Italy

UniCredit Bank Ukraine and Ukrsotsbank to be Merged

CEE Division completes additional steps in business refocusing.

December 3, 2013

Bratusek: Slovenia Will Manage Bank Rescue

According to Prime Minister Bratusek, Slovenia will manage the bank rescue on its own.

December 3, 2013

Bank Austria: Sales Proceeds for Kazakh Affiliate Dropped

Sales proceeds of Bank Austria’s Kazakh affiliate ATF Bank only came at € 294m which is significantly less than announced by the bank in the first half year.

December 2, 2013

VIG: „We Will Clean Up Merciless“

Yesterday, the Austrian insurance group VIG (Vienna Insurance Group) published surprisingly bad results. In Italy and Romania, VIG has a lot of work to do.

November 28, 2013

Vienna Insurance Group: Net Income to Fall

The biggest Austrian insurance group is anticipated to post lower profits.

November 27, 2013

Austria: Cernko Favors Participation in Bad Bank

CEO of Bank Austria Willibald Cernko is in favor of Austrian banks participating in a bad bank for Hypo Group Alpe Adria.

November 21, 2013

Hungary: Banks Penalized for Lobbying

The Hungarian competition authority GVH has imposed a penalty running in the millions on domestic and foreign banks.

November 20, 2013

Albania: Governor Calls For Measures for Balanced Financial System

Financial institutes in Albania are struggling with a weak demand in credits as the country has been affected by the economic and financial crisis.

November 20, 2013

Bank Austria: Economic Recovery Continues

The Bank Austria Business Indicator provides an overview of the current economic situation in Austria.

November 18, 2013

Nowotny: Economic Recovery not as Strong as Expected

According to Ewald Nowotny, governor of the Austrian National Bank (OeNB), indicators point toward a slow recovery in the next quarters.

November 18, 2013

Romania: UniCredit Tiriac Bank’s Profits Exceeding Expectations

On an annual comparison basis, Unicredit Tiriac Bank posted an increase of profits of 48 percent to € 48.5m since the beginning of this year exceeding all expectations.

November 13, 2013

Half of Austrians Consider the Country Stuck in Recession

According to an online survey, the Austrians are confident and not concerned by the most recent recession in the Eurozone. With a total of 87 index points consumer’s confidence remained stable in the third quarter of 2013.

November 12, 2013

Bank Austria: Results Slightly above Expectations

Results for the first nine months of 2013: BankAustria posts net profit of over EUR 1 billion for the first nine months.

November 12, 2013

UniCredit: Net Income Driven By CESEE

Italian UniCredit Group´s quarterly net income was down by 40%. Losses in Italy could be more than offset by the results in Poland and Bank Austria´s contributions.

November 11, 2013

Albania: Domestic Banks Struggling to Keep Up

According to a report by the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD), the Albanian financial sector is dominated by foreign banks. Domestic banks are struggling to keep up with the internationally operating competition.

November 8, 2013

Slovenia: Ten Banks under Stress Test

In addition to the country’s three major banks, NLB, NKBM and Abanka Vipa, seven other banks are concerned by the bank stress test.

November 7, 2013

Leitl Rejects Further Bank Taxes

Christoph Leitl, president of the Austrian Chamber of Commerce (WKO), rejects the Finance Ministry’s plan to impose further taxes on Austrian banks in order to decrease public debts.

November 6, 2013

Austrian Banks Demand Cut in Bank Levy

Major banks in Austria demand tax reliefs in return for a participation in Hypo Group Alpe Adria’s bad bank.

November 5, 2013

Czech Budget Deficit to Remain Below Approved Mark

The budget deficit in the Czech Republic increased to CZK 47.7bn in October from CZK 38.2bn in September.

November 4, 2013

Austrian Industrial Sector Gaining Stability

The upwards trend in Austrian industry picked up pace in October. Highest survey reading for two years signals clear pick-up of industrial activity

October 30, 2013

Cernko: Bank Shops in Austria Have to Be Reduced

In spite of the banks’ progresses Austria still has a high densitiy in bank branches.

October 30, 2013

Austrian Banking Sector: NPL at Eurozone´s Top

In the Eurozone, the non-performing loans are still growing. In total, 7.8% of the loan portfolio is risky. Austrian banks are significantly above the average.

October 30, 2013

Czech Republic: Four Banks too Big to Fail

CNB has determined four domestic banks that could potentially endanger the country’s financial system in case of bankruptcy, as reported by daily “Hospodarske noviny” (HN).

