AG lowered its target for the year owing to “persistently weak and continually declining” volumes in its container segment.
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German industrial production has moved broadly sideways since the start of the year and the recent weakness in industry is add odds with robust business sentiment surveys that are still signaling solid activity in the months ahead.
The slowdown in China is one of the biggest concerns to German exporters at the current moment. “In our view, however, there is no need to panic”, he said, noting that industry had also posted disappointing numbers last summer.
Industrial production declined 1.2% from July, when it rose 1.2%, which was revised from 0.7%, Destatis said Wednesday. Consumer goods orders also remained in negative territory, falling by 1.5% m/m, driven by non-durables. The drop in orders was exaggerated by school holidays, it said. The report stated that demand from countries beyond the euro area continues to appear “less reliable at the present moment”.
The single currency was little changed after the report and traded at $1.1265 at 8:15 a.m. Frankfurt time. Economic growth in the region will accelerate to 0.5 percent this quarter from 0.4 percent in the previous period, according to updated forecasts by Germany’s Ifo institute, France’s national statistics office Insee and Italy’s statistics agency Istat published on Tuesday. While the brunt of the layoffs will be borne in Asia, 250 jobs will be cut in Europe and 100 in Germany. Chairman-designate Hans Dieter Poetsch warned that the scandal could pose “an existence-threatening crisis” for the firm.
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HAMBURG – Factory orders in Germany fell unexpectedly in August in a sign that Europe’s largest economy is vulnerable to weaker growth in China and other emerging markets.
