Vienna International Professional Services Industry News

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

Bank Austria Posts Net Profit of EUR 660 Million for the First Nine Months

UniCredit Bank Austria announced that net profit in the three months to end-September dropped to 172 million euros from 291 million in the previous three months. As reported, the bank plans to terminate up to 14,000 jobs and restructure or exit its retail business in Austria and leasing operations in Italy as it seeks to strengthen its equity.

November 11, 2015

UniCredit - Bank Austria: CEE Operations Move from Vienna to Milan - Retail Business to be Sold or Restructured

Until the end of 2016, all CEE interests with currently 48,000 employees have to be transferred to Milan. Until now this division has been the most important earner for Bank Austria. The 13 banking subsidiaries of Bank Austria in Eastern and Southeastern Europe employ nearly 48,000 people - and thus the majority of the approximately 57,000 employees of Bank Austria. The retail banking business of in Austria with 1.6 million customers has to be sold or restructured, Unicredit announced in the afternoon.

November 11, 2015

Tensions Prior to Announcement of the UniCredit Savings Plans

It is rumored that the groupwide reduction of up to 14,000 jobs will be announced today. It is also about the future of Bank Austria. Bank Austria's parent UniCredit may withdraw the group's CEE head office from Vienna.

November 11, 2015

VIG Completes Acquisition of Latvian Non-Life Insurer Baltikums AAS

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) has finalized the 100-percent acquisition of Riga-based Baltikums AAS. As a result of the acquisition, Vienna Insurance Group is now one of the top five insurers on the Latvian market.

October 27, 2015

Meinl Bank: Stephen Coleman to Become New CEO

Stephen Coleman will replace Günter Weiss, who must vacate his seat due to a ruling from the Austrian Financial Market Authority (FMA).

October 23, 2015

Bank Austria Sells Prominent Property "The Mall" to Morgan Stanley Consortium

UniCredit Bank Austria AG announces that the purchase agreement for the shopping centre The Mall at Wien Mitte was signed with Morgan Stanley Real Estate Investing (MSREI), pending approval by the antitrust authorities.

October 22, 2015

RBI’s Russian Subsidiary Sells its Pension Fund Business

RBI’s Russian subsidiary (AO Raiffeisenbank) closed the sale of its pension fund business (ZAO NPF Raiffeisen) to the Russian BIN Group. The transaction will result in a one-off gain before tax of around EUR 87 million for RBI, which will be booked in the fourth quarter of 2015. It has been agreed that the parties will not disclose the price at which the transaction took place.

October 19, 2015

Bank of China to Open Branch in Vienna

Bank of China, one of the 5 biggest state-owned commercial banks in China intends to open its first branch in Vienna in the near future, as its Chairman Tian Guoli recently said while visiting Vienna.

October 16, 2015

Steep Q3 Rise in Equity Trading Volumes on Vienna Stock Exchange

Despite the traditional sluggishness in summer months, trading volumes in equities rose steeply in Q3 2015 by 19.1%, climbing from EUR 11.41 billion (Q3 2014) to EUR 13.59 billion (Q3 2105).

October 7, 2015

PayLife Becomes SIX Payment Services

In September 2013, the Swiss financial services provider SIX acquired PayLife, the market leader for cashless payments in Austria, from the Austrian banks. With the acquisition and integration of PayLife SIX underlines its goal of driving international growth and its ambition to be among the leading European providers of card-based payments. Starting today, PayLife Bank GmbH is renamed SIX Payment Services ( Austria ) GmbH.

September 23, 2015

Erste Group Extends Andreas Treichl’s CEO Mandate to 2020

The Supervisory Board of Erste Group Bank AG extended Andreas Treichl’s mandate as Chairman of the Management Board until mid-2020.

September 17, 2015

BDO Austria Expands Consulting Expertise

Ten partners together with their teams have switched from a renowned Austrian competitor to BDO Austria. Thanks to this switch, BDO Austria is able to expand its consulting expertise in the areas of SMEs and family business.

September 10, 2015

Conwert in Talks to Purchase BGP Investment's German Properties

Conwert Immobilien Invest SE currently is in exclusive discussions with BGP Holdings Europe S.à.r.l. with respect to the potential acquisition of the German residential property assets of BGP Investment S.à.r.l., an subsidiary of BGP Holdings Europe S.à.r.l.

