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        Austrian Securities Market and Stock Exchange News and Analysis
Read the latest headlines and breaking news about the Vienna International Stock Exchange and the Austrian securities market (bonds, stocks)
          
 
    
        Croatia: Adris Grupa to Bid for Insurer Croatia Osiguranje 
      
      
The Croatian financial regulator HANFA has approved Adris Grupa, the largest tobacco company on the Balkans, placing its bid to take over insurance company Croatia Osiguranje.
                                  May 12, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        World Bank Approves Health Loan to Croatia 
      
      
The Croatian government will use the World Bank’s funds for a national health program.
                                  May 9, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Romania: Raiffeisen Bank Issues Unsecured Bonds 
      
      
Raiffeisen announced plans of issuing unsecured bonds at the stock exchange in Bucharest with a nominal value of RON 500m (€ 112.8m) with a maturity of five years.
                                  May 9, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Croatia to Place New Eurobond by June 
      
      
The Croatian government plans to issue a Eurobond until the beginning of June.
                                  May 9, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Poland: Banking Industry’s Profits Down 
      
      
In the first quarter this year, the net profit of Polish banks came at PLN 3.97bn (€ 944m, down by 2.9 percent year-on-year, as reported by the Polish financial market regulator KNF.
                                  May 9, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Verbund: Trying to Get Rid of Sorgenia 
      
      
The Austrian utility Verbund announced not being willing to invest any further money into loss-making Italian energy group Sorgenia.
                                  May 8, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Bank Austria: “Russia is Still Profitable” 
      
      
According to Vice CEO of Bank Austria and head of business operations in CEE Gianni Franco Papa, business in Russia is not yet affected by the political crisis in Crimea.
                                  May 2, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Slovenian Banka Celje Needs Further State Aids 
      
      
Because of the failed capital increase in the amount of € 160m, Banka Celje is requiring further state capital.
                                  May 2, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Fitch Upgrades Rating for Slovenia 
      
      
Fitch Ratings has revised the Outlook on Slovenia's Long-term foreign and local currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) to Stable from Negative and affirmed the IDRs at 'BBB+'.
                                  May 2, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: Hypo Reveals Profit Losses 
      
      
The Austrian branch of Hypo Bank, which was privatized last December and is going to be renamed to Austrian Anadi Bank, has published the annual financial report for the year 2013.
                                  April 30, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Poland: Bank BZ WBK Expects High Growth of Profit 
      
      
The Polish affiliate of Spanish Banco Santander, Bank BZ WBK, expects net profits in 2014 to increase compared to last year’s volume.
                                  April 30, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Hypo Group Further Losses to Be Expected 
      
      
Huge losses by the sale of the SEE banking network could be expected.
                                  April 30, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Erste Group: Dramatic Profit Decline Stayed Away 
      
      
Net profits amounted to EUR 103.3 million. Erste Group aims to keep profits stable in the near future.
                                  April 30, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Polish Banking Sector: “Too Early for Recovery” 
      
      
The Polish banking sector has to be patient for economic recovery to show on their results.
                                  April 29, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austrian Banking Sector Making Losses 
      
      
For the first time in 2013, the Austrian banks made losses in the amount of € 1.035bn.
                                  April 29, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Real Estate: Buwog Shares Taking Off 
      
      
The highly anticipated primary listing of residential real estate affiliate of listed Immofinanz, Buwog, will be completed on Monday.
                                  April 28, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Russia: Austrian Banks Demonstrate Serenity 
      
      
Austrian banks try to take the downgrade of Russian sovereign bonds with composure. According to spokespersons, the downgrade has no danger potential.
                                  April 26, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        RBI Gets Rid of Public Shareholder 
      
      
After tough negotiations with the Austrian financial market supervision, the Vienna-listed CESEE lender Raiffeisen Bank International repays about the half of the participation capital.
                                  April 25, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austrian Households Hold Financial Assets Worth € 500bn 
      
      
Last year, financial assets grew by 1.4% in nominal terms. New debts grew by 0.5% only.
                                  April 24, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Buwog Soon to be Listed at Three Stock Exchanges 
      
      
Immofinanz‘ residential real estate affiliate Buwog will celebrate its IPO at the stock exchanges in Frankfurt and Vienna on Monday, April 28 and in Warsaw on Tuesday, April 29.
                                  April 24, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: Difficult Market Situation for Selling Bawag 
      
      
The selling of Bawag PSK proves difficult for its owner which is why an IPO is considered a realistic phasing-out scenario. However, experts doubt that an IPO will be a “highflyer”.
                                  April 24, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Poland: BNP Paribas Bank Polska Hopes for Higher Profits 
      
      
Because of the merger with BGZ Bank BNP Paribas Bank Polska, the Polish branch of the French financial giant, expects a growth of return on equity (ROE) in the double-digit figures.
                                  April 24, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Vienna Real Estate Market Hopelessly Overstrained? 
      
