Posted on 03/11/2007 12:22:19 PM PDT by wolf78
Traditional values have paid off, says Michael Woodhead in Frankfurt
AS a boy, Jörgen Hambrecht was taught by his grandfather that picking apples demanded a certain technique if the tree was to remain fruitful. A good tree will continue to flourish if you pick each apple in a precise manner.
Hambrecht has found the principle works for him as chief executive of BASF, the German chemicals giant.
The fruit of his labours is the best set of corporate results in BASF’s history: record turnover of €52 billion (£35 billion) and record profits of €3.2 billion.
On the day the results were announced, BASF shares rose 6% on the German DAX.
BASF is part of a wave of record results being posted by German firms. The insurance giant Allianz enjoyed a 60% rise in profits to €7 billion, and Continental, the tyre and car-parts company, registered its fifth-successive set of record results.
While British businessmen may be questioning what the future holds, their German counterparts are full of confidence.
“These successes within our companies are helping to improve the mood in Germany,” said Hambrecht. “People are seeing that, yes, we can change and we can achieve something.
“The World Cup did a lot to inspire national confidence. We are somebody now and accepted at the highest political levels.
“Europe is doing much better and the euro has had a big stabilising effect.
I think we are entering a new dimension.”
Since Hambrecht became chief executive in 2003, profits at BASF have risen 28% and the share price by 12%.
Friends describe him as “down to earth”. One said: “He’s a chemist by training and believes the fundamentals of good business don't change any more more than the elements of chemistry itself.”
(Excerpt) Read more at business.timesonline.co.uk ...
That's good for all of us!
Does this confidence have anything to do with the socialist anti-american Schroeder being kicked to the curb for a more conservative government?
Well, not really - I am fixing to take my family on a trip to Germany, and what we used to pay in marks, we must now pay in Euros.
That is about a 300% price increase.
The article does state that if you go to the link and read the whole thing. Also, Germany has been forced to become more competitive because of the Euro which was inevitable with Europeans migrating back and forth chasing wages and better deals.
They would be better off if their birth rate was 3.7 per couple rather than their GDP being 3.7%.
Wow, if their economy is up they need to send for more muslim "temporary guestworkers".
Regards
"That is about a 300% price increase."
Ouch! Imagine living in that as my Italian relatives must now do. They suffered about a 20% cut in their bottom-line incomes as a result of conversion.
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