Latest News

European Cities Monitor 2010 - Vienna is the biggest mover

According to Cushman & Wakefield research, this year Vienna is the biggest mover, rising up the ranking by six places to 22nd place.

October 5, 2010

Schoeller-Bleckmann Acquired Dubai Based Special Tools Provider

Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment AG (SBO), listed on the ATX market of the Vienna Stock Exchange, has successfully completed acquisition of Drilling Systems International Ltd. (DSI).

October 5, 2010

Hypo Alpe-Adria: 25% of the Slovenian Merkur DIY Chain Put Up for Sale

Hypo Alpe-Adria-Bank International has put up for sale a 25% share of Merkur, the insolvent Slovenian DIY and home improvement products chain, in the daily newspaper "Delo”

October 5, 2010

Alpine: New 140 Million Euro Motorway Contract in Poland

The construction company from Salzburg is to build an 18-kilometer motorway section for almost 140 million euro.

October 5, 2010

EVN resolves on capital increase – transaction together with EnBW

With the Supervisory Board’s approval, the Managing Board of EVN AG has resolved on a capital increase from authorized capital through the issuance of up to 16,352,582 new ordinary no-par value bearer shares.

October 5, 2010

Doppelmayr: Major Contract from San Francisco for 121 Million Euro

After major orders for its cable car system for Las Vegas and Venice, the cable car technology group from Vorarlberg now also got on track in the greater San Francisco area with the largest order in the company’s history.

October 5, 2010

FDI - Austrian enterprises still expanding abroad; foreign enterprises in Austria stagnate

In 2008, Austrian enterprises still expanded their shares in foreign enterprises. 4 899 Austrian affiliates abroad meant a 14% rise in comparison to 2007.

October 5, 2010

Household Energy: Prices Rose by 5.4%

Households have to pay on average 5.4% more for energy in Austria than one year ago. Diesel is 10.4% more expensive in the yearly comparison.

October 4, 2010

SPÖ's Absolute Supremacy Wobbles in Vienna, According to Surveys

The SPÖ is threatened with the loss of the absolute majority in the Vienna-election on next Sunday, the FPÖ is likely to surpass 20%. Greens and ÖVP might register losses and the BZÖ might miss its entry into the municipal council.

October 4, 2010

OMV: Gas Reservoir Found in Southern Tunisia

OMV has been successful again in southern Tunisia. "The two additional findings are of economic and strategic importance and round off the success of the present OMV-drilling campaign, with a total of nine strikes in a row."

October 4, 2010

Skylink: Position on the Report of the Audit Court

The contents of the Rechnungshof (Audit Court, RH) report is said to be prejudicial; the Airport Board will submit its opinion today.

October 4, 2010

Kapsch TrafficCom: Polish 1.24 Billion Euro Contract for Truck and Bus Toll System

The company listed in the Vienna Stock Exchange will build up the entire toll system for trucks and buses weighing over 3.5 tons on Poland's roads for July 2011.

October 4, 2010

Austria: Economic Recovery Continues

OeNB economic indicator: After the exceptionally strong economic recovery for the first half year, the Oesterreichische Nationalbank (OeNB) expects sustained high economic dynamics in Austria for the second half year.

October 1, 2010

Post Boss Pölzl 3 Months prior to the Liberalization

Post Boss Pölzl allegedly looks ahead with confidence to free competition, even for traditional letters.

October 1, 2010

New Connection Between Mandarin Group and Karl-Heinz Grasser

Grasser invested money for his mother in law. According to reports, the connection between the Caribbean offshore company Mandarin and the ex-finance minister has been proven.

October 1, 2010

FACC Grows and Hires

The aircraft supplier FACC, since recently Chinese property, plans to grow further this year. In order to do this, the company needs 150 new employees.

October 1, 2010

Baur: Sales Growth and Eastward Look.

Baur Prüf- und Messtechnik reported a moderate growth in sales during the crisis year. Now the company wants to continue growing abroad.

October 1, 2010

Taxand opens CEE headquarter in Vienna

Taxand, a global organization of tax advisory firms, welcomed Taxand Austria to its fold. Each firm in each country is a separate and independent legal entity responsible for delivering client services.

October 1, 2010

Emporia Telecom intends to enter new markets

The innovative Linz based company Emporia Telecom, a global leader in mobile phones designed for the older generation, is growing and wants to conquer new markets.

October 1, 2010

Brokerjet intends to expand into Poland

The Austrian online broker Brokerjet, a subsidiary of ecetra Central European e-finance AG (ecetra means Erste Bank Central European Trading), a wholly-owned subsidiary of Erste Bank Group, is already active in the Czech Republic and Slovenia.

October 1, 2010

UniCredit SpA has appointed Federico Ghizzoni as its new chief executive

Italy's biggest bank UniCredit SpA named central and eastern European head Federico Ghizzoni its chief executive as expected on Thursday and underscored its commitment to an international role.

October 1, 2010

Bogner Edelstahl Continues to Grow

Austrian stainless steel specialist Bogner is pursuing an ambitious expansion plan in spite of the sales drop.

September 30, 2010

Energieallianz Austria Creates Subsidiary in Germany

Renewable energies are a rising trend. This has been recognized by the domestic Energieallianz Austria(EAA), a subsidiary of the energy provider for Vienna, Lower Austria and Burgenland.

September 30, 2010

Immofinanz: Positive Signs Again

At exactly 12:53 pm on Thursday, an order for 926 shares allowed the Immofinanz stock to fight its way back to the zero-line. Investors hope that the worst is over by now.

September 30, 2010

Vienna now has its own Expat Center

In Vienna, the first Expat Center in Austria was opened. The project was handled by the Vienna Business Agency (former WWFF).

