Stirrup
DAX companies make significantly less profit
The economic crisis and hard competition meet the largest German stock exchange companies – and with the tariffs of US President Trump, the stress test is still pending. Especially an industry suffers.
Germany’s largest stock market company make less profit and delete thousands of areas. The 40 companies in the leading index Dax increasingly felt the economic flakes and the intensified international competition, according to a new analysis of the auditing and consulting company EY, which is available to the German Press Agency.
In the first quarter of 2025, the total turnover of the DAX groups without banks rose by 3.3 percent to EUR 458.9 billion. But ten companies recorded a decline in sales, including the heavyweights BMW, Mercedes-Benz, BASF and Bayer.
Loads for insurers because of forest fires
16 of the DAX groups generated a lower operational profit than in the previous year, including all car companies and the two reinsurance Hanover Rück and Munich Re, which had to shoulder high financial burdens because of the forest fires around Los Angeles at the beginning of the year.
Overall, the operational profit of the DAX groups in front of interest and taxes (EBIT) shrank by 8.1 percent to EUR 44.8 billion in the first quarter – after 48.7 billion a year earlier.
Dilated thousands of areas
The trend also shows down when it comes to employment, said EY. Accordingly, the number of employees in the 27 DAX groups, which provided information, shrank 1 percent to 3.17 million. With this, around 32,000 jobs were reduced within a year.
In view of economic weakness, geopolitical crises and the customs dispute with the United States, many DAX groups are remarkably resistant, said Henrik Ahlers, CEO at EY. So the clear majority nevertheless made sales plus.
However, the US tariffs have so far hardly been reflected in the number of balance sheet figures. “Many companies have increased their stocks in the United States in expectation, and US customers have preferred purchases to benefit from lower prices.” A realistic picture of the situation will only become visible in the second half of the year. The uncertainty about the US tariffs is a huge challenge, especially for exporting industry.
Boom in the armor, lull with the car manufacturers
While some DAX companies increased vigorously-such as Rheinmetall with a increase in sales of 46 percent and the engine manufacturer MTU Aero Engines with growth of 28 percent-the car companies had to accept: The carmaker listed in the DAX recorded a drop in sales of 2.5 percent.
Deutsche Telekom achieved the highest operational profit in the first quarter with just under 6.8 billion euros. Allianz (4.2 billion) and Siemens (3.1 billion) landed in second and third place. Only a Dax company-the Porsche Holding-showed an operational loss.
dpa
Source: Stern
