Regional utility EVN said it has reached a court settlement on its dispute in Macedonia. The company was asked to pay EUR 96m plus interest rates due to unpaid electricity bills of fomer ESM, which EVN bought in 2006. EVN and state-owned ELEM have now agreed to divide the income of the future collection of past receiveables by 50:50.
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Moody's reduced its ratings on the long-term senior debts and deposits of Erste Group to A1 from Aa3. The ratings outlook was improved to "stable" from "negative".
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Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) decided to withdraw from the Russian market with the sale of its minority stakes in MSK-Life, SG MSK and SoVita. The deals are expected to close at the end of May. No financial details were given.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said its net profit rose to EUR 229.3m for the first three quarters of fiscal 2010/11 from EUR 221.1m a year earlier. Rental income grew 5.6% to EUR 423.1m despite divestments. The EBIT rose 39.2% to EUR 343.3m. The company said it envisages a dividend of EUR 0.1 for the year. Immofinanz expects a considerably higher profit for the last quarter of the year.
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Erste Bank, part of Erste Group, said it plans to merge with Weinviertler Sparkasse in September 2011. To this end the bank will buy out the shares of the local private foundation in the regional savings bank. Currently Erste Bank owns 99.49% in Weinviertler Sparkasse.
четвъртък, 31 март 2011 г.
сряда, 30 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 29
Steel specialist Voestalpine decided to raise its R&D budget by 10% to EUR 120m for fiscal 2011/12. The budget of the stainless steel division will grow by 25%.
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Real estate company Warimpex posted a net profit of EUR 3.75m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 92.67m for 2009. The company's portfolio is valued at EUR 23.5m. Sales grew 21% to EUR 103.16m and Warimpex booked EBIT of EUR 24.38m, up from a loss of EUR 71.77m for 2009. For 2011, the company projects a 15% rise in its sales and an increase of EUR 10m in its EBITDA on a like-a-like basis.
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Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ) will subscribe for up to 10% of the IPO of aluminium group AMAG. The move was attributed to the importance of AMAG for the province of Upper Austria.
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Raiffeisen Bank Romania SA, part of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), plans to issue bonds of up to EUR 1.5bn. The programme will be started in the next month.
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Warimpex plans to issue bonds totalling EUR 75m on the Polish markets over the next three years. For 2011, a convertible bond worth EUR 30m is planned. The proceeds will be used for refinancing of credits for development projects.
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The Serbian government has demanded Telekom Austria to improve its offer for 51% in Telekom Srbija. The company, as a sole bidder, has offered between EUR 800m and EUR920m, while the state is asking for at least EUR 1.4bn. Telekom Austria will have 15 days to enhance the proposal. It said it would closely examine the demands of the government.
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The shareholders of technology group Andritz approved the payment of EUR 1.70 in dividend per share for 2010, up from EUR 1 for 2009.
*
Real estate company Warimpex posted a net profit of EUR 3.75m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 92.67m for 2009. The company's portfolio is valued at EUR 23.5m. Sales grew 21% to EUR 103.16m and Warimpex booked EBIT of EUR 24.38m, up from a loss of EUR 71.77m for 2009. For 2011, the company projects a 15% rise in its sales and an increase of EUR 10m in its EBITDA on a like-a-like basis.
*
Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich (RLB OÖ) will subscribe for up to 10% of the IPO of aluminium group AMAG. The move was attributed to the importance of AMAG for the province of Upper Austria.
*
Raiffeisen Bank Romania SA, part of Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), plans to issue bonds of up to EUR 1.5bn. The programme will be started in the next month.
*
Warimpex plans to issue bonds totalling EUR 75m on the Polish markets over the next three years. For 2011, a convertible bond worth EUR 30m is planned. The proceeds will be used for refinancing of credits for development projects.
*
The Serbian government has demanded Telekom Austria to improve its offer for 51% in Telekom Srbija. The company, as a sole bidder, has offered between EUR 800m and EUR920m, while the state is asking for at least EUR 1.4bn. Telekom Austria will have 15 days to enhance the proposal. It said it would closely examine the demands of the government.
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The shareholders of technology group Andritz approved the payment of EUR 1.70 in dividend per share for 2010, up from EUR 1 for 2009.
вторник, 29 март 2011 г.
BG Boxoffice Update
 |
| Bradley looks happy with the #1 spot |
Continuing the trend that children movies have great legs in Bulgaria, "Mars Needs Moms" falls by only 26% and keeps its second position with almost 100,000 lv so far. As there will be no "Hop" next weekend, expect the title to continue playing well until "Rio" flies on April 8.