September 30, 2010

McDonald´s opening new McCafes in Austria

The fast-food chain McDonald´s is planning to open four new McCafes in Austria soon - in Innsbruck, Stockerau, Vienna and St. Pölten.

September 30, 2010

Rehau invests EUR 2 million into office centre in Guntramsdorf

Polymer producer Rehau is to invest more than EUR 2 million into the modernisation of its Austrian office centre in Guntramsdorf, near Vienna.

September 30, 2010

Demmers Teehaus Seeks Entry into New CEE Markets

The Austrian tea specialist Demmer, who is expanding into CEE with a franchising strategy, wants to enter new markets.

September 30, 2010

Supreme Court: Investors Misled by Meinl European Land Promotional Brochure

The Supreme Court ruled in favor of an investor who was led astray by a MEL-shares promotional brochure. The Meinl Bank describes the ruling as "contradictory," and as "not a good sign for the Austrian capital market."

September 30, 2010

Austria exceeds the Maastricht GDP reference value by 0.5%

Public Finances 2009: Public deficit increases to 3.5% due to the economic and financial crisis.

September 30, 2010

Unemployment - Total number of persons unemployed down by 12.5%

In the third quarter of 2010, the total number of persons unemployed according to international definitions was 194,100, a decrease of 27,700 persons (-12.5%) compared to the third quarter of 2009.

September 30, 2010

Austria - Construction orders down by 4.6% in June

Volume of orders in construction of buildings and civil engineering decreasing by 4.6% at the end of June 2010.

September 29, 2010

Austria - Construction output down by 9.1%

Output of construction of buildings and civil engineering decreasing from January to June 2010: -9.1%

September 29, 2010

Austria - Turnover in industry and construction in June 2010 up 14.3%

60,657 enterprises in the entire industry and construction sector turned over a total of EUR 19.7 bn.

September 29, 2010

Raiffeisen Invests in New Branches in the Czech Republic

Raiffeisenbank a.s., the fifth largest bank in the Czech Republic, expands its network of branches in the neighboring country.

September 29, 2010

Wolford - Werner Baldessarini to be appointed as a member of the supervisory board

Ex-chief of Hugo Boss, the Kufstein born Werner Baldessarini is to support the Austrian hosiery and underwear manufacturer Wolford.

September 29, 2010

Insolvent AvW Invest AG Cannot Submit Financial Statements

The Carinthian financial company AvW, belonging to Wolfgang Auer-Welsbach who is in custody, cannot provide the necessary documents to prepare its financial statements.

September 29, 2010

Mondi - Russia's Syktyvkar Mill modernized

Paper and packaging group Mondi confirmed that the modernization of its Russian mill was complete and the mill was ready to meet Eastern Europe's growing demand for uncoated fine paper and container board.

September 29, 2010

Russian Machines: Siegfried Wolf Obtains a Stake and Receives Clear Voting Rights

Siegfried Wolf, one of the two former top executives of Magna International not only changes over (as reported) to Oleg Deripaska's “Basic Element” company, but will also have a stake in it.

September 29, 2010

Deripaska: Back to Austria as Strabag Shareholder?

In 2 weeks, on October 15, the deadline expires for Oleg Deripaska to re-purchase his 25% share of the domestic construction company Strabag for about half a billion euro.

September 29, 2010

Magna: Rapprochement to Opel through Astra-order

Magna will take over the development of a new Opel Astra model. Just a year ago, Magna attempted to acquire the whole German GM subsidiary, but the takeover was aborted by General Motors.

September 29, 2010

EU: Austria's Actual Net Contribution has Risen to 342 Million Euro

The net contribution to the EU rose again last year. Poland, with 6.5 billion euro is for the first time the biggest net recipient. Germany remains the biggest net payer with 8.1 billion euro.

September 28, 2010

BayernLB has to Wait 7 Years for 3.9 Billion from Carinthia

After the debacle of the Hypo Group Alpe Adria (HGAA), the Bayerische Landesbank will have to wait up to 7 years for the repayment of the 3.9 billion euro. The repayment plan provides for this period.

September 28, 2010

Humanomed Takes Over Management of Private Clinics in the CEE Region

The know-how of the private clinic operator is to be exported. The objective is not to only give advice, but also to take over the management of private clinics in the CEE region.

September 28, 2010

“GmbH light” Coming in Early 2011

The minimum capital will amount to 10,000 euro. Currently, the Amtsblatt (Official Journal) is still reluctant to reduce its fees for mandatory publications.

September 28, 2010

Insolvencies: Declining Trend for Both Companies and Individuals

KSV expects 10% less insolvencies for 2010, but warns about the consequences of fiscal budget adjustment.

September 28, 2010

Vienna Stock Exchange - Launch of Three Net Dividend Indices

The Vienna Stock Exchange launched three new indices today: ATX Net Total Return (ATX NTR), CECE Net Total Return (CECE NTR) and RDX Net Total Return (RDX NTR).

September 28, 2010

Austrian Real Estate: Increased supply of 339%

Office space supply is on rise, but demand is lagging behind. Prime rents and yields went down y/y.

September 27, 2010

CEE Real Estate: Outlook is brightening

CEE real estate stocks are currently in a phase of brisk corporate action. Financially sound companies with attractive assets are interesting takeover targets, while other companies are being taken over.

September 27, 2010

Elections in Styrya: SPÖ manages to claim first place, just.

The SPÖ was able to claim the first place after a thrilling count against the ÖVP. The FPÖ was able to double results as compared to 2005, and gets into the Landtag again.

September 27, 2010