Latest news with #Ebel
The Star
22-05-2025
- General
- The Star
A special tour in Germany lets pedestrians experience life in a wheelchair
'Lean your upper body forward!' shouts Rita Ebel, sharing practical advice for tackling access ramps – wisdom she has gained from years of experience navigating life in a wheelchair. Ebel, who is also affectionately known as Lego Grandma, was paralysed after a car accident about 30 years ago. She and her team invite participants on an eye-opening tour of Hanau's city centre, near Frankfurt, Germany. The man she calls out to is a 'pedestrian,' as Ebel likes to call non-wheelchair users. As part of Ebel's 'Change of Perspective' project, pedestrians get a first-hand experience of moving around in a wheelchair. Volunteers provide the wheelchairs and guide participants as they face challenges like steep ramps and high shop counters, revealing obstacles that are often invisible to non-disabled individuals. Firm hands prevent a fall Despite following Ebel's advice to lean forward and turn the wheels vigorously, a man attempting to navigate the ramp made of Lego bricks nearly tips over backward. Quick reflexes from Gabriele Schaar-von Romer, a volunteer with Lego Grandma's team, and other participants save him from falling. The experience leaves the novice wheelchair user breathless and with a newfound respect for the challenges of wheelchair users. Traxel (centre) and her young daughter try navigating a wheelchair ramp to enter a shop. Jessica Traxel faces similar difficulties on the same ramp. 'I didn't think it was bad,' she says afterwards '... but if no one had been behind me, I would have been scared'. The project aims to highlighting the obstacles and limited access many people with limited mobility face daily. A game changer Thomas Klingenstein, a 50-year-old participant, confidently takes on the ramp in a wheelchair. 'Everything's fine,' he says after completing the climb. 'You have to accelerate to get up, but it works.' The ramp, crafted from Lego bricks by Ebel and her team, has a notably steep incline. 'It's steep, but it's better than nothing,' remarks Bärbel Neuwirth, a wheelchair user also participating in the tour. The challenge lies in regulations: commercial ramps are limited to a maximum incline of 6%, requiring significant length to reach even modest heights – often impractical in front of shops or houses. Ebel's custom Lego ramps offer a practical alternative, as they can be built steeper to fit limited spaces. Although no official standards exist for these Lego structures, Ebel and her team include a legal declaration of use with each ramp they deliver, ensuring transparency and safeguarding against liability. Across Germany and in countries like France, Italy, Austria and Spain, Ebel's colourful Lego ramps have become a game-changer. They have helped transform daunting high steps in front of shops, public buildings and homes into accessible pathways – not just for wheelchair users but also for those with rollators and pushchairs. 'Even if our ramps don't meet the strict legal requirements, I'd much rather be pushed up or down a steep ramp than have someone tip me backward to manage a high step,' says the 67-year-old Ebel. While strangers often offer to assist wheelchair users with navigating steps, Ebel points out that few wheelchair users feel comfortable entrusting themselves to someone else's hands. 'It's rare to find someone willing to be tipped backward by a stranger,' she emphasises, highlighting the importance of solutions that empower independence. Some challenges The difficulties of navigating a wheelchair don't end once you've entered a shop or café. High counters, for example, can be an obstacle and a deterrent for wheelchair users, as participants in the wheelchair tour discovered during a stop at a local shop. This issue extends beyond retail spaces and into places like doctors' offices, Ebel notes. 'We want the businesses involved in our project to start asking people with disabilities: 'What can we do to make you feel more comfortable here?',' Schaar-von Romer says. She adds that many shop owners are open to making necessary changes when approached about accessibility concerns. The volunteer believes that addressing these issues benefits not only those with disabilities but also the broader community: 'How can you revitalise the city centre if you're excluding some people?' – dpa
Yahoo
16-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
1 High-Yield Dividend Stock You Can Buy and Hold for a Lifetime of Passive Income
Enbridge has a low-risk, utility-like business model. That company has delivered very reliable results over the decades. It has lots of visible growth ahead. 10 stocks we like better than Enbridge › Enbridge (NYSE: ENB) has built one of the most durable businesses in the energy sector, which has enabled the Canadian pipeline and utility company to deliver reliable results over the decades. It has paid dividends for over 70 years, increasing its payment for the past 30 in a row. Meanwhile, it's on track to achieve its annual financial guidance for the 20th straight year. That dependability should continue in the decades ahead. With its dividend yielding more than 6% these days, Enbridge is an ideal stock to buy and hold for a lifelong stream of dividend income. Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel highlighted the company's investment proposition on its recent first-quarter conference call. He stated: The consistency and resiliency of our business really came through this quarter with record financial results and execution on our disciplined growth strategy. Our industry-leading low-risk business model delivers in all economic and commodity cycles, and you saw that happen once again in the first quarter. The company delivered record earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation, and amortization (EBITDA), distributable cash flow per share, and earnings per share (EPS) during that period, which was impressive considering the volatility in the energy markets since the year began. The company benefited from last year's acquisition of three stable U.S. gas utilities and strong volume across its overall business. Enbridge's diversified, low-risk, utility-like business model generates predictable results. About 98% of the company's cash flow comes from stable cost-of-service frameworks or long-term, fixed-rate contracts with financially strong customers (over 95% have investment-grade credit ratings). Meanwhile, those financial structures have features that protect about 80% of its EBITDA from inflation. The