Vienna International Company News

Poland: Banking Sentiment Rises

The Polish banking sentiment indicator Pengab increased by 1.2 points in January on a month-on-month comparison basis to a total of 27.5 points.

January 23, 2014

Bulgaria Imposes Interest Ceiling on Quick Loans

The Bulgarian parliament plans on putting a lid on the interst rates of quick loans.

January 23, 2014

Poland: PKO BP Bond Rated A2

Rating agency Moody’s gave an “A2” with a negative outlook on the € 500m bond by Polish key lender PKO BP.

January 23, 2014

Slovenia: Bank Losses Tripled in 2013

Over the last year losses in the banking sector tripled to almost € 1.1bn.

January 23, 2014

Hypo Group: Decision Within First Quarter of 2014

The long-awaited meeting between the government and Hypo Group’s taskforce has been fixed to find a solution of the Austrian problem bank. The option of a bank participation is still on top of the list.

January 23, 2014

Considerable Differences Across European Mortgage Markets

According to Fitch Ratings, the performance of European residential mortgage markets as a whole has improved. In Southeastern Europe, by contrast, the recovery will take some more time.

January 23, 2014

Insurance Industry Faces Growing Risks

According to the U.S. rating agency Fitch, insurers in Europe have to accept riskier investments. Ratings may deteriorate, Fitch warned.

January 22, 2014

€ 2.78bn for Raiffeisen Bank International

The second-largest lender in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe has started the capital increase. The free float grows substantially.

January 22, 2014

Austria: Savings to Shrink Further

According to Erste Group, the amount to be saved continues to shrink substantially. What is more, average loan amounts are declining moderately.

January 22, 2014

Uniqa Growing Faster Than Czech Insurance Market

Insurance group Uniqa reveals a significant increase in premiums in the first three quarter in 2013. Moreover, Uniqa showed an increase of CZK 3.3bn in the sector non-life insurance and CZK 877m in life insurances.

January 22, 2014

Bank Dispute between Croatia and Slovenia Reappears

Last year Slovenia was ordered in the first instance to pay back the foreign currency deposits of LB’s former affiliate in Sarajevo.

January 22, 2014

Eurozone: Number of Banks Declining Fastly

The decline in the number of euro area monetary financial institutions (MFI) continued in 2013, according to ECB’s (European Central Bank) reports.

January 22, 2014

CA Immo to Repurchase Liabilities

Listed real estate company CA Immobilien Anlagen AG announced to repurchase its own liabilities of around € 428m in nominal terms.

January 22, 2014

Austrian Bank Levy: “Penalty Gone Wild”

On the basis of a new method of calculation around € 90m more in bank levy should be generated compared to the previous year.

January 22, 2014

Prices for Houses in EU Dropped Slightly

1.5 percent decrease of house prices in European Union.

January 22, 2014

Slovenian Economy to Shrink “Only” 2 Percent

According to the ERBD’s (European Bank for Reconstruction and Development) revision, Slovenia’s economy will shrink “only” 2 percent up from a 2.5 contraction of GDP which was forecast in November.

January 22, 2014

Capital Increase: Raiffeisen Bank International Has High Hopes

The second-largest lender in Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe (CESEE) wants to raise funds of € 2.9bn. This is substantially more than initially scheduled.

January 21, 2014

Immofinanz Group Expands Further into Slovenia and the Czech Republic

The Austrian real estate group continues to implement its “STOP.SHOP.” retail warehouse chain concept.

January 21, 2014

Czech Economy to Grow Not Sooner than 2016

The Czech economy will struggle to show economic growth both this and next year, according to the Czech Federation of Trade Unions CMKOS.

January 21, 2014

Austria: Nowotny Calls for Fast Decision on Hypo Group

The Governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB) presses the government to act quickly and avoid further straining the budget and burdening the taxpayers.

January 21, 2014

Erste to Maintain Business in Hungary

According to CEO of Erste Group’s Hungarian affiliate, the bank will remain in the country to expand business activity.

January 21, 2014

Croatia: Hungarian OTP to Acquire Banco Popolare Croatia

OTP will, according to media reports, take over Banco Popolare Croatia which has a market share of only 0.56 percent.

January 21, 2014

S Immo Looking Forward to 2014

9.98% price performance and new projects in Berlin. Summary of 2013 and outlook for 2014

January 21, 2014

Romanian Real Estate: Trend Shows Downwards

In 2014, apartment prices in Romania are expected to decrease further. However, the downward trend will decelerate slightly, according to experts.

January 20, 2014

Spindelegger Met Almunia: „Bank Aids Were No Issue“

Today, Austrian Minister of Finance Michael Spindelegger has met Commissioner for competition Joaquin Almunia.

