Vienna International Banking Industry News

Read the latest headlines about developments in the international banking industry in Vienna and Austria

Austrian Banks React to ECB’s Interest Rate Decision

The Austria banks quickly passed on the interest rate hike to their customers. Christoph Leitl regards the decision as an impediment for budgetary consolidation.

July 8, 2011

European Stress Test Results to Be Published on July 15

The test performance of 91 participating banks will be available next week. According to Moody’s, Austrian Volksbanken AG is at risk of failing the test.

July 8, 2011

OTP Bank Shows Interest in Volksbank International

The Austrian Volksbanken AG found a second potential buyer for its Eastern European subsidiary. The Hungarian OTP bank wants to expand into the markets where VBI has a presence.

July 7, 2011

Sale of VBI to Be Signed in July

The Austrian Volksbanken Group and Sberbank have come close to an agreement on the sale of the Eastern European bank. The transaction price will be € 700m.

July 5, 2011

RBI Hit by Bankruptcy of Saudi Arabian Company

The Austrian bank has problems with its credit business in Saudi Arabia. “An amount in the low hundreds of millions” is at risk.

July 4, 2011

Successful Start for RBI’s Direct Bank Zuno in Slovakia

18,000 Slovak customers have deposited a total amount of € 125m in the first six months since the bank entered the market in December 2010.

June 30, 2011

RBI: Acquisition of Polbank Stake Advancing

The Austrian bank has received anti-trust approval of the deal. Closing and operational merger are expected in Q4/2011 or Q1/2012.

June 30, 2011

RLB OÖ to Sell Its Stake in Polytec

The Upper Austrian regional bank will sell its shares in the component supplier for approximately € 34m.

June 29, 2011

Volksbanken Group to Sell Stake in RZB

Österreichische Volksbanken-AG Group (VBAG) will sell its shares in Raiffeisen Zentralbank for almost € 500m. The redemption of state capital and the sale of VBI have been delayed.

June 28, 2011

Profit Situation of Austrian Banks Improved Significantly

The banks recorded a positive development in the first quarter. However, net profits of the full year will fall as a result of the newly introduced bank tax.

June 27, 2011

Erste Group: Delayed Redemption of State Capital

The Austrian bank will not repay the € 1.2bn of participation capital before the end of the month, probably due to the ongoing stress test.

June 24, 2011

Austrian Financial Sector Stable – Remaining Challenges in Particular Business Segments

Stress test results show Austria’s banks to be more resistant to risks than in 2010 – Boosting equity remains on the agenda nevertheless.

June 21, 2011

Hypo Group: End of the First Round in the Bidding Process

Today, Friday, was the closing date for the submission of tenders for Hypo Group’s Austrian business. The sale process is expected to take several months.

June 17, 2011

Atrium and Meinl Bank Agree to Stop All Legal Proceedings

The American-Israeli real estate fund and the Austrian bank reached a settlement agreement on the dismissal of all claims between them.

June 17, 2011

Raiffeisen Expanding Its M&A Business in Russia

The Austrian bank group is planning a joint venture between RBI and RIAG in order to put the investment banking in Moscow on a new footing.

June 16, 2011

Bawag-CEO: “No Exit of Cerberus in 2012”

After five years, a sale of the Austrian bank would become possible next year. The shoe retailer Stiefelkönig will be sold this summer.

June 15, 2011

Stagnating Level of New Bank Lending

Loan development in the first quarter: increase in long-term lending, but decline in total corporate lending volume.

June 10, 2011

RBI Could Raise More Than € 3bn

The Austrian bank prepares for issuing up to 97.75 million new shares. The company has not yet set a timetable for redemption of capital injected by the state.

June 8, 2011

Bankers' Bonuses Back to Pre-Crisis Level

Bonus payments of Austrian banks have recovered from the effects of the financial crisis. Rules for the payout have become stricter.

June 7, 2011

Stable PIGS-Exposure of Austrian Banks

The last quarter of 2010 has brought only minor changes in the total amount of lending to the four countries in southern Europe by Austrian banks.

June 6, 2011

Raiffeisen Not Interested in Hypo

The Austrian bank group is currently expanding in Poland but it is not going to bid for Hypo Alpe Adria as an acquisition “would not make sense”.

June 6, 2011

Charges against Former Board Members of BayernLB

Accusations relating to the acquisition of the Austrian Hypo Group: breach of duty, embezzlement of bank funds.

June 3, 2011

UniCredit and Raiffeisen Seek to Broker Bulgaria's EVN Stake Sale

Bulgaria is going to sell its minority stake in an electricity distributor operated by the Austrian energy company.

June 3, 2011

Hypo Alpe Adria to Sell its Italian Subsidiary

The Carinthian bank intends to divest its operations in the neighboring country. The subsidiary achieved a profit of € 10.82m in 2010.

June 1, 2011

Sberbank Targeting RBI

The Russian bank intends to expand its business to Kazakhstan and the Baltic countries. Both companies denied speculations about a potential capital injection.

