European Press Roundup: Germany's Mittelstand Outshines Large-Cap Rivals, Siemens UK CEO's Brexit Letter

In Europe today, markets have gotten off to a healthy second-quarter start following a rebound in Chinese manufacturing activity, while new data shows Eurozone inflation remains below the ECB's target. The top business story: Saudi Aramco supplants Apple as the world's most profitable company. Read about the above topics on Dow Jones Newswires or WSJ.com.

In Other Media...

Germany's small- and medium-sized Mittelstand firms generated record-breaking levels of revenue and pre-tax profit in 2018, according to new research from the German Savings Banks Association. By contrast, pretax income at large German firms fell 4% on year in 2018, while one-third of listed companies have cut their profit forecasts over the past year. -Handelsblatt

Siemens U.K. CEO Juergen Maier warns that continuing Brexit uncertainty is turning the country into a "laughing stock" and urges members of parliament to vote for a customs union with the EU in an open letter published in Politico. "Our reputation as a country for stable and sound business investments could be in tatters by the end of the week if you fail," he said. -Politico

AIB said Monday that it has agreed to sell a EUR1 billion portfolio of non-performing loans, consisting of mostly buy-to-let properties, to U.S. private equity group Cerberus. The portfolio is predominantly made up of investment properties, with limited agriculture exposure and an average balance of EUR500,000 across 5,000 assets. -The Irish Times

Osram Licht CEO Olaf Berlien says he expects global car production to fall to 90 million vehicles this year, rebuffing auto makers' production forecasts of 96 million cars. He cites this slump as one reason behind the lighting company's recent profit warning and its decision to intensify its savings program by cutting or cancelling investments. -FAZ

The British arms of the "Big Four" accounting firms spent GBP700,000 on client hospitality for FTSE 350 companies in the past two years, according to figures given to a parliamentary committee investigating the audit market. -Times of London

Private-equity firms are taking on too much debt in order to fund buyout deals, according to Jonathan Lavine, a co-managing partner at Bain. Mr. Lavine says buyers are aggressively projecting future metrics in order to mask the scale of borrowing. -Financial Times

Italian hearing-aid company Amplifon's Chief Executive Enrico Vita is targeting China, France and Germany as markets for growth. -Corriere della Sera

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(END) Dow Jones Newswires

April 01, 2019 07:33 ET (11:33 GMT)

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