July 22, 2015

Niki Lauda Acquires Stakes in Benko's Real Estate Firms

The private foundation of former Formula 1 driver Niki Lauda will acquire 1% of Signa Prime and a 10% stake in Signa Retail.

July 17, 2015

German Creditor Pool Brings EUR 1 Bln Action Against Heta Before Frankfurt Regional Court

The lawsuit demands almost EUR 1 billion and is brought in Frankfurt/Main against asset resolution company Heta. The creditor pool consists largely of German creditors which demand immediate repayment of bonds and promissory note loans.

July 16, 2015

Erste Bank Replaces Security Trading Platform Brokerjet with George

Erste Bank's Brokerjet service - that is tailored specifically toward the needs of online trading customers - will be discontinued as of the end of November. In the future the service will be offered via securities trading services George.

July 14, 2015

Euromoney Names UniCredit-Bank Best Bank in CEE

Euromoney has presented UniCredit with nine awards for excellence, including Best Bank in Central Eastern Europe, Best Debt House in Central Eastern Europe and Best Transaction Services House in Central Eastern Europe.

July 14, 2015

VSE's Operating Income Up 17% in 2014, CEESEG also Slightly Up

The Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) and the CEE Stock Exchange Group report solid FY 2014 results. Vienna Stock Exchange's operating income is up 17% in 2014, mainly driven by the steadily increasing trading volume. Also, new members have been elected to the supervisory board.

June 23, 2015

VIG's Compensa Acquires Lithuania’s Largest Life Insurance Sales Company

Vienna Insurance Group company Compensa Life SE has strengthened strengthened its sales structure in Lithuania with the acquisition of life insurance sales specialist Finsaltas. Finsaltas holds Latvia's biggest life insurance distribution network and recorded some EUR 7.1 million (USD 8.0 million) in life insurance premiums in 2014. for an undisclosed amount, VIG said Friday.

June 12, 2015

Atrium European Real Estate Tenders Offer for €130 Mln Bonds

Listed property developer Atrium European Real Estate Limited announces its plan to launch an invitation to holders of its €130 million Floating Rate Notes due 2017, of which €83.85 million is currently outstanding and €46.15 million is currently held by Atrium itself, to buyback their bonds.

June 5, 2015

Andreas Gschwenter Becomes New COO/CIO of Raiffeisen Bank International

The Supervisory Board of Raiffeisen Bank International decided that Andreas Gschwenter will become Chief Operating Officer (COO) and Chief Information Officer (CIO) of RBI from 1 July 2015. Gschwenter was born in 1969, has a degree in business administration and has been Head of Operations (COO/CIO) in charge of IT, operations and cost management at Raiffeisen Bank Aval in Ukraine since 2010. His appointment is subject to approval by the Austrian Financial Market Authority.

May 20, 2015

Immofinanz Files Lawsuit Against CA Immo

Immofinanz CEO Eduard Zehetner fulfilled his threat that the company would file a lawsuit against CA Immo and its subsidiary PHI. The complaint was filed with the commercial court in Vienna last Thursday, news magazine ‘profil’ reports in its Monday issue.

April 13, 2015

Athos Real Estate Switched to Vienna Stock Exchange Mid Market

Athos Immobilien AG joined the mid market exchange segment of Vienna Stock Exchange, which is supposed to offer greater flexibility. Apart from Athos Immobilien AG, the mid market currently lists ten further companies.

April 3, 2015

Vienna Stock Exchange: ATX Upswing Drives Up Equity Trading in Q1

The Vienna Stock Exchange has seen the strongest monthly equity turnover since August 2011. The average monthly trading volume to date in 2015 is EUR 5.04 billion which represents a gain of 26.61% over the average monthly trading volume of the year 2014 (EUR 3.98 billion).

April 2, 2015

Südtiroler Sparkasse Suffers EUR 231.1 Mln Loss in 2014

Savings association Sparkasse's South Tyrol unit suffered an EUR 231.1 million (USD 253 million) loss in 2014, CEO Gerhard Brandstätter and his deputy Carlo Costa said in a press release.