      
Real estate trustees in Vienna demand a limit to state-subsidized apartments and call for “unrestricted” rents.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Romania: BRD Group Societe General with High Expectations 
      
      
The Romanian lender intends to increase its lending by four percent in 2014.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Slovenia: List of Debtors of NLB Published 
      
      
The Slovenian bad bank BAMC (Bank Asset Management Company) has published the list of debtors of the country’s two largest banks, which are responsible for the disaster of the state-controlled banks.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Struggling Insurance Industry 
      
      
Despite favorable results last year the European insurance market has to face a number of adverse factors.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Poland: Costs for Banking Services Rising Dramatically 
      
      
The banking fees in Poland saw a dramatic increase in the second half last year.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: Bawag to Go Public? 
      
      
Bawag PSK is likely to go public, as reported by Bloomberg.
                                  April 23, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Serbia: Key Rate Kept Unchanged. 
      
      
The NBS (National Bank of Serbia) decided to keep the policy rate unchanged as there is no threat of inflation.
                                  April 22, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        UniCredit: Common Bad Bank with Intesa Sanpaolo? 
      
      
The parent company of Bank Austria may create a common bad bank with its Italian competitor Intesa Sanpaolo. The bad bank may be sold later on.
                                  April 22, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austrian Banking Sector: Less Banks, More Employees 
      
      
Since 2000, the number of employees was up by 2,600 in the Austrian banking industry. In the same period, 165 bank shops were closed. Nevertheless, Austria is still over-banked.
                                  April 22, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: Branch Network of Raiffeisen Shrinking 
      
      
Because of the high number of mergers, the number of branch shops of Raiffeisen Group is dropping. However, the Austrian lender still has a market share of 43 percent.
                                  April 18, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Czech Republic: Interest on Mortgage Loans Dropped 
      
      
Interest ratest on mortgage loans dropped to a record low to 2.93 percent last month.
                                  April 18, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Republic of Austria Liable for Domestic Banks in Ukraine and Russia 
      
      
The Austrian Clearing Bank (OeKB) has assumed liabilities in the amount of € 4.0n in Russia and Ukraine. Besides the political risks, banks operating in Russia have to fear economic risks too.
                                  April 17, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Polish Insurer PZU Gains More Power in Baltic States 
      
      
As announced by the Polish insurance company, PZU took over three Baltic competitors.
                                  April 17, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Slovenia: “Worst Thing if Nobody Dare Do Anything” 
      
      
Finance Minister Cufer stressed that financial institutes needed stable guidance and confidence to continue their restructuring paths.
                                  April 17, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Hypo Group: Privatization of Balkan Business Until 2015 
      
      
The nationalized problem bank intends to sell its Balkan business within 2014.
                                  April 17, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Conwert to Leave Germany? 
      
      
A consortium of investors is highly interested in the German subsidiary of the Austrian real estate group. The consortium is led by conwert´s former board director Johannes Meran.
                                  April 16, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: RLB OÖ Rows Bank on Threat to Leave 
      
      
Last year regional lender RLB OÖ (Raiffeisen Landesbank Oberösterreich), part of Raiffeisen group, saw a decline of six percent in its balance sheet totals while the operating results increased by almost three percent.
                                  April 16, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        S&P Upgrades Polish Banking Sector 
      
      
Rating agency Standard & Poor’s has upgraded the Polish banking sector from “negative” to “stable”.
                                  April 16, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        RBI Terminates Business on Crimea 
      
      
The Ukrainian affiliate of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Bank Aval, has terminated its business activity on Crimea.
                                  April 15, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Fricke: “Man Needs Relatively Little Bank” 
      
      
Fricke, chief economist at the European Climate Foundation and author of “Wie viel Bank braucht der Mensch?" (How much bank does man need?)
                                  April 15, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        “Bank Rescue is a Crime” 
      
      
Martin Ehrenhauser, leading candidate of the Austrian electorial alliance “Europa Anders”, which is running for the EU elections, has voiced harsh criticism about the saving of financial institutes.
                                  April 14, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Slovenia: Head of NLB Throws in Towel 
      
      
On Friday France Ahar, President of the supervisory board of the biggest lender of Slovenia, state-controlled NLB, handed in his resignation.
                                  April 14, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Uncertainty in Eastern Europe Makes RBI Nervous 
      
      
In the last few months, the frame conditions in Russia become more and more unpredictable for foreign investors. For RBI, Russia is the most important market.
                                  April 12, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Hypo Group Alpe Adria: Massive Losses in Italy 
      
      
Last year, the distressed Austrian lender recorded losses in the amount of € 2.7bn. In Italy, losses were highest.
                                  April 11, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Raiffeisen Zentralbank Posts Better Results 
      
      
The Viennese lender RZB, top institute of the Austrian Raiffeisen sector, posts a significant increase in net income. Nevertheless, the core tier 1 capital quota was down slightly.
                                  April 11, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Slovenia: Banka Celje Trying to Fend Off Bailout 
      
      
The Slovenian lender is considering a capital increase to avoid national bailout.
                                  April 11, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Austria: VBAG Sells Malta Affiliate 
      
      
Partly nationalized VBAG (Österreichische Volksbanken AG) has sold its banking affiliate VB Malta to Maltese Mediterranean Bank (MedBank).
                                  April 11, 2014                                        
    
 
    
        Poland: Number of Consumer Loans Increases 
      
      
According to Polish credit bureau BIK, the number of granted consumer loans has reached a new record.
                                  April 11, 2014                                        
     
           
       
    