October 24, 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

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

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

Russian and Ukrainian Oligarchs Interested in RBI’s Affiliate

The Ukrainian affiliate of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), Bank Aval, has become the object of desire for Russian billionaire Fridman and Ukrainian banker Lagun.

October 15, 2013

HVB: UniCredit Considers IPO

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

October 14, 2013

Austria Remains Main Investor in Slovenia

Last year, almost the half of the foreign direct investments in Slovenia came from Austria.

October 11, 2013

UK: Growth Potential in CESEE

According to the IMF, the UK economy is not diversified sufficiently. Now, UK promotes exports to the CESEE region.

October 5, 2013

UniCredit Toying With Idea of Take-Over in Poland

Italian bank UniCredit considers to extend business at the growing Polish market by a take-over.

October 3, 2013

Moody’s Honors Austrian Banks in CESEE

Only a year ago, the rating agency downgraded Austria because of its banks’ engagement in Eastern Europe. However, the situation has changed to the better.

October 3, 2013

Austrian Industry Continues Upward Trend

Developments in Austria follow the European trend.

September 30, 2013

RZB: Leasing Segment Proves Difficult

Last year, the leasing subsidiary of Raiffeisen Zentralbank (RZB) has recorded massive losses. In the next years, the leasing business will not return to profitability.

September 28, 2013

Raids at Ukrainian Affiliate of Bank Austria

Ukrsotsbank in Kiev was searched on Friday due to unclear ownership structures of non-performing loans which led to disputes between banks and clients. Within the Unicredit Group Bank Austria is responsible for banks in Eastern Europe.

September 25, 2013

Head of Slovenia’s Chief Bank Arrested

Janko Medja, manager of Slovenia’s most important bank NLB, was arrested because of suspicion of corruption.

September 20, 2013

Bank Austria to Close Subsidiaries in Hungary

Because of higher costs caused by a tax on financial transaction, which was introduced during the current year, the affiliate of Italian UniCredit intends to downsize operations in Hungary.

September 19, 2013

Bank Austria Considers Establishing Franchise Banks in Austria

The streamlining of the CESEE network of Bank Austria seems to take on a very concrete form now.

September 16, 2013

Croatia, Slovenia and Italy in Favor of Closer Cooperation

Italian, Croatian and Slovenian PMs push for stronger cooperation.

September 16, 2013

VIG: Downsizing Business in Italy

Donau Versicherung, affiliate of VIG, has to make provisions in the amount of € 35m.

September 10, 2013

Hypo: New Risky Loan Agreements Even in 2012

According to the EU Commission, risky loans were granted by ailing Hypo Group even in 2012.

September 3, 2013

Hypo Group Considers IPO

The Austrian nationalized bank takes an IPO of its Eastern subsidiaries into account.

August 31, 2013

Hypo: Half-Year Results Expected August 28

In order to be able and balance, nationalized Hypo Group required € 700m in capital by the Austrian state.

August 27, 2013

Austrian Division of Hypo Alpe Adria Managed to Turn A Profit

In the past half year the Austrian division of nationalized bank Hypo Group made small profits.

August 20, 2013

Slovenia to Expand Bank Stress Test

Instead of formarly three, ten banks are now supposed to be subjected to a stress test. Results are expected until the end of the year.

August 19, 2013

Austria: Kranebitter to Leave Hypo Group

After three and a half years, Gottwald Kranebitter steps back as CEO of nationalized Hypo Alpe Adria. Tax payers are left with a burden running in the billions in the years to come.

August 19, 2013

Romania: Significant Drop in Purchase Power

General consumption climate is unfavorable in Europe at the moment.

August 12, 2013

Commerzbank: Austria to Miss Budget Goals

Without a new austerity package, Austria will run up more debts than calculated in the bugdet plan, German Commerzbank says. The country’s AAA ratings are likely to decrease.

August 12, 2013

Leitl: Positive Export Development Despited of Economically Difficult Times

The Austrian economy should, according to the President of WKO, focus export growth in third countries and distant markets.

August 10, 2013

Austria: Banks Indignant At Chancellor Faymann

Chancellor Werner Faymann has started the election campaign with an attack against the banks. However, CEO of Bank Austria Willibald Cernko points out that the banking industry secures 70,000 jobs in Austria.

August 9, 2013
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