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)

Austria: Saving Grows Decently

At the end of June, total savings reached € 490bn. In real terms, total savings shrink. Lending remains stable.

October 22, 2013

Bank Austria Issues € 500m Bond

Bank Austria, part of Italian major bank UniCredit and in charge of CESEE business, is raising money from the capital market.

October 22, 2013

Slovenia: Banka Sparkasse Provided with Loan by EIB

EIB continues to support SME and mid-cap projects in Slovenia.

October 22, 2013

Bill Gates Becomes Second-Largest Shareholder in FCC

Spanish construction company and parent company of Austrian Alpine has a new shareholder: Founder of Microsoft Bill Gates has aquired a participation of around six percent.

October 22, 2013

Uniqa to Aquire Western Balkan Insurance Companies

Listed insurance company Uniqa will take over Croatian and Serbian affiliates of Swiss insurance group Baloise (Basler) to strengthen its market position in the Western Balkan states.

October 22, 2013

CFO Barometer: Upturn in Revenues

The majority of financial managers in the country are still restrained with investments. However, the majority estimates increasing turnovers at enterprises, according to the CFO barometer.

October 21, 2013

Hypo Group Reigned by Greed and Criminal Activities

In an interview with Austrian daily “Standard“ forensic expert of nationlized Hypo Group Christian Böhler revealed that former managers of the bank enriched themselves personally.

October 21, 2013

Bulgaria: FDI Inflow Shrinks Drastically

In the first eight months of 2013, foreign direct investments fell by more than 51%. Without impulses from foreign investors, the country will not return to growth.

October 21, 2013

Romanian Romgaz Starts IPO

Tomorrow, Monday, the Romanian government sells a 15% stake in Romgaz via the stock exchange. In the last months, the IMF has urged Romania to accelerate the privatization policy.

October 21, 2013

Conwert Changes Strategy

The Vienna-listed real estate group will strengthen its portfolio in Germany. Moreover, conwert faces a change in leadership.

October 20, 2013

Croatia: EU-Membership Did Not Help Yet

In the first months of its EU membership, the situation in Croatia´s industrial sector deteriorated further.

October 19, 2013

“Problems in the CESEE Region Are Mainly Fundamental”

In an interview with Gazeta Wyborcza, Reza Moghadam, director of the IMF´s European Department, says that the weakness of the CESEE region is not only cyclical.

October 18, 2013

Immofinanz: Zehetner Quits in 2014

The Austrian real estate group faces a change in leadership.

October 18, 2013

Telekom Austria: No Need for Capital Increase

Against all rumors, Telekom Austria is doing just fine. As reported by “Handelsblatt” insiders claim that a capital increase, which was speculated on, is currently not an issue.

October 18, 2013

Nowotny Demands Same Rules for All Banks

Govenor Nowotny urges for a discussion about the capital requirements (Basel III) for banks, which applies only for the major banking institutes in the US but for all banks in Europe.

October 18, 2013

RBI Considers Participation in Hypo Group’s Bad Bank

In a radio interview with “Ö1”, Karl Sevelda, CEO of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), announced that he regards a particpation of his bank as possible.

October 18, 2013

IMF Warns of Financial Instability in CESEE

Due to the high non-performing loan quota and the deleveraging of Western banks, the countries of Central, Eastern and Southeastern Europe are still far from financial stability.

October 18, 2013

Mitterlehner: “2014 Will Become Significantly Better“

Austrian Minister for Economy Reinhold Mitterlehner considers the Austrian economy to be in a spirit of optimism as an upturn in Europe has become evident. According to him, 2014 is supposed to become “significantly better” than 2013.

October 17, 2013

Austria: RBI Expects Stabilization

Business in CEE seems to be in an up again. RBI is preparing for an IPO at the Warsaw stock exchange.

October 17, 2013

Romania: Privatization of Railroad Company Flopped

The privatization of Romanian freight railroad company CFR Marfa failed. The sale of shares is part of the conditions with IMF, the World Bank and the European Union.

October 17, 2013

Eurozone: Banking Union Approved

From autumn 2014 on, the European Central Bank (ECB) will directly supervise 130 major banks within the Eurozone.

October 16, 2013

Bulgaria Supports Trans Adriatic Pipeline

During yesterday’s world media meeting, on behalf of his country Bulgarian President Rosen Plevniev expressed his support of the Trans Adriatic Pipeline project (TAP).

October 16, 2013

Solution to Croatian/Hungarian Mol Issue Expected Soon

The Croatian justice has issued an international arrest warrant for the head of Hungarian oil company Mol.

October 15, 2013

Experts Urge Serbia to Accelerate Austerity Measures

It is still questionable whether the austerity measures announced by the Serbian government are sufficient.