March 27, 2015

Erste Bank und Sparkassen Increase Operating Earnings by 16 Percent to EUR 947 Mln

Erste Bank und Sparkassen have concluded the year 2014 with a successful result. Operating Earnings increase from EUR 817.2 million to EUR 947.2 million.

March 6, 2015

Vienna Insurance Group Places EUR 400 Million Bond Issue

Vienna Insurance Group AG Wiener Versicherung Gruppe placed a subordinated bond with a volume of EUR 400 million with institutional investors.

February 18, 2015

UniCredit Private Banking Receives Euromoney Awards

UniCredit Private Banking has been recognized for its services, winning 14 awards in different regional and local categories in Euromoney magazine´s Private Banking Survey 2015.

February 10, 2015

Erste Group Seales Agreement to Sale 15 Percent of Hungarian Unit

Erste Group has invited the Government of Hungary and the EBRD to invest in Erste Bank Hungary Zrt. by acquiring a minority stake of up to 15 per cent each. Negotiations are in progress and the completion of the transaction is expected within the next six months.

February 9, 2015

Global Finance Awards Bank Austria "Best Trade Finance Bank"

US-based finance magazine Global Finance has named Bank Austria the "Best Trade Finance Bank" in Austria for 2015 based on an annual survey of analysts, managers and technology experts in 84 countries.The main criteria used to select the winners were transaction volume, geographical reach, customer service, competitive pricing and innovative technologies.

January 22, 2015

Geopolitical Developments have Negative Impact on VSE Performance

The Vienna Stock Exchange looks back at an eventful year 2014. A weak performance of the leading index, ATX, contrasted with numerous highlights such as large capital increases, the successful public offering of FACC AG, a record-year in terms of new corporate bonds listings and heigh liquidity, i.e. an increase in trading volumes and number of transactions.

January 22, 2015

"Teletrade" is not "Teletrader"

TeleTrade is an online broker providing access to trade across a range of financial markets. TeleTrade has recently opened an office at the Regus Business Center at Parkring 10 in Vienna's first district. According to the company's website, the TeleTrade Group has over 200 offices in 30 countries and more than 3000 employees.

January 20, 2015

Austria has EU-Wide Most Franc Loans

In absolute terms, Austria has the most franc foreign currency loans in the European Union.

January 19, 2015

EBRD Lends EUR 30 Mln Loan to Raiffeisen Leasing to support MSMEs in Romania

The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is increasing the availability of financing to private businesses in Romania with a RON 132 million (€30 million equivalent) loan to the Bucharest-based Raiffeisen Leasing IFN S.A, a subsidiary of Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI).

January 15, 2015

Slovak Republic Issues 12-Year Eurobond Worth EUR 1.5 Billion

Slovakia’s first syndicated EUR transaction of the year attracted a total demand from more than 200 investors which reached almost EUR 5.5 billion.

January 15, 2015

Russian Investor Boris Mints to Launch Tender Offer for 10 Pct of CA Immo Shares

O1 Group Limited of Russian investor Boris Mints has made a voluntary partial public takeover offer of 10% of additional CA Immo shares. The offer comprises the purchase of up to 9,735,276 non-par value bearer shares of CA Immo (ISIN AT0000641352), which are admitted to the Official Market on the Vienna Stock Exchange.

November 28, 2014

Uniqa Expands Industrial Business in CEE

Uniqa has developed additional insurance related services which target multinational corporations with subsidiaries in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE).

November 18, 2014

BAWAG PSK Bank Sets-up London Branch Office

BAWAG PSK, the Cerberus and Golden Tree majority-owned Austrian bank, recently opened a branch office in London to help develop "its international business franchise", i.e. corporate finance, specialty finance and commercial real estate finance, Bawag's interim report Q3 2014 shows.

November 13, 2014

UniCredit Bank Austria Appoints Vivaldi as Head of its CEE Division

UniCredit has appointed Mr. Carlo Vivaldi as the Head of Central & Eastern Europe (CEE) Division. In this function Mr. Vivaldi will succeed Mr. Gianni Franco Papa, who has already been designated in August. In view of the appointment resolved today by UniCredit Board, the Supervisory Board of Bank Austria will be called upon to approve the appointment of Mr. Vivaldi also in the bank's Management Board.

