Austrian economic news in a flash - November 29

Builder Strabag said its net profit edged down 1% to EUR 116.4m in the first nine months of 2010. EBIT grew 10% to EUR 192.7m, which was attributed to consolidation effects. Construction output went down 3% to EUR 9.097bn. The company experienced negative trends in Germany and Hungary. Strabag confirmed its expectations for an output of EUR 12.9bn for full 2010. The result is to increase by 1.5% in both 2011 and 2012.
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Raiffeisen International said its consolidated profit soared 104.5% to EUR 318m in the first nine months of 2010 mainly due to reduced credit risk provisions. The operating profit fell 16% to EUR 1.354bn because of lower interested income. The bank did not give an outlook for full 2010.
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Fibre producer Lenzing said it will raise the prices of its products by at least 10% as of the next year. The move is attributed to the strong increase in raw material costs.
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C.A.T. oil said its sales grew 10.2% to EUR 65.4m in the third quarter of 2010 driven by increased oil demand and higher capacity utilisation. The EBIT however fell 19% to EUR 9m. The company confirmed its full-year forecast for sales of between EUR 215m and EUR 225m.
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Austria's financial market authority prolonged its ban on short sale of shares of Erste Group, Raiffeisen Bank International, Uniqa and Vienna Insurance Group until May 31, 2011.
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Standard and Poor's improved its long-term credit rating on Atrium European Real Estate to BB from BB-, with a "stable" outlook. The short-term rating was maintained at B.
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Austria's purchasing managers index, measured by Bank Austria, fell slightly to 55.2 points in November. It however still shows growth as it stands above the 50 point threshold. The index was supported by the strong order volume at the industry, which is leading to growth in employment.
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Builder Porr said it has received an order to construct the biggest stadium in Libya. The total volume of the contract stands at EUR 200m. The order will be implemented together with Turkish Renaissance, in a joint venture with Libyan Investment Development Company.
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Austria's vegetable production fell 1% to 589,600 tonnes in 2010, Statistik Austria reported. The production however rose 7% compared to the long-term average.