October 15, 2013

IMF: Hungary´s Fiscal Situation Deteriorates

According to the IMF, Hungary´s public debt quota will increase. This stands in opposition to the optimistic forecasts of the government.

October 15, 2013

„CESEE Is Not the Devil Anymore“

Regarding the development of the CESEE equity market, Birgit Kuras, CEO of Vienna Stock Exchange (VSE) demonstrates optimism.

October 14, 2013

RBI May Pay Back State Aid Sooner

For Austrian Raiffeisen Bank International, the state aid becomes more and more expensive. The repayment will take place before 2017, insiders report.

October 14, 2013

HVB: UniCredit Considers IPO

Bank Austria´s holding company UniCredit may sell a minority stake in Germany HVB.

October 14, 2013

Croatia: Hypo Group Losing Last Industrial Participation

Croatian chemical company Dioki is facing bankruptcy which is why Hypo Group is losing one of the last industrial participations in the country.

October 14, 2013

Moody’s: Poland Threatened by Outflow of Foreign Funds

Rating agency Moody’s evaluates the country being moderately exposed to the risk of foreign outflows.

October 14, 2013

FX Loans: ECB Warns Hungary

ECB´s governor Mario Draghi warns Hungary. The conversion of foreign currency loans may sharpen the credit crunch.

October 14, 2013

Romania Keeps Majority Stake in Romgaz

Romania´s government will privatize 15% of the country´s biggest natural gas producer. The opening of the economy to foreign investors bears potential dangers.

October 12, 2013

Poland´s Banking Sector Underlines Stability

Moody´s Upgrades Poland´s banking sector. After the upgrade, Polish banks have their best rating since 2007.

October 12, 2013

Slovenia Does Not Fully Draw EU Funds

As the Slovenian projects will not be finished in time, the financially stricken country will fail drawing all funds.

October 12, 2013

Hungary: Borrowing Costs Decline

Yields on Hungarian sovereign bonds reached an all-time low. However, a rebound in 2014 is rather probable.

October 12, 2013

VBAG to Downsize Radically

In order to become competitive again, the partly nationalized VBAG and the Volksbanken sector will cut its structure.

October 12, 2013

IMF: „Banks and Companies in a Vicious Circle“

Not only Greece, Spain or Portugal are struggling with a financially stricken banking sector. In Southeastern Europe, the situation is quite similar.

October 11, 2013

Erste Observes SEE Region Intensively

Vienna-listed Erste Group, which is the third-biggest lender in the CESEE region, wants to expand into Southeastern Europe.

October 11, 2013

Austria: Venture Capital Market is Underdeveloped

According to the Austrian Institute of Economic Research (WIFO), more funds for start-up enterprises would help boosting the economy.

October 11, 2013

Telekom Austria: No Expansion into Serbia

For Telekom Austria, the entry in Serbia fails for the second time. The Austrian telecommunication group will not submit an offer for Serbia Broadband (SBB).

October 10, 2013

RBI Issues EUR 500 Million of Supplementary Capital

Strengthening of capital structure provided by this measure.

October 10, 2013

Slovenia Cannot Escape the Vicious Circle

Slovenia still aims to manage its banking crisis on its own. After the new economic forecast issued by Slovenia´s National Bank, this aim suffers another setback.

October 10, 2013

Romania Under Observation

The IMF wants Romania´s government to put more effort in austerity measures, market liberalization and privatization of state-owned assets.

October 9, 2013

Austrian Post: Enormous Growth Potential in Turkey

With a local partnership, the Vienna-listed Austrian Post wants to participate in the booming Turkish post market.

October 9, 2013

Hungary and Croatia to Solve MOL/INA Issue

Both Hungarian Minister of Foreign Affairs Janos Martonyi and his Croatian counterpart Vesna Pusic intend to solve the issue between Hungarian MOL and Croatian INA.

October 9, 2013

Uniqa: Re-IPO Successful

The second-biggest Austrian insurance group goes public again. According to insiders, the order books are closed.

October 9, 2013

Serbia Fights Against National Bankruptcy

The Serbian government has decided to implement a new austerity package. Above all, civil servants face substantial salary cuts.

October 9, 2013

World Bank: 47 Banking Crises in the Past 40 Years

47 banking crises that have struck 116 countries in the past 40 years - World Bank

October 8, 2013

Serbia: IMF as Last Exit

After unsuccessful negotiations in spring, Serbia is forced to ask the IMF for financial support. The fiscal policy is not the only weak point of the Balkan country.

October 8, 2013

Romania: Bucharest Stock Exchange to Be Enlarged?

Ludwik Sobolewski, new CEO of Romania’s Bucharest Stock Exchange (BSE), is toying with the idea of enlarging the institution and making it a competition to Budapest, Vienna and Prague withing two years only.

October 7, 2013