The second biggest new entry comes in at #3. Having in mind that it is not a world premiere, the 30,000 lv boxoffice of Adam Sandler's latest vehicle "Just Go With It" is more than welcome.
The biggest disappointment is the #4 entry of "Sucker Punch" with just 22,000 lv. The film's results couldn't even be boosted by its IMAX run and the latest Zach Snyder's movie becomes a flop as well in Bulgaria. This may be attributed not so much to the lack of any depth in the movie, but rather to the lack of any familiar names and perhaps to the lack of any considerable promotion. And why this fantastically looking movie has no digital screenings in Bulgaria, is beyond anyone's guess.
Disturbingly, last week's champion "Battle LA" collapses 65% to #5 and now has 167,000 lv in its basket.
Further down, "Black Swan" seems to actually be more successful than expected and already has 72,000 lv, which, having in mind its distribution, is quite an achievement.
Oh, and let's not forget the other new entry of the week "Chain Letter"!. The movie crashes at #16 with the embarrassing 2,600 lv.
Compared with my projections, "Limitless" and "Just Go With It" matched my expectations, while "Sucker Punch" and "Chain Letter" were clearly overestimated by a mile...
Next week's projections:
Love.net - 200,000 lv
127 Hours - 25,000 lv
(1 BGN = USD 0.72 = EUR 0.51)
Austria's top economic news - March 28
Bank Erste Group will remove its "S" logo from its corporate brand in the second quarter of the year. The "S" letter has stood as a symbol for the country's savings banks. The move is due to a legal dispute with German DSGV.
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Martin Schlaff, who owns around 30% in refractory material maker RHI, is said to be planning to divest his shareholding to Brazilian Magnesita Refractories SA, weekly trend reported. RHI and Schlaff's spokesperson however rejected the report.
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Technology group Andritz has received a large-scale order in Canada. The EUR 110m order concerns the delivery of equipment for the Mica hydropower plant.
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Verbund's Turkish joint venture, Enerjisa, has opened its first hydropower plant. The facility, with capacity of 142 MW, will produce electricity of 372 GWh per year. The plant's total investments stood at EUR 120m.
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C-Quadrat Investment AG said its 2010 income went up 76% to EUR 66.5m. The net profit soared to EUR 15.3m from EUR 5.7m. The dividend proposal will stand at EUR 2.21 per share, up from EUR 0.60 for 2009.
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C-Quadrat Investment AG will launch a share buyback programme on April 1 and June 10. The company plans to buy back up to 100,000 own shares, or 2.3% of the stock capital. The treasury stock may be used for acquisitions and for stock option plans.
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Martin Schlaff, who owns around 30% in refractory material maker RHI, is said to be planning to divest his shareholding to Brazilian Magnesita Refractories SA, weekly trend reported. RHI and Schlaff's spokesperson however rejected the report.
*
Technology group Andritz has received a large-scale order in Canada. The EUR 110m order concerns the delivery of equipment for the Mica hydropower plant.
*
Verbund's Turkish joint venture, Enerjisa, has opened its first hydropower plant. The facility, with capacity of 142 MW, will produce electricity of 372 GWh per year. The plant's total investments stood at EUR 120m.
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C-Quadrat Investment AG said its 2010 income went up 76% to EUR 66.5m. The net profit soared to EUR 15.3m from EUR 5.7m. The dividend proposal will stand at EUR 2.21 per share, up from EUR 0.60 for 2009.
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C-Quadrat Investment AG will launch a share buyback programme on April 1 and June 10. The company plans to buy back up to 100,000 own shares, or 2.3% of the stock capital. The treasury stock may be used for acquisitions and for stock option plans.
понеделник, 28 март 2011 г.
NO HOP/YOUR HIGHNESS IN BULGARIA!!!
Bulgaria is not part of the Univers(al)
With the start of 2011, surprisingly, the number of major Hollywood titles missing our big screens was kept to an absolute minimum. More or less, the only major studio pictures which did not get cinema distribution were Paramount's Never Say Never (The Justin Bieber biopic) and Sony's The Roommate. Of course, this trend was never going to last for long and the big casualties unfortunately will be registered next month.
