Austrian economic news in a flash - 23 November 2010

Meinl Bank has filed a claim for around EUR 1.2bn in damages against its former affiliate Atrium. The latter said it will now examine how to react to the suit. Meinl Bank is accusing Atrium's management and its shareholders that they had harmed investors with the decision to abandon a capital hike and to convert a bond into Atrium's shares.
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ECO Business Immobilien AG, subsidiary of Conwert, said it posted a net profit of EUR 9.1m for the first three quarters of 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 8.2m a year earlier. The company expects an increase in full-2010 profit and EBIT. The rental income decreased to EUR 41.1m due to properties sale in the first nine months of the year. ECO Business' income from divestments soared to EUR 4.3m due to the sale of the prominent Opernringhof building in Vienna's downtown. The company said it does not need refinancing by the end of 2010.
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Michael Häupl, Vienna's mayor, has confirmed to Austria's daily Heute that at least one of the executive board members of Vienna Airport will have to take responsibility for the scandal around the ever-swelling costs at the Skylink terminal expansion project. The supervisory board of the company will discuss this Wednesday on the matter. Vienna owns around 20% in the airport operator.
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Bulgaria's foreign minister Nickolay Mladenov has expressed the country's commitment to the OMV-lead Nabucco gas pipeline project, which will diversify the gas supply in Europe and lower the dependency on Russian imports.
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Austria's Audit Court has recommended a capital increase for Vienna Airport due to the growth in its net liabilities to EUR 613.9m and the planned investments of above EUR 1.28bn, Standard reported. The court also said the entire management board is responsible for the Skylink terminal project, but its stop was decided by CFO Ernest Gabmann alone, the paper added.
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The number of used car registrations in Austria decreased 4.4% year-on-year to 74,166, Statistics Austria reported. In monthly comparison the fall was 9.9%.