company's low-risk business profile provides a strong foundation for growing shareholder value. Ebel highlighted the company's "first choice value proposition" on the call, which he noted "has delivered strong double-digit shareholder returns over the past 20 years through thick and thin, up cycles and down cycles." He stated that the company's "financial flexibility allows us to grow our business and sustainably return capital to shareholders," which it has done by increasing its dividend for 30 straight years. Enbridge's base business will continue generating significant free cash flow. The company aims to pay out 60% to 70% of its stable and predictable cash flow to investors in dividends. That enables it to retain billions of dollars in excess free cash flow each year to fund its continued expansion. Add in the capacity on its strong investment-grade balance sheet, and the company "can now self-equity fund $9 billion-$10 billion Canadian dollars ($6.4 billion-$7.2 billion) of organic growth projects annually," commented CFO Pat Murray on the first-quarter call. Enbridge ended the first quarter with a secured growth backlog of CA$28 billion ($20 billion) of projects it expects to complete by the end of 2029. Those projects span its four core franchises (liquids pipelines, gas transmission, gas distribution, and renewable power). Murray noted that at its current run-rate, "[W]e expect to deploy $8 billion-$9 billion ($5.7 billion-$6.4 billion) per year toward that secured growth projects." Murray remarked, "That leaves us with an additional $1 billion to $2 billion ($700 million-$1.4 billion) that can be opportunistically allocated, whether that be sanctioning new strategic projects, accretive tuck-in M&A [mergers and acquisitions] such as the 10% acquisition of Matterhorn, or reducing debt." It spent about $300 million to buy that stake in the Matterhorn Express Pipeline, which transports gas out of the Permian Basin to the Gulf Coast region. Meanwhile, Enbridge has another CA$50 billion ($35.7 billion) in additional expansion opportunities under development across its four franchises. The company plans to be selective, "prioritizing the highest returning and most strategic projects," stated Murray. The company's combination of stable earnings from its base business, visible earnings growth from its secured backlog, and additional investment capacity supports its long-term growth outlook. Ebel stated on the call, "We expect to support continued dividend growth by growing our business by 5% per year through the end of the decade." Meanwhile, given its massive opportunity set and the long-term demand growth for energy, especially for lower-carbon energy like natural gas and renewables, Enbridge should have no trouble finding opportunities to continue expanding its operations in the future. Enbridge has one of the lowest-risk business models around. The company generates utility-like cash flow from a diversified portfolio of energy infrastructure assets, which supports the company's high-yielding dividend. It also has ample financial flexibility to invest in expanding its operations, which has given it the fuel to steadily grow its dividend. The company already has ample growth lined up through the end of the decade, and more projects are coming down the pipeline. These features make Enbridge an ideal dividend stock to buy and hold for a lifetime of passive income. Before you buy stock in Enbridge, consider this: The Motley Fool Stock Advisor analyst team just identified what they believe are the for investors to buy now… and Enbridge wasn't one of them. The 10 stocks that made the cut could produce monster returns in the coming years. Consider when Netflix made this list on December 17, 2004... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $620,719!* Or when Nvidia made this list on April 15, 2005... if you invested $1,000 at the time of our recommendation, you'd have $829,511!* Now, it's worth noting Stock Advisor's total average return is 959% — a market-crushing outperformance compared to 170% for the S&P 500. Don't miss out on the latest top 10 list, available when you join . See the 10 stocks » *Stock Advisor returns as of May 12, 2025 Matt DiLallo has positions in Enbridge. The Motley Fool has positions in and recommends Enbridge. The Motley Fool has a disclosure policy. 1 High-Yield Dividend Stock You Can Buy and Hold for a Lifetime of Passive Income was originally published by The Motley Fool
RTÉ News
14-05-2025
- Business
- RTÉ News
TUI posts slowdown in its summer bookings
Europe's largest travel operator TUI has today flagged a 1% drop in summer bookings, which knocked its shares down nearly 7% in early trading. TUI, which maintained its 2025 outlook, blamed the shift in summer bookings on a later Easter, which impacted most airlines' January to March reporting, But European carriers Air France-KLM and British Airways-owner IAG so far have reported a stronger January to March. In a statement, CEO Sebastian Ebel said that given economic conditions, 2025 will be "challenging". "Europe needs new momentum. We must return to an overall economy that is growing," he said. Aanalysts and investors pointed particularly to the German market as a weak link. "The weakness in Germany could suggest we move away from the top end of guidance (if trends continue)," analyst Ed Vyvyan at Redburn Atlantic said. A slowdown in bookings growth also hit TUI shares at the time of the group's last earnings report in February. "We are clearly facing a slowdown in the level of demand (at TUI), notably in Germany," Fehmi Ben Naamane, an analyst at ODDO BHF, told Reuters. TUI also today reported an underlying loss before interest and taxes of €206.8m in the January-to-March quarter, wider than the €188.7m loss it reported a year ago but narrower than the €224m expected by analysts polled by LSEG. Ebel said on a media call that booking momentum had picked up since May 1 and summer bookings would likely be on par with last year. "You can lose in winter and win in summer," Ebel told reporters, adding that the second quarter was the least important quarter of the year. TUI has sought to diversify its income, expanding in Asia and central Europe, in an effort to bring in new streams of revenue as fears grow over European demand. Ebel said it will likely take three years for the benefits of that strategy to show up in the TUI balance sheet, but that the company had managed to avoid losses tied to the new projects. The group said its quarterly revenues slightly improved year-on-year to €3.71 billion from €3.65 billion in the same quarter last year.
