Finance

By the end of 2022, 13 sets of the new generation of ÖBB Nightjets are to travel through Europe. The night train network is to be expanded even further.

The new generation of ÖBB nightjets is ready. The train is in an elegant dark blue, the first 13 trains are to roll across Europe from the end of 2022.

The Nightjet from Siemens consists of two seated, three couchette and two sleeping cars, each of which has its own shower and toilet. Mini-suites for single travelers are also available. Environment Minister Leonore Gewessler and ÖBB boss Andreas Matthä want to expand the night train network even further.

A steel frame meets lush upholstery. Classic, modern design combined with comfort that invites you to linger.

Is that still a chair or is it already a bed? A combination of both. At least the British designer Faye Toogood deliberately plays with two contrasting elements. A simple stainless steel framework encased in a soft, thick upholstered cover. Toogood designed the “Puffy Lounge Chair” in cooperation with the Swedish furniture design company “Hem”.

Puffy Seating Collection

It is the introduction to a complete seating furniture collection. Faye Toogood is a British designer who creates sculpture as well as furniture and fashion. “The idea behind the“ Puffy Seating Collection ”is to highlight the two almost contradicting ideas that come into play in the furniture,” she says of her design. And the British designer leaves nothing to chance when it comes to the materials: The chair's frame is made of modern stainless steel with a sandblasted surface, which gives the “Puffy Lounge Chair” a special elegance.

British designer

The lush upholstery is available in various, high-quality fabrics: cotton, linen or leather. The cushions are filled with ball fiber, a particularly comfortable filling material. So here you can make yourself comfortable and with a clear conscience. From € 2,099 at www.hem.com

The majority owner only returned to the supervisory board last year.

The majority owner of the brake manufacturer Knorr-Bremse, Heinz Hermann Thiele, is dead. The 79-year-old died unexpectedly in Munich on Tuesday, the company announced on Tuesday evening.

Share in Lufthansa

The self-made billionaire also held a double-digit stake in the largest German airline and AUA parent Lufthansa. Thiele bought his employer Knorr-Bremse in 1985 and, as CEO, expanded it into a billion-dollar company.

In 2018 he brought the company to the stock exchange. Only last year Thiele returned to the supervisory board and acted as deputy chairman.

Visionary personality

“The Executive Board and the Supervisory Board mourn the loss of a global and visionary entrepreneur who has shaped the global rail and commercial vehicle industry for decades,” said Knorr-Bremse.

“Heinz Hermann Thiele dedicated his whole life to the service of the company.”

The business economist has worked in various management positions at Wienerberger for over 20 years.

The building materials group Wienerberger is getting a new CFO. On March 1, Gerhard Hanke (50) was appointed CFO.

Much experience

He is succeeding Carlo Crosetto, who requested the Supervisory Board to resign from the Management Board on February 28, the company announced on Tuesday evening.

Hanke, who holds a degree in business administration, has worked in various management positions in the Wienerberger Group for over 20 years.

As of March, the Management Board of Wienerberger AG will consist of Heimo Scheuch (CEO), Gerhard Hanke (CFO), Solveig Menard-Galli (COO Wienerberger Building Solutions) and Harald Schwarzmayr (COO Wienerberger Piping Solutions).

The value of the IPO is estimated at at least 15 billion euros.

The British telecommunications group Vodafone wants to announce the IPO of its radio tower division Vantage Towers according to circles in the coming days.

Publication possible on Wednesday

Corresponding documents could already be published on Wednesday, reported the Bloomberg news agency on Tuesday, citing people familiar with the matter. The two companies did not want to comment, the report said.

The initiated people put the value of the IPO at at least 15 billion euros. Bloomberg had already reported in mid-November that Vodafone wanted to raise four billion euros in the IPO (Initial Public Offering).

At that time there was talk of a valuation of up to 20 billion euros including debt. According to Bloomberg data, this would be the largest IPO on a European exchange in more than three years.

Relieve balance sheets

Vodafone had already made its stock exchange plans for the European radio tower division public in 2019 and substantiated it last summer. By selling transmitter masts, telecommunications companies can relieve their balance sheets and, for example, collect money for investments in the new, fast 5G mobile network.

In view of the low interest rates, radio towers and mobile phone locations are considered an attractive investment for professional investors such as insurers and financial investors who are interested in a stable return on rental prices.

The Constitutional Court has been dealing since Tuesday with the question of whether non-prescription drugs can also be sold in drugstores in the future.

After the marriage for everyone, a tilted headscarf ban and a less strict legal situation on euthanasia, the Constitutional Court could now set the next bang. Because drug stores want to be able to sell prescription-free drugs in the future.

It is not to be understood that everyday drugs such as aspirin, sleeping pills or pain relievers can only be sold in (online) pharmacies. So far, this has been justified with the necessary advice, but this is hardly necessary for over-the-counter drugs anyway and can be done at least as well in drugstores as in online pharmacies.

A study by the Federal Competition Authority already showed in 2018 that opening up the market to consumers would be desirable. The drugstore chain “dm” therefore brought in the application for a pharmacy monopoly in the sale of non-prescription drugs.

Even the pharmacies would hardly be affected by this because they generate their main sales with prescription drugs. In addition, they have already expanded their range far into the drugstore areas and now offer food supplements and cosmetics.