November 11, 2014

BKS Bank Carinthia - EUR 52 Mln Capital Increase Completed

Today, some 3.3 million new shares of BKS Bank start trading in the "standard market auction" of the Vienna Stock Exchange. The exchange-listed Carinthian bank carried out a capital increase that raised the company's equity by around EUR 52 million.

November 3, 2014

Who is Private Equity Investor Advent International?

Advent International is an American global private equity firm focused on buyouts of companies in Western and Central Europe, North America, Latin America and Asia. The firm focuses on international buyouts, growth and strategic restructuring in five core sectors. In 2008 the firm raised an additional €1 billion for investments in Central and Eastern Europe. Advent has acquired a number of companies in Central and Eastern Europe through its dedicated regional funds. These include Romanian Ceramica IASI, one of Romania’s leading ceramic bricks and clay roof tiles producers, Bolix, a leading Polish producer of construction chemicals, Dufa Deutek, Romania’s largest decorative paints producer, and LaborMed Pharma, which manufactures and distributes generic pharmaceuticals primarily for cardiovascular and central nervous system aliments, and now Hypo Group Alpe Adria's Balkan assets.

October 30, 2014

Axel Hummel Appointed CEO of Sberbank Europe

Sberbank Europe AG announces the appointment of Axel Hummel as its new CEO, following the resignation of Mark Arnold. The appointment is effective 22 October 2014, subject to regulatory approval. Sberbank Europe AG is based in Vienna.

October 27, 2014

Raiffeisen Research Comments on ECB’s Asset Quality Review of Austrian Banks

With regard to the ECB’s asset quality review of Austrian banks, according to Bloomberg ECB Governor Nowotny has stated that Austrian institutes will largely pass the tests. When asked about Volksbank and that it might fail the tests, Nowotny stated that it is no secret that there will be one institution that might have gaps that need filling but there are precautions taken.

October 23, 2014

Warsaw Stock Exchange not to Merge with Vienna Stock Exchange

For the time being plans for the merger of the Vienna and Warsaw stock exchanges have been postponed. The Warsaw Stock Exchange (WSE) declared that it had decided to abandon plans for a merger with Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE).

September 24, 2014

RBI Revises Expected Provisioning Requirement

Vienna based Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) has revised its outlook for the net provisioning requirement for the current financial year to between EUR 1,500 and EUR 1,700 million, primarily due to higher expected risk costs in Ukraine in light of ongoing political tensions in the region.

September 23, 2014

European Startups in Vienna: Entering a New Age of Pioneering

From October 29th startups will compete for the attention of investors and companies in Vienna. The application for the Pioneers Challenge has just begun. Start-ups have no easy job to enthuse investors for their ideas. But Vienna offers one of the best ways to do just that: During the Pioneers Festival in late October young companies can secure the attention of potential donors and inspire other companies and media for their innovations.

September 18, 2014

OVAG to Merge With Another Bank?

A merger or collaboration of some sort with another bank may be in sight for Austrian bank group Osterreichische Volksbank AG (ÖVAG), Standard daily reports in its Tuesday issue. US investment bank Lazard is on lookout for offers.

September 9, 2014

Most Austrian Investment Funds Report Positive Results

In August Austrian investment funds improved their performance y/y, with most funds posting a positive result. Of the 1,599 funds operating on the market for at least one year some 1,522 reported a positive performance and only 77 reported a negative performance.

September 9, 2014

RBI Redeems Participation Capital

Raiffeisen Bank International AG (RBI) is now also repaying the privately-placed participation capital. On 6 June 2014, RBI paid back the state-held tranche of the participation capital with a nominal value of € 1.75 billion. On 10 September, the repayment of the outstanding participation capital held by private investors with a nominal value of € 0.75 billion will follow.

September 8, 2014

Buwog: The ATX of the Vienna Stock Exchange has a New Member

At today's meeting, the Index Committee has decided on changes in the composition of Austrian stock indices. All changes become effective as of 22 September 2014. In the Austrian leading index, ATX, Mayr-Melnhof Karton AG will be replaced by BUWOG AG.

September 2, 2014