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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
BGZ: Santander Aims to Expand into Poland
In order to complete its local affiliate Bank Zachodni WBK, Spanish Santander intends to take over the Polish lender BGZ.
October 29, 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
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
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
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
Hungarian National Bank to Use Foreign Currency Reserves
In order to support Hungarian homeowners, MNB (Hungarian National Bank) sells a part of its forex-reserves.
September 15, 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: 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
UniCredit: No Withdrawal from Hungary
CEO of UniCredit Federico Ghizzoni has rejected rumors about disengagement plans from Hungary.
August 7, 2013
Loan Loss Provisions Impede Higher Profits for Bank Austria
Results for the first half of 2013: Bank Austria posts net profit of EUR 566 million for the first half of 2013.
August 7, 2013
Credit Crunch in CESEE?
The capital outflow in the CESEE region accelerates. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) fears negative consequences for the real economy.
August 7, 2013
UniCredit to Focus on Poland, Turkey and Russia
UniCredit´s CEO pursues a selective growth strategy. The Austrian subsidiary recorded losses in the retail segment.
August 6, 2013
Trend: Service Industry Drifts to CESEE
Lower costs in the service sector in CESEE countries, particularly Romania, are compensated by higher expenditures in securing quality standards.
July 30, 2013
Moody´s Cuts Bank Austria´s Rating
According to the U.S. rating agency, the creditworthiness of the biggest Austrian bank has worsened. The expansion program in Russia and Turkey is seen as significant risk factor.
July 16, 2013
RBI Plans on Reconstructing Branch Banks
The new concept of Karl Sevelda, successor of former CEO Herbert Stepic, is becoming clearer. He has inherited the task to reconstruct the capital of Basel-III.
July 15, 2013
Slovenia’s Banking Sector Threatened by Delay of Bad Bank-Transfers
After the EU Commission denied approval for the first transfers of bad loans to the bank asset management by June 28, the reorganization of the banking system in Slovenia has been postponed.
July 9, 2013
Bank Austria to Close 67 Subsidiaries
UniCredit Affiliate Bank Austria plans to close 67 subsidiaries – a quarter of its 270 stores for private costumers until 2015.
July 3, 2013
Slovakia and Unicredit in a Dispute
In Slovakia a dispute between Unicredit and the state has incensed. This could negatively affect the planned merger with a Czech affiliate in 2014.
June 17, 2013
Papa: CEESE To Keep Growth Advantage
Deputy CEO of Bank Austria Papa sees a long-term potential in CESEE countries. Bank Austria is expecting a growing credit business apart from the favorable economic outlook in the region.
June 6, 2013
Slovakia: R&D Spendings Low But Increasing
Compared with other countries, Slovakia’s R&D spendings are little but slowly and steadily they are increasing. Among the countries with the highest growth rates of R&D spendings, Slovakia ranks 5th.
April 22, 2013
Austria: Alpine’s Future Sealed
The restructuring contract has been signed by banks and insurance companies. Shareholders are not affected by a haircut.
March 26, 2013
Bank Austria To Boost Capital Base
CEO Cernko wants Eastern Europe to play an important role again in the future.
March 19, 2013
Bank Austria's Profits Under Pressure
In the fourth quarter, Bank Austria has recorded a net loss of € 676m. In the whole year, CEE division showed a profit before tax of € 1.712bn which is an increase of 6 % compared to 2011. One-off charges totalled € 879m.
March 18, 2013
Bank Austria Takes Drastic Measures
Because of selling the Kazakhstan division and bad credits, quarter losses of € 553m for parent company UniCredit have to be faced.
March 16, 2013
Bank Austria to Sell ATF
Bank Austria will sell its affiliation in Kazakhstan, ATF Bank, which was acquired in 2007. ATF made losses into the billions.
March 15, 2013
Vienna´s Position as CEE-Hub Is Endangered
The number of multinational companies which withdraw their sub-headquarters from Vienna is growing, experts say.
February 20, 2013
Bank Austria: New Supervisory Board Members
Today, the general meeting of UniCredit´s wholly-owned subsidiary Bank Austria had elected two new members to Bank Austria’s Supervisory Board.
February 14, 2013
CEE Banking Study 2013: “Banks Rebalance Their Business Models” (3)
Foreign players have an important role in the local markets and increased the share of CEE assets within their groups' total assets over the last years.
January 15, 2013
CEE Banking Study 2013: “Banks Rebalance Their Business Models” (2)
Total assets and lending have grown steadily since 2008, even though at a slower pace than before the crisis and with a stronger focus on domestic funding sources.
January 15, 2013
CEE Banking Study 2013: “Banks Rebalance Their Business Models” (1)
The CEE banking sector keeps showing good profitability with revenue margins narrowing but still above Western European levels.
January 15, 2013
Bulgaria: Private Households Not to Increase Consumption
According to UniCredit Bulbank, the consumer behavior will remain rather cautious this year.
January 5, 2013
Bank Austria: Subsidiaries in Czech Republic and Slovakia to Merge
Bank Austria´s holding company UniCredit starts a Business Refocusing Program in CEE.
November 13, 2012
Bulgarian Economy to Recover
In 2013, Bulgaria is expected to show substantially higher growth rates, UniCredit Bulbank says.
September 24, 2012
S&P Confirms Bank Austria´s Rating
Due to the downgrade of the holding company UniCredit, the U.S. rating agency retains the negative outlook for Bank Austria.
August 8, 2012
Bank Austria as UniCredit´s Cash Cow
Without Bank Austria, UniCredit would have been in the loss area. The CESEE region is still Bank Austria´s future market.
August 4, 2012
Bank Austria: Major Investment at Russian Subsidiary
UniCredit Group increases the equity base of the Russian subsidiary.
July 14, 2012
Reorganization at UniCredit
The Italian banking group plans to dezentralize its structure. Bank Austria as CESEE hub is affected.
July 5, 2012
Bank Austria Sells Headquarters
The highest-bidder procedure is to lead to a sale of the property by the end of 2012. Bank Austria will retain its property until the new headquarters has been completed.
June 15, 2012