Time of India
14-05-2025
- Business
- Time of India
TUI Summer Bookings Slowdown: TUI posts slowdown in summer bookings, knocking shares down 10%, ET TravelWorld
Advt Advt Join the community of 2M+ industry professionals Subscribe to our newsletter to get latest insights & analysis. Download ETTravelWorld App Get Realtime updates Save your favourite articles Scan to download App TUI, which maintained its 2025 outlook, blamed the shift in summer bookings on a later Easter, which impacted most airlines' January to March reporting - though European carriers Air France-KLM and British Airways-owner IAG so far have reported a stronger January to a statement, CEO Sebastian Ebel said that given economic conditions, 2025 will be "challenging". "Europe needs new momentum. We must return to an overall economy that is growing," he in the company were down 10.3 per cent at 0802 GMT, with analysts and investors pointing particularly to the German market as a weak link."The weakness in Germany could suggest we move away from the top end of guidance (if trends continue)," analyst Ed Vyvyan at Redburn Atlantic told Reuters, adding that competitors had been more aggressive than TUI on volume and Financial Officer Matthias Kiep said Germany as a whole was suffering from uncertainty, particularly following its recent change in government. "Companies have all announced that they won't be growing, have announced that they're letting go of employees," he the January to March quarter TUI on Wednesday reported an underlying loss before interest and taxes of 206.8 million euros ( USD 231.4 million), wider than the 188.7 million euro loss it reported a year ago but narrower than the 224 million euros expected by analysts polled by said on a media call that booking momentum had picked up since May 1 and summer bookings would likely be on par with last year. "You can lose in winter and win in summer," Ebel told has sought to diversify its income, expanding in Asia and central Europe, in an effort to bring in new streams of revenue as fears grow over European demand. Ebel said it will likely take three years for the benefits of that strategy to show up in the TUI balance sheet, but that the company had managed to avoid losses tied to the new group's quarterly revenues slightly improved year-on-year to 3.71 billion euros from 3.65 billion euros a year before.
Yahoo
09-05-2025
- Business
- Yahoo
Enbridge beats Q1 profit estimates on Mainline and gas distribution growth
(Reuters) -Enbridge exceeded market estimates for first-quarter profit on Friday, driven by higher earnings from its Mainline system and gas distribution unit, and said that U.S. tariffs were not expected to materially impact its current operations. U.S.-listed shares of the company were up 1.6% in premarket trading. Canada is the leading supplier of imported oil to the United States, delivering about 4 million barrels per day, primarily to Midwest refineries designed to process its specific grades. In addition to its liquid pipeline operations, Enbridge acquired three utilities from U.S.-based Dominion Energy last year, expanding its gas distribution business. This led to a rise in earnings from its gas distribution unit to C$1.60 billion ($1.15 billion), from C$765 million last year. In addition, Enbridge, along with I Squared and MPLX, announced a deal on May 6 to acquire up to 85% of the Matterhorn Express gas pipeline. Enbridge said its 10% non-operating stake in this key Permian infrastructure asset is worth $300 million and the deal is expected to close in the second quarter. Meanwhile, the company's Mainline system, which moves nearly half of the crude in the U.S., saw a rise in first-quarter adjusted core profit to C$1.45 billion, from C$1.34 billion last year. "The Mainline was apportioned the entire quarter, delivering a first quarter record of 3.2 million barrels per day, and illustrating its critical role in the transportation of oil to key demand centers," Enbridge CEO Greg Ebel said in a statement. "The continued need for efficient, reliable service underpins the sanctioning of up to C$2 billion of Mainline capital investment," Ebel said. The company reported adjusted profit of C$1.03 per share for the quarter ended March 31, beating analysts' average expectation of 96 Canadian cents per share, according to data compiled by LSEG. ($1 = 1.3917 Canadian dollars) Error in retrieving data Sign in to access your portfolio Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data Error in retrieving data
