Exits

Published on
21/09/2026 – 11:46 GMT+2

Volkswagen, Europe’s largest automaker, is no longer among the eurozone’s blue chips.

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Index provider Stoxx confirmed the change in its annual review at the start of September, and it came into force before trading began on Monday, with Finnish telecoms group Nokia returning to the index and French utility Engie joining.

Dutch information-services group Wolters Kluwer was also dropped.

The removal is mechanical rather than a judgement, as the index is weighted by free-float market value, and Volkswagen’s shrinking valuation no longer cleared the threshold.

However, the consequences are real, as funds that track the benchmark must now sell their Volkswagen holdings, adding to pressure on a stock already under strain. Stellantis suffered the same fate last year.

Volkswagen shares have fallen almost 30% since the start of the year and are down over 6% since last Monday’s open, trading at roughly €76 at the time of writing.

A profit warning to match

The timing could hardly have been worse.

On Friday, Volkswagen flagged around €10 billion in one-off charges and cut its operating margin forecast for 2026 to no more than 1%, down from a previous range of 4% to 5.5%. Analysts had expected 4.1%.

More than €6 billion of the charges stem from a writedown at Porsche, in which Volkswagen holds a 75.4% stake, after the sports car maker lowered its medium-term expectations.

Porsche has been hit hard by American tariffs and weak Chinese demand for foreign luxury brands, and managed a margin of just 1.1% last year.

A further €2 billion or more covers expanded early retirement schemes, impairments in China and the planned sale of Volkswagen Osnabrück GmbH, a wholly owned subsidiary and automotive manufacturing plant located in the northwest German city of Osnabrück.

The company warned of “further deterioration in the market environment, especially in China, as well as an accelerated shift in demand in favour of battery-electric vehicles.”

The warning came two weeks after it agreed its largest-ever restructuring, doubling planned job cuts to 100,000 and halving its model line-up.

However, not everyone reads the numbers as a collapse.

Stripping out the one-off items, Volkswagen puts its underlying margin at around 4%, and it kept its cash flow and liquidity forecasts unchanged.

Deutsche Bank, which rates the shares a buy with a €115 price target, said it believes “the headline significantly overstates the deterioration in the underlying business.”

The bank does not expect the pain to end there as it wrote that “additional restructuring charges simply confirm that the transformation process is very expensive and complex […] we expect more to follow over the coming months.”

Volkswagen’s third-quarter results are due on 29 October.

CINCINNATI — Dodgers left-hander Blake Snell left his start against the Cincinnati Reds on Wednesday after one inning, with what the team identified as left groin tightness.

Snell gave up one hit, a single to Sal Stewart, which he quickly erased with a successful pick-off that caught Stewart in an inning-ending run-down.

Snell threw 19 pitches. Blake Treinen replaced him in the second inning.

Wednesday marked Snell’s eighth start of the season. His 2026 debut was delayed by shoulder fatigue. After one start, he landed back on the injured list to undergo arthroscopic surgery to remove loose bodies from his left elbow.

Since returning, he hasn’t given up more than one run in a start. Through Wednesday’s abbreviated outing, Snell has a 1.86 ERA.

Snell has a history of left groin and adductor strains. He spent time on the IL in 2021, 2022 and 2024 for such injuries.

Loose Women star Coleen Nolan revealed she was ‘devastated’ after Nadia Sawalha and Denise Welch both left the ITV daytime show

Coleen Nolan has described her ‘devastation’ after it was revealed that both Nadia Sawalha and Denise Welch had left Loose Women.

The 61-year-old has been a staple of the ITV daytime show for decades, and has appeared beside both women countless times over the years.

Amid reports that bosses have lined up two new stars to replace them, the Celebrity Big Brother star revealed her heartache at returning without her pals.

“It’s back to school for me on Monday. Loose Women is back on air and I’ve really missed it and can’t wait to see everyone,” she penned in her recent newsletter for the Mirror. “We’ll be missing two of our longest-serving Loose Women – Nadia and Denise – which I’m a bit devastated about.

“I love Nadia and she’ll be a big loss to the team. I’m so pleased for Denise, who left to focus on acting, which is her first love and she’s brilliant at it. At 66 she’s had a whole new lease of life and has never looked better.

“But it’ll be exciting to welcome new people in. One of the things I love most about the show is that it incorporates every age group, from women in their 20s to Gloria Hunniford, who’s 86. I think a show that offers that when women still have to battle ageism and having an opinion is something to be celebrated and cherished.”

Hitting back at scrutiny of a feud behind the scenes, she insisted: “I’m always reading stories about us not getting on, but it’s just not true – unless I’m missing something! I’ve never seen it and never felt it.

“So, thanks to those of you who’ve stuck by us through thick and thin for all these years, and hopefully we’ll be sticking around for years to come.”

There has been a shake-up on the panel in recent months, with Denise, 68, confirming her departure in a video in August, explaining that she would be focusing her attention on her acting career.

Nadia had been away from the show for a while before speaking out over her absence, telling the Mirror that she threatened legal action, claiming that ITV bullied her out of her job.

Discussing her exit, the 61-year-old previously said that she feared she was being targeted over speaking out for Palestinian rights.

It was recently claimed that singer Anastacia and entrepreneur Emma Grede – who recently stole the show on Dragons’ Den – were being lined up to join the panel, following the high-profile departures.

According to the Sun, they have been offered short two-month contracts with those behind the scenes hoping they will ‘bring in new perspectives’.

“If we are honest, Loose Women has become a bit of a train wreck. The past 12 months have seen scandal after scandal. Mix that with the cuts and it’s been a perfect storm,” a source told the Sun.

“ITV have offered both Emma and Anastacia contracts that will see them appear on the show as panellists. Both have been on as guests so they know the set up.”

The insider added: “Emma was a huge hit on Dragons’ Den and it’s hoped she would bring in a younger demographic to the show. Anastacia is a household name and brings in a new perspective and isn’t shy when it comes to speaking her mind.”

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ATLANTA — The gathering on the Truist Park mound kept growing. At first, Dodgers right-hander Roki Sasaki was visited by pitching coach Mark Prior and catcher Hunter Feduccia, with the help of interpreter Will Ireton. Then, Prior summoned head athletic trainer Thomas Albert. Then, they called out manager Dave Roberts, who eventually made the pitching change.

The group had been examining the middle finger on Sasaki’s right hand. And the team later announced Sasaki had exited with a blister on that finger.

That might explain why Sasaki, who was charged with four runs and six hits in 3 ⅓ innings, didn’t look as sharp Wednesday against the Braves as he had been in the rest of his impressive second-half stretch. Sasaki entered the day with a 2.19 ERA in six starts since the All-Star break.

His efficiency Wednesday wavered, and he exited after 66 pitches. After Sasaki gave up a solo home run to Matt Olson in the first inning, the outing began to devolve in the fourth.

Sasaki walked Ozzie Albies to open the inning. Then he surrendered a single to Mike Yastrzemski, a sacrifice fly to Austin Riley and a double to Sean Murphy. Then Prior came out to check on him.

Right-handed reliever Edgardo Henriquez replaced Sasaki, inheriting two baserunners. Both scored when Dodgers left fielder Teoscar Hernandez overran Drake Baldwin’s deep fly ball down the line, for a double.