May 30, 2011

RBI’s Results Above Expectations

The Austrian bank’s consolidated profit fell by 19.1% to € 270m, while analysts expected a decline to only € 253m. Net provisioning for impairment losses went down by 35.9%.

May 26, 2011

Fitch Upgrades Individual Ratings of Austrian Banks

The “A” rating of the big Austrian banks has been confirmed. The individual rating of Erste, RBI and Bank Austria was upgraded.

May 25, 2011

Cheuvreux Closing Its Office in Vienna

The French investment bank is closing down its office in Vienna after three years. This has been confirmed by analyst Alfred Reisenberger.

May 20, 2011

Erste CEO Aims to Repay State Capital Before End-June

The Austrian bank is negotiating the terms of refunding € 1.2bn for which it currently pays 8% interest per year.

May 19, 2011

ÖVAG: Strong Provisional Results for Q1 2011

Österreichische Volksbanken-AG Group (VBAG) expects a quarterly result of € 32m. The AGM concludes the combination of VBAG and Investkredit.

May 19, 2011

Bank Austria Starts the Year with Net Profit of € 341m

Operating profit up by 8 per cent to € 851 m compared with Q1 2010, driven by strong revenue trend in commercial banking business and flat cost development

May 14, 2011

Expansion Plans at Erste Group and Raiffeisen

RBI is drawn increasingly to the Czech Republic, while the Erste Group focuses on the Polish banking market.

May 13, 2011

Inspections at German Subsidiary of voestalpine AG

Inspections by German Federal Cartel office at voestalpine Klöckner Bahntechnik GmbH.

May 11, 2011

Radovan Jelasity appointed CEO of Erste Bank Hungary

Radovan Jelasity (43) will join Erste Bank Hungary as of 1 June 2011. Subsequent to the approval of the respective Hungarian authorities, he will be appointed Chief Executive Officer (CEO).

May 10, 2011

UniCredit Leasing Still Number 1 in Austria's Leasing Market

With an increase of 43 per cent in the new business volume to €763m and a market share of 13.3 per cent, UniCredit is the clear market leader in Austria in 2010 again

May 10, 2011

RBI Joint Bookrunner for € 1.75bn Bond

The bond, which is issued by Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, is the second largest EUR-denominated senior unsecured issue by an Italian bank in 2011

May 10, 2011

Raiffeisen International Bank Intends to Get Further Involved in Poland

After the purchase of the Polbank in February, the Austrian RBI seems to be interested now in the Polish DZ Bank. Its chances are however considered to be low.

May 10, 2011

Contradictions Regarding Expenditure for Bank Package

According to Eurostat, € 1.4bn more were spent on bank assistance than the corresponding revenues. The Ministry of Finance contradicts this.

May 7, 2011

ÖVAG in the Black Again

The central institution of the Austrian Volksbanken was able to achieve a profit of € 67.6m in 2010 after losses for € 24.5m reported in 2009.

May 6, 2011

Erste Group Launches Rising Markets Indices

Erste Group launches Rising Markets Indices for bonds and equities focusing on high-opportunity countries. Country selection based on criteria such as GDP growth, population growth, anti-corruption measures and standard of living.

May 3, 2011

Strong Earnings Growth for Hypo Steiermark

The operating profit of Hypo Steiermark rose to 21.5 million euro, more than doubling the previous year’s result.

April 30, 2011

Raiffeisen Postpones Stock Exchange Plans

The banking group has to postpone for two or three years the IPOs of the agricultural holdings NÖM and LLI planned for 2011.

April 29, 2011

Erste Group Reports Small Profit Increase

Erste Group increases Q1 2011 net profit to € 260.6 m on lower risk costs, despite negative impact from banking taxes.

April 28, 2011

Decline in Profits for Wiener Privatbank

The profits of the Privatbank fell by 34% in 2010. The bank reported an equity ratio of 48% on the 2010 balance sheet date (31 December 2009: 44%).

April 28, 2011

Lending Behavior of Banks Remains Stable

The credit policy of Austrian banks remained stable for the third year running in the first quarter of 2011 and it is also expected to remain unchanged in the second quarter of 2011.

April 28, 2011

Erste Group: Slight Increase in Profits Expected

UniCredit and RCB expect a slight rise in profits for Erste Group, despite bank taxes in Austria and Hungary.

April 27, 2011

Hypo Tirol Continues Restructuring Process

The Supervisory Board of the Austrian regional bank appoints two new board members. Furthermore, withdrawal from Germany and Switzerland is to take place.

April 27, 2011

RCM - Raiffeisen Capital Management Company grew in 2010

Despite the international debt crisis and the repeated fears of a recession, money flowed back into the investment company last year.

April 23, 2011

aws: Willingness to Invest in Austria’s Manufacturing Industry Grows

The investment projects promoted from January to March 2011 were larger and more ambitious than one year ago.

April 22, 2011

Erste Group Wins Lawsuit in Sweden

In a legal dispute over shares in a Swedish bank worth € 225m, the position of the Austrian Erste Group was able to prevail.

April 21, 2011