January 20, 2014

Czech Republic: Lending Conditions to Remain Stable

According to the Czech National Bank (CNB), credit conditions for corporate and mortgage loans will remain unchanged while conditions for consumer loans will tighten.

January 20, 2014

Austria: Real Estate Prices Surging since Financial Crisis

Prices in the Austrian real estate market have been rising dramatically since the financial crisis broke out.

January 20, 2014

Erste Group: Moderate Economic Recovery in Eurozone

Euro area sentiment indicators point to a continuation of the moderate recovery, according to Erste Bank.

January 20, 2014

Poland to Do without Further Bond Issues

Poland will abstain from issuing new US-Dollar or Eurobonds.

January 20, 2014

Kotian: “Growth in CEE is Accelerating“

In an interview with Austrian daily “Wirtschafts-Blatt”, CEE expert at Erste Group, Juraj Kotian, points out that the bond market is expected to see growth supported by the successful reduction of debts and high economic growth.

January 20, 2014

Uniqa Serbia Continues to Grow

Market share increases to 7.3 per cent in third quarter of 2013. Premium volume for life insurance up 18.5 per cent.

January 20, 2014

Austrian Banks to Resist Further Burdens?

Podium discussion at Viennese law firm Binder Grösswang.

January 20, 2014

Austrian Office Market: Boom is Over

The increase in new construction has reached a new low. According to Bernhard Reikersdorfer (CEO of Remax Austria), the price situation will remain stable.

January 20, 2014

Mitterlehner: „Hypo Group Must Not Burden State Budget“

Austria´s Minister of Economics underlined that the Austrian government is looking for an effective and cost-saving solution for the nationalized Lender Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

January 20, 2014

„Hungarian Economy Must be Rearranged“

István Töröcskei thinks that the Hungarian banking sector is highly interesting. In general, the financial sector must help to develop the Hungarian economy, Töröcskei argues.

January 18, 2014

Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Austrian Government Becomes Nervous

Although the participation of the private banking sector is unrealistic, the Austrian government does not give up. However, the time pressure grows week by week.

January 18, 2014

KPMG: „Social Media Is the Key“

The image of the global banking industry is not satisfying at all. According to a study released by KPMG, banks have to put more effort in social media activities.

January 18, 2014

Croatia: “Loose Monetary Policy Shows First Signs of Success”

Boris Vujcic, governor of HNB (Croatian National Bank) thinks that the quantitative easing policy works.

January 17, 2014

Oberbank Continues Expansion Strategy

The Austrian regional bank considers Vienna and the Czech Republic as potential growth markets.

January 17, 2014

S&P Optimistic About Slovenia

The U.S. rating agency reiterated the Slovenian sovereign debt rating at A-. The outlook remains “stable”. S&P´s analysts consider Slovenia´s crisis management as adequate.

January 17, 2014

Hungary: Forex Loan Problem to be Solved

According to the Hungarian National Bank (MNB), the problem of the foreign-exchange loans could be solved in the next half year.

January 17, 2014

WSE to Become Regional Leader?

The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) hopes to take over a “dominant” role in trading in Central Europe, as announced by GPW, the bourse’s operator, on Thursday.

January 17, 2014

Slovenia Attracting FDI from US and UK

The Slovenian Ministry of Finance is taking great efforts to attract investors from the US and the UK.

January 17, 2014

Bank Levy: Austrian Regional Banks Under High Pressure

The Austrian government will raise the bank levy significantly. Smaller banks have to perform disproportionately high taxes, Oberbank´s CEO Franz Gasselsberger says.

January 16, 2014

$ 1.0trn Capital Shortfall in European Banking Sector?

According to U.S. economists, the stress tests carried out by the European Central Bank are too soft.

January 16, 2014

BayernLB Bought Hypo Group Alpe Adria above Value

Apparently former member of BayernLB’s supervisory board acquired Hypo Group Alpe Adria above its value.

January 16, 2014

Immofinanz: Good Prospects for 2014

Immofinanz is one of the major real estate enterprises in both Austria and Europe.

January 16, 2014

Bulgaria: Loan Portfolios Expected to Increase

The increase in industrial production will have a positive effect on the number of loans taken out.

January 16, 2014

Causa Aliyev: Austrian Justice Minister under Pressure

Austrian Justice Minister Brandstetter has registered more former members of the Kazakh secret service than was previously known.

January 16, 2014

Austria Inflation Rate Dropped in 2013

Last year the overall annual inflation rate dropped to 2.0 percent after 2.4 percent in the previous year.

January 16, 2014