In other EU countries, over-the-counter drugs have long been available in drugstores, in some places even in supermarkets.

“The rapid development of Internet pharmacies shows the need to offer tested quality at lower prices and to create attractive alternatives to the often dubious online providers,” explains managing director Harald Bauer in a broadcast.

According to a legal opinion, there is a risk of infringement proceedings and fines of up to 45 million euros.

By 2029, 90 percent of all plastic bottles should be collected. How this should be implemented is still unclear.

The EU recycling targets for plastic bottles will not have to be achieved for a few years, but the implementation deadline for the directive will end at the beginning of July. This means that by then measures must be taken that make it possible to expect that the goals will be achieved.

Austria is threatened with infringement proceedings if no appropriate steps are taken in the next four months, said Teresa Weber from the University of Salzburg. The European law expert prepared a legal opinion on the subject on behalf of the environmental protection organization Greenpeace. Accordingly, Austria could face annual fines of 20 to 45 million euros.

In autumn, Minister Leonore Gewessler (Greens) presented a “three-point plan against the plastic flood”. In addition to a minimum quota for reusable packaging and a manufacturer tax for plastic packaging, it also provides for the introduction of a one-way deposit.

Resistance to the one-way deposit comes from the Chamber of Commerce (WKÖ), which wants to avoid an additional burden on its members. In an economic crisis in particular, the additional expense would not be reasonable for retailers.

Paths to the goal

Instead of a deposit system, the WKÖ suggests expanding the existing recycling system. Yellow sacks and yellow bins for one-way packaging with recycling value are to move into Austria's homes and businesses across the board. There should also be alternatives to the residual waste bin in public spaces. The consumers would have to bear the costs for this through the garbage fees.

According to Greenpeace, this would be inadequate because there is “no country that can manage a separate collection rate for PET bottles of over 90 percent without a deposit”. Bottles consumed en route in particular would continue to be disposed of in the residual waste.

Sorting these out would be costly and only conditionally effective. Because contaminated plastic bottles can only be recycled into products of inferior quality, Weber said the measure would not comply with EU law. The example of Germany, however, shows that a deposit leads to a high return rate (95 percent) and is also compatible with retailers.

The EU's measures aim to generally push back single-use packaging. Half of all plastic packaging (including PET bottles) will have to be recycled by 2025. In Austria it is currently only about a third. As the implementation deadline expired in 2020, infringement proceedings against Austria are already ongoing in this matter.

However, the barometer is still trending below the pre-pandemic level

The sentiment of US consumers brightened unexpectedly in February. The barometer for consumer mood climbed to 91.3 points from a revised 88.9 points in January, as the Institute Conference Board announced on Tuesday for its survey. Economists had only expected an increase to 90.0 points. Despite the increase, the barometer is still well below the level before the outbreak of the corona pandemic.

After three declines in a row, consumers rated their current situation more favorably than last, said expert Lynn Franco of the Conference Board. “This change of course indicates that economic growth has not slowed any further.”

Central bank chief: Will not wait until the Fed is considering changing its monetary policy

According to Federal Reserve Chairman Jerome Powell, the US economy, which has been hard hit by the corona pandemic, will still depend on the help of the monetary authorities for a long time. The economic recovery is still “inconsistent and far from over,” said Powell on Tuesday at his six-month hearing in the US Senate Banking Committee.

It will be some time before the Federal Reserve will consider changing its monetary policy to help the country get back to full employment.

The interest rate cuts and bond purchases, which currently total $ 120 billion a month, “have eased funding conditions considerably and are providing substantial support to the economy,” Powell said. It is his first appearance in the US Congress since the Democratic election victory, which gave them control of both houses of the House. “The economy is still a long way from our full employment and inflation targets and it will likely take some time to make further significant progress,” he added.

The central bank recently signaled that it would only reduce its bond purchases when conditions on the job market and inflation improve radically. The last unemployment rate was 6.3 percent. More than half a million people have now died in connection with corona infection in the United States.

Seventh increase in a row in December

In the United States, the upward trend in house prices has continued. The FHFA house price index was up 1.1 percent in December compared to the previous month, as the Federal Housing Finance Agency (FHFA) announced on Tuesday in New York. This is the seventh increase in a row. In addition, the price increases were stronger than in the time before the corona crisis.

For December, the market was only expected to grow by an average of 1.0 percent. House prices had risen to this extent in the previous month.

In the corona crisis, many people have decided to leave the centers of larger cities like New York and buy houses in the surrounding area. In addition, mortgage rates, which fell significantly during the crisis, are supporting the housing market. The corona pandemic has therefore supported rather than burdened price developments on the American home market.

The FHFA is the regulator for mortgage financiers Fannie Mae and Freddie Mac, nationalized during the financial crisis. The index calculation uses the sales prices of houses whose mortgages have been bought or guaranteed by the agencies.

According to the Case Shiller Index, the rise in house prices in the USA has accelerated despite the corona crisis. In the country's 20 major metropolitan areas, prices rose 10.1 percent in December compared to the same month last year, according to the index published in New York on Tuesday. Analysts had expected a 9.9 percent increase. In November the rate was 9.2 percent.