Vienna International Retail and Consumer Industry News

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

H&M Registers Sales Decrease in Austria

The Swedish clothing chain records a decrease in sales in Austria.

January 26, 2012

New Record in Austrian Tourism

Tourism in 2011: Almost 126 million overnights (+0.8%); all-time-high in number of arrivals.

January 26, 2012

Austria Increasingly Popular for Arab Tourists

In 2011, Austria registered 580,600 guest nights by Arab tourists. Hence, Austria exceeded Switzerland as touristic destination.

January 25, 2012

New Records for Viennese Tourism

In 2011, the Austrian capital registered 11.4 million guest nights, which is a new record.

January 24, 2012

Schlecker Insolvency: 3,000 Jobs Endangered

The German chemist chain today filed for insolvency. In Austria, Schlecker employs 3,000 workers.

January 23, 2012

Moderate Growth at Darbo

The Austrian jam producer Darbo could continue ist growth course in 2011. Sales were up by 2.5%.

January 23, 2012

Metro Cancels Kaufhof Sale

The Austrian real estate investor René Benko has to abandon the plan to take over the German retail chain Kaufhof.

January 17, 2012

Billa Has Growth Plans in Russia

The Austrian subsidiary of German Rewe Group intends to take over the Russian competitor Citystore.

January 16, 2012

DiTech Raises Sales by 9.0%

The Vienna-based computer retailer recorded sales of € 105m in 2011.

January 14, 2012

Austrian Hotel Industry Under Pressure

Over the last years, the domestic hotel industry improved its size, capacity utilization and revenues. However, costs are rising massively.

January 14, 2012

Zotter Sounds Chinese Market

The Austrian chocolatier Josef Zotter wants to offer his products to Chinese customers. A market entry is considered.

January 11, 2012

Zero Growth in Austrian Trade Sector

The Austrian trade sector closes the year 2011 with “zero growth”. The Chamber of Commerce expects “very difficult times” for 2012.

January 5, 2012

Wettpunkt Invests in Croatia

The Austrian betting company expands its operations in Croatia. Investments of € 10m were announced.

January 4, 2012

Thomas Cook Austria Achieves Record Result

The Austrian subsidiary of the Germany Thomas Cook AG recorded a rise in operating profits by 19% in 2011.

January 4, 2012

café & Co Achieves Substantial Sales Growth

The Austrian coffee dispenser caterer records a 11% sales increase, which is due to business growth in Eastern Europe.

January 3, 2012

Rising Market Share for Porsche Holding

The Salzburg-bases Porsche Holding announces that more than every third sold car in Austria comes from the VW/Porsche Group.

December 28, 2011

Schlumberger Achieves Strong Sales Growth

The Viennese sparkling wine company records a 19% sales growth.

December 28, 2011

New Record for Austrian Wine Exports

Although the quantity of wine exports is shrinking steadily, the export volume worth € 126m reached a new record.

December 28, 2011

Tourism: Slight Increase in Capacities

Austria offers 65 200 accomodation establishments and 1.09 million beds for tourists in 2011.

December 28, 2011

Record-Breaking Start of Tourism Winter Season

Austria’s tourism industry registered 3.98 million overnights in November. Arrivals rose by 3.5%.

December 23, 2011

Palmers-Subsidiary Lejaby Under Pressure

A French court opened insolvency proceedings on the subsidiary of the Austrian clothing company.

December 22, 2011

Comeback of Al Jaber at Kneissl?

The creditors of the Austrian ski manufacturer will vote on a new restructuring plan after the takeover by a German group has failed.

December 22, 2011

Wolford Reports Drop in Earnings

The Austrian clothing company recorded sales of € 73.6m in the first half of FY 2011/12. EBITDA came in at € 6.6m slightly lower than in the previous year.

December 16, 2011

Vienna International Considers IPO

The Austrian hotel operator aims to be quoted at Vienna Stock Exchange in the medium run. Further growth is planned.

December 12, 2011

La Redoute Leaves Austria

The French owner Redcats decided to close the Salzburg-located branch. The French group has to restructure.

December 8, 2011

Austrian Post: Privatization Is Not Planned

The trade union of post employees wants to lower the dividends. Privatization plans have not been discussed yet.

