Austrian economic news in a flash - November 12

Waste-to-biofuel firm BDI BioEnergy International AG said its net profit soared 136% to EUR 2.6m for the first three quarters of 2010. Sales grew 34.1% to EUR 29.1m. The company added it projects a positive outcome of 2010 due to the nine-month results and the current order backlog.

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Water technology group BWT said its net profit decreased 9.7% to EUR 20m in the first nine months of 2010. EBIT rose 7.6% to EUR 26.5m, while sales went up 16.3% to EUR 345.2m. The developments in Spain and eastern Europe continue to be unsatisfactory, while the strikes in France put a risk on the economic conditions in France, the company said.

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Raiffeisen Bank International is said to be bidding for Polish Polbank, currently part of Greek EFG Eurobank, a report of Financial Times showed. Intesa and French BNP Paribas has also submitted offers of between USD 600m and USD 800m, the paper added.
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Austria produced 237,700 tonnes of desert fruit in 2010, a fall of 10% compared to 2009 but still around the long-term average, Statistics Austria said. Apples took the first place with 197,400 tonnes, down 12% in yearly terms.