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Bond Market
Positive Result at Austrian Pension Funds
Assets under management rose by 5.6% in the first quarter of 2012. The yield was beyond the long-term average of 2.8%.
May 31, 2012
Asfinag Bond Issue Successfully Placed
The Austrian highway financing company has placed a € 1.0bn corporate bond at historically low rates. The bond has a maturity of 20 years.
May 31, 2012
The Euro - A Big Error (Part 3)
The common currency did not create convergence, but widened the gap between Northern and Southern Eurozone member states.
May 29, 2012
Austrian Banks Record Profits Due to Special Items
This year, Austrian banks achieved earnings of € 1.0bn. This does not relate to operating business, but with special items.
May 26, 2012
Greece and Eurobonds Divide Austria
The Greek exit and the introduction of Eurobonds are discussed heatedly. In Austria, there is no clear tendency.
May 25, 2012
Austrian Economy: OeNB Demonstrates Optimism
The Austrian Central Bank is satisfied with the performance of the domestic economy underlines the necessity of austerity measures.
May 24, 2012
Fekter Warns of Greek Exit
Austrias Finance Minister Maria Fekter sees enormous difficulties in the case of an exit out of the Eurozone. The Financial Market Authority (FMA) supports Fekter.
May 23, 2012
The Euro – A Big Error (Part 2)
The system of the common currency has failed to work, but is still kept alive artificially. The euro brings enormous difficulties to stronger as well as weaker European economies.
May 23, 2012
VBAG and Investkredit Announce Repurchase of Hybrid Capital
Austrian Volksbanken-Aktiengesellschaft (VBAG) and Investkredit Bank AG (IK) announce offers to repurchase hybrid capital, like other banks did before.
May 22, 2012
Rothensteiner: Return to Drachma would be „Utter Chaos“
The CEO of the Austrian RZB (Raiffeisen Zentralbank) warns of a Greek exit. At the moment, there would be not contagiousness for Spain or Italy.
May 21, 2012
The Euro – A Big Error (Part 1)
The system of the common currency has failed to work, but is still kept alive artificially. The euro brings enormous difficulties to stronger as well as weaker European economies.
May 20, 2012
Greek Exit: € 5.0bn Costs for Austria „In the Best Case“
Bank Austria´s chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer warns of exorbitant costs in case of a Greek exit out of the Eurozone. A common solution would be the better alternative.
May 19, 2012
Austrian Interest Rate Reaches a Record Low
The interest rates for German and Austrian sovereign bonds are as deep as never before. Thus, in Europe, the gap widens further.
May 18, 2012
Greek Exit: Costs of € 7.7bn for Austria
Austria could have to bear costs of up to € 7.7bn if Greece leaves the Eurozone. Austrian guarantees amount to € 3.1bn.
May 14, 2012
Massive Demand for Austrian Railway Bonds
The majority of the € 1.0bn bond was placed with high quality institutional investors in Germany, Asia, Austria and France; offering was 3.0x over-subscribed within 30 minutes.
May 10, 2012
Kommunalkredit: Search for Buyer Goes on
In 2008, the former interest of VBAG was nationalized. The market environment would be too insecure, CEO Steinbichler says.
May 5, 2012
Strabag Issues € 100m Corporate Bond
Proceeds will be used for general business purposes and the further improvement of the financing structure of the Austrian construction company.
May 3, 2012
€ 110m Bond Issue at Agrana
The Austrian sugar and starch manufacturer places € 110m bonded loan with maturities of five, seven and ten years.
April 24, 2012
IMF: Austria´s Contribution to Reach € 6.0bn
The capital increase at the International Monetary Fund costs Austria € 6.0bn. Austria may receive an executive director. Schieder considers introducing Eurobonds.
April 23, 2012
Bank Austria: Bond Issue Significantly Oversubscribed
This week, Bank Austria issued a 7-year covered bond with a volume of € 500m.
April 21, 2012
KTM Corporate Bond “Very Popular”
The bond volume of € 85m was more than double oversubscribed within two hours. Especially Austrian private investors were interested.
April 19, 2012
Big Exposure in Spain and Portugal
In total, Austrian banks have an exposure of € 4.3bn in the financially stricken EU-countries Spain and Portugal.
April 19, 2012
Rating Agencies Examine Austria Again
The three big rating agencies S&P, Moody´s and Fitch are checking Austria´s financial situation again. An official statement does not exist yet.
April 13, 2012
Austrian Investment Funds down by € 10.7bn in 2011
Last year, Austrian investment funds registered a negative performance of 32%. Eurozone-funds were down by 19.52%, U.S. funds only by 3.0%.
April 11, 2012
Austria Pays Less Interest
Despite the lost „AAA“, Austria´s interest rate on recently issued bonds is on a record low.