December 8, 2011

Kaufhof: Benko Offering € 2bn?

The Austrian investor decisively rejected reports that suggested this acquisition price. Metro’s CEO wants to obtain € 2-3bn.

December 8, 2011

Manner Expands Production

The Viennese confectionary company invests massively in its production facilities. The main factory will be enlarged.

December 7, 2011

Benko Confirms Binding Offer

Both Metro Group and René Benko´s Signa Holding confirmed that a binding offer for Metro´s subsidiary Kaufhof has been put.

December 6, 2011

Trade and Service Sectors Report Loss in Dynamics

Turnover development of Austrian trade and service enterprises slows down.

December 5, 2011

Quanmax Increases Share Capital

The Austrian distributor of IT products will use the proceeds for the acquisition of S&T. The management and major core shareholders guarantee 90% of the capital increase.

December 1, 2011

Austrian Post Intends to Grow through Acquisitions

CEO Georg Pölzl wants to invest € 100m in Eastern and Western European markets. The dividend might be raised to € 1.65 per share.

November 29, 2011

Austrian Tourism Industry is Cautiously Optimistc

The Austrian Minister of Economic, Reinhold Mitterlehner considers that the tourism industry has learned to deal with an economic crisis.

November 28, 2011

Tourism Industry Looks Back on Strong Summer Season

Summer season 2011: Arrivals exceed 18 million mark for the first time; 64 million nights spent.

November 23, 2011

bet-at-home.com Continues Growth Course

Gross gaming revenue rose by 10.6% to € 53.23m. Group results declined drastically, however.

November 21, 2011

Unions Put Pressure On Retail Trade

After the third negotiation round has been quitted, the Austrian trade Union starts a series of actions. Strikes are not considered for the time being.

November 19, 2011

Do & Co Continues to Grow in Difficult Market Environment

The Austrian catering company increased sales by 9.8% in the first half of its business year. EBIT was up by 24.1% to € 18.88m.

November 17, 2011

Austrian Post Increased Revenues and Earnings

Profit for the period came in lower than expected at €78.9m due to a provision amounting to € 20.0m for structural measures relating to the Parcel Division.

November 17, 2011

Increasing Interest for Kaufhof

The Austrian real estate investor René Benko got another competitor. Now three tenderers in the sale process will participate.

November 14, 2011

Head’s Loss Widens Further as Costs Increase

The Dutch Vienna-listed sports equipment manufacturer generated a net loss of € 12.4m in the first nine months of the year.

November 10, 2011

Stable Results for bwin.party

The British-Austrian gambling company reports solid third quarter performance driven by strong growth in casino, new games in Italy and improved competitive position in dotcom poker

November 8, 2011

Starbucks to Expand in Austria

The U.S. company plans to strengthen ist market presence in Austria. In 2011, a double-digit sales growth is expected.

November 7, 2011

Red Bull Aims to Sell 4.6bn Cans

The Austrian energy drink producer wants to realize further growth. About one third of Red Bull´s budget goes into marketing.

November 5, 2011

Winter Tourism: Austria is Favorite for Dutch

Dutch people appreciate Austria as winter tourism location. According to a survey, Austria is ranked on number one.

November 5, 2011

Palmers Seeks to Attract Investors

The Austrian clothing company expects sales of the current financial year to come in at approximately € 110m.

November 4, 2011

bwin.party to Enter USA

The British-Austrian gambling company has now found a partner in ordert o provide its gambling services in the U.S.

November 2, 2011

Benko to Acquire Kaufhof

The Austrian real estate investor René Benko plans to purchase the retail trade chain Kaufhof from the German Metro group.

November 2, 2011

Strikes at Post Possible

For the trade union, the staff policy of Austrian Post´s management is “not acceptable”. A deadline for CEO Pölzl is fixed by the trade union.

October 25, 2011

Growth in U.S. Winter Sports Market as a Chance

Against 2010, the U.S. winter sports market shows a rise in sales of 12%. The Austrian winter sports industry regards this as chance.

October 25, 2011

Tourism: Moderate Increase in Guest Nights

The current summer season 2011 brought a rise in overnights by 2.2% for the Austrian tourism industry between May and September.

October 25, 2011