DAX-listed firms eye record profits

The 30 companies listed in the German blue-chip index, the DAX-30, created a total of 124,000 new jobs in the third quarter, a study by consultancy EY showed Thursday.

Half of the blue chips in question increased their total workforce by over 3 percent in the three-month period under review.

EY researchers said the bulk of the DAX-listed firms expected 2017 to become a bumper year in terms of full-year revenues and profits.

Huge challenges

In the first nine months of the year, the DAX companies including Germany's top carmakers and engineering firms saw their revenues surge by 6.2 percent, with overall profits expanding by 10.4 percent.

In the third quarter alone, the companies in question booked revenues to the tune of €329 billion ($390 billion), a 4-percent rise. However, net earnings dropped by 9 percent year on year, but still represented the second-best result achieved so far.

"The DAX-listed companies are still on a solid growth path," said EY board member Mathieu Meyer.

He noted, though, that a number of these firms were currently undergoing a deep restructuring process to adapt to fast technological changes. EY said billions upon billions of euros were currently being invested in corporate digitalization and future technologies.

"All of this costs a lot of money initially and eats into the companies' profits," Meyer argued.

hg/jd (AFP, dpa)