April 10, 2012
Austria Rejects Bank Bonds of Southern Euro-Members
The Austrian Central Bank will join Germany’s Bundesbank in rejecting as collateral bank bonds guaranteed by member states receiving aid from the European Union and the International Monetary Fund.
April 4, 2012
Telekom Austria: Bond Issue Completed
The telecommunication company has successfully placed € 750m Eurobond with a coupon of 4.0% p.a. The order book´s volume surpassed the proceeds substantially.
March 27, 2012
€ 2.5bn Bond Issue at Telekom Austria
The subsidiary Telekom Finanzmanagement GmbH Plans to Issue a Benchmark-Sized Eurobond Transaction.
March 26, 2012
Keuschnigg: „Greece Must Leave Eurozone“
The Austrian Economist and designated director of HIS, Christian Keuschnigg advised Greece to leave the euro zone.
March 26, 2012
KTM Underlines Successful Year 2011
Results were significantly up last year. The emission of a € 75m corporate bond should strengthen the long-term financing structure.
March 23, 2012
Strabag SE places € 140m Bonded Loan
The Austrian construction company strengthens the diversification of financing structure. Strabag issues two fixed-interest and two variable tranches with terms to maturity of 5 and 7 years.
March 20, 2012
Bank Austria Plays Down Hungary Risks
The head of UniCredit unit Bank Austria's central and eastern Europe business played down potential risks from Hungary in a magazine interview published on Friday.
March 19, 2012
Raiffeisen Places Chinese Bonds
The Austrian bank places 750 million yuan in first sale dim sum bonds.
March 16, 2012
KA Finanz Needs € 1.0bn
Due to write-offs of Greek sovereign bonds, the “bad bank” of the nationalized Kommunalkredit has a capital shortfall of € 1.0bn.
March 9, 2012
Bawag Buys Back Hybrid Capital
The U.S. owned Austrian bank purchases € 300m in hybrid capital back in order to strengthen the equity base.
March 9, 2012
Erste Group Has € 150m Gain Through Hybrid Buyback
Erste Group Bank AG, Eastern Europe’s second-biggest lender, said it has agreed to buy back € 828.3m ($ 1.1bn) of hybrid securities to boost net income and capital.
March 6, 2012
Erste Group Manages Issue of Czech Republic € 2.0bn Bond
The Austrian bank observed good demand for the Czech sovereign bonds offering: total orders of approx. € 3.5bn from over 190 investors.
February 22, 2012
KA Finanz Tries to Sit Out Greek Crisis
The nationalized Austrian bank has an exposure of € 980m in Greece. CEO Steinbichler hopes not to participate in the haircut.
February 21, 2012
Erste Group Acts as Bookrunner for Miba
The majority of € 75m bond was placed with retail investors in Austria. The offering was 3.5 times over-subscribed.
February 21, 2012
State Aid: VBAG Redeems € 1.0bn
The Austrian VBAG repays a third of the state aid granted in 2009.
February 13, 2012
Bank Austria Writes Off Greek Bonds
The Austrian subsidiary of the Italian UniCredit Group has to write off Greek sovereign bonds by € 100m.
February 13, 2012
Austrian Central Bank Lets Eligibility Criteria Ease
OeNB: ECB governing council endorses expansion of eligibility criteria for nonmarketable assets.
February 10, 2012
Kommunalkredit: More Costly than Hypo Group
The Austrian state had to made expenses of € 4.65bn for the nationalized Kommunalkredit. In total, the bank package´s volume reaches € 11bn.
February 9, 2012
Still Capital Requirement at Kommunalkredit
The „bad bank“ of the nationalized Austrian bank, KA Finanz, receives € 190m by the Austrian state. Moreover, another € 600m are needed in the first half of 2012.
February 7, 2012
Euro-Crisis: Austrian Managers are Optimistic
In spite of the current euro-crisis, most Austrian managers believe that the currency will remain. Moreover, a deepening of the cooperation between EU-member states is expected.
February 6, 2012
CEE Countries with Bigger Space for Higher Bond Yields
Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia with biggest room for manoeuvre in case yields would spike; Hungary should avoid financing at +6%, says Erste Group.
February 6, 2012
Privatization of Kommunalkredit Starts
The sale of the nationalized bank will start in the second half of 2012. For 2011, losses could reach up to € 150m.
February 4, 2012
Rise in New Bonds Listings at CEESEG
Boom in new bond listings still going strong, CEE Stock Exchange Group says.
February 1, 2012
Erste Group Reduces Bondholdings
The Austrian major bank is said to plan sale of covered bonds.
January 31, 2012
Erste Group to Support Austrian Bonds
Erste Group considers putting effort in distributing Austrian sovereign bonds to its customers. Attractiveness should be increased, Erste Group says.
January 21, 2012