Austrian economic news in a flash

(The most important economic news in Austria from 22 September)  
 
Office furniture maker Bene posted a loss before interest and tax of EUR 6.4m for the first six months of fiscal 2010/11. Sales decreased 19.5% to EUR 77.1m. The company projects a negative result for full 2010/11 due to the continuing tough situation on its markets.
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PC game developer JowooD has called for an extraordinary shareholders' meeting due to the expected high semi-annual net loss. The loss may have come higher than half of the core capital, the company said. JowooD will look into strategies for the further development of its business at the shareholders' meeting, which is expected on November 7. Most probably, the shareholders will vote on a capital increase, a spokeswoman for JoWooD told APA news agency. She added the firm was not endangered by insolvency and that the first-half net loss is seen at between EUR 10m and 15m.
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Utilities EVN and Wiener Stadtwerke want to bundle their stakes in sector leader Verbund in a shareholders' syndicate. The two firms hold together around 26% in Verbund.
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Candy producer Manner said its sales in the second quarter of 2010 rose 2.3% but decreased by 2.4% in the first six months of the year. The high prices of cacao, milk and hazelnuts burdened the pre-tax profit by 9%.
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Vienna Insurance Group has received a concession for the sale of life insurance polices in Montenegro. Thus the company has boosted its presence to 24 countries in the CEE region.
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MAN Nutzfahrzeuge Österreich AG, the Austrian subsidiary of German truck maker MAN, booked sales of EUR 1.25bn for 2009, down from EUR 1.89bn a year earlier. The net profit fell to EUR 101.8m from EUR 109.1m.
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Steel group Voestalpine has invested EUR 130m in a new forge of its unit Böhler Edelstahl in Kapfenberg, in Styria. The investment shows the importance of the site, Voestalpine said.
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Fibre producer Lenzing has priced its EUR 120m bond with a coupon of 3.875%. The issue price stands at 101.28%. The bond was four times oversubscribed, the company said. The proceeds will be used for optimisation of the financial portfolio and funding of new projects.

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Austria's total production of aquaculture rose 5.6% year-on-year to 3,051 tonnes in 2009, the country's statistics office reported.
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The number of used motor vehicles registrations rose 9.9% in annual terms to 85,041 in August, but decreased 10.2% compared to July, Statistik Austria said.