Austrian economic news in a flash - 18 November 2010

Steel specialist Voestalpine posted a net profit of EUR 250m for the first half of fiscal 2010/11, compared to the losses it booked a year earlier. The EBIT soared to EUR 441m from EUR 42.7m. Sales went up 24.2% to EUR 5.19bn. The company projects a doubling of its EBIT to EUR 352m for full fiscal year. All company's divisions contributed to the growth in the first six months of the year.
*
Online bookmaker Bwin slipped to a net loss of EUR 6m for the third quarter of 2010 from EUR 7.9m a year earlier, which was attributed to the market entry costs in France. The result for the first three quarters of the year decreased to EUR 8.7m from EUR 26.9m. The gross gaming revenue grew to EUR 123.3m between July and September 2010 from EUR 101m a year earlier.

*
SW Umwelttechnik AG said it has decided to cancel its planned EUR 10m bond issue, whose proceeds would have been used for expansion in Romania. The move was explained with the tough market conditions for small-scale bonds.
*
The planned merger between Bwin and UK PartyGaming is going on according to plan, Bwin's CEO Norbert Teufelberger told APA news agency. He said the companies were certain the tie-up would be completed at the end of the first quarter of 2011. Bwin will not give a concrete forecast for full 2010, the manager added.
*
Siemens AG Oesterreich and Zagreb-based Elektrokem d.o.o. will provide the electronic signalboxes and the outdoor installation for the main motorway in the Croatian capital. The order volume stands at EUR 10.4m, of which Siemens Austria will get over EUR 5m.
*
The executive board of oil and gas group OMV, as well as its works council, expressed their support for OMV's CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer. The latter was accused of insider trading prior to the company's exit from the capital of Hungarian MOL.
*
OMV said it has agreed to divest 56 of its filling stations in the German states of Thuringia and Saxony to a subsidiary of Polish PKN Orlen. No financial details were given.