Thus, the BG viewers will be deprived of the opportunity to enjoy two of the most exciting Universal films of the year. Yes, the Easter bunny comedy HOP and the R-rated extravaganza Your Highness will be available for now only on the Internet (and perhaps sometime later on legal DVD). There are still no reviews across the ocean and we can only judge by the trailers for their quality, but definitely they will be among the biggest MISSED OPPORTUNITIES of the year.
HOP - yes, at the end it may turn to be as stupid as Alvin and The Chipmunks - but just take a look at the bunny and the chickens in the trailer - aren't they the cutest live CG creatures for a very long time? And how often do we have Easter family movies? The answer is never! Yes, it's not 3D (so there will be no Yogi Bear magnitude cash), it has no big names but if it was dubbed in Bulgarian and with the proper advertising campaign it would have been massive around Easter. And what was the point of flooding the cinemas with all the promotional material?
Your Highness - Just watch the R-rated trailer! It's so shocking that you'll not be able to stop laughing all day. And most of all it has the biggest actor and actress of the moment - James Franco and Natalie Portman! It would have been huge!
So what do we get instead? Rio - the chances are that this will be a second-tier staff and Fast Five - which is gonna break the BG boxoffice for sure. But first, and most importantly, we'll have Love.Net in April. The latest BG title not only has the worst trailer in a while, but actually is so poor, that Mission London will seem to you as a masterpiece. Nevertheless, it will be played in most of the cinema halls.
And finally, who is responsible? The BG distributor (Forum Film) will probably say it's not its fault. The market is small, and these movies will not bring enough money and therefore Universal has decided that we are not worthy of the titles. And perhaps they will be right, but to be treated as a second-hand market is not the best policy an international company should conduct. Still, we should not forget the poor results which Universal's last titles - Adjustment Bureau and Dilemma had in Bulgaria. I've already written about the way their distribution was handled, which lead to neglectable boxoffice and maybe now has led to this - no HOP and no Your Highness here! And don't fool yourself that the excellent Paul will reach our cinemas...
* And if somehow HOP and Your Highness reach the cinemas here, the post will disappear...
Austria's top economic news - March 25
Motorbike producer KTM Power Sports plans to raise its share capital by EUR 355,000 from EUR 10.109m currently. The company intends to issue 55,000 new shares at EUR 35 each.
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Intersport Austria will attempt to overhaul KTM as a leader in the bike sector with its own Genesis brand in the next two years, the company told APA news agency. KTM and Genesis hold together about 35% of the country's market.
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OMV has acquired a 65% stake in a gas exploration licence in New Zealand, the company said.
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Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg (BTV) raised its pretax profit by 20.4% to EUR 61.8m in 2010. The bank's credit business grew 6.9% to EUR 5.9bn.
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Aluminium group AMAG has given a start to its IPO, aiming to list up to 70% of the company. The expected proceeds stand at up to EUR 408m. The price range per share is set at between EUR 19 and EUR 24.
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Austria's production index for the industrial and construction sector rose 8.4% in January in annual terms, Statistik Austria reported. In monthly comparison, the index grew 0.5%.
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Intersport Austria will attempt to overhaul KTM as a leader in the bike sector with its own Genesis brand in the next two years, the company told APA news agency. KTM and Genesis hold together about 35% of the country's market.
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OMV has acquired a 65% stake in a gas exploration licence in New Zealand, the company said.
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Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg (BTV) raised its pretax profit by 20.4% to EUR 61.8m in 2010. The bank's credit business grew 6.9% to EUR 5.9bn.
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Aluminium group AMAG has given a start to its IPO, aiming to list up to 70% of the company. The expected proceeds stand at up to EUR 408m. The price range per share is set at between EUR 19 and EUR 24.
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Austria's production index for the industrial and construction sector rose 8.4% in January in annual terms, Statistik Austria reported. In monthly comparison, the index grew 0.5%.
Austria's top economic news - March 24
Vienna Airport said its 2010 sales rose 6.4% to EUR 533.8m, while EBIT increased 2.8% to EUR 102.3m. The company's net profit went up 3.2% to EUR 75.7m. Vienna Airport will propose a dividend of EUR 2 for 2010, down from EUR 2.10 for 2009. For 2011 a passenger volume increase of 5% is projected. The long-term target by 2020 is set at 4.2% annual growth.
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Real estate company Immofinanz has filed a suit demanding EUR 11.4m as compensation from Karl Petrikovics, Norbert Gertner and Helmut Schwage, former executives and supervisors of Constantia Privatbank and the company itself. The three are accused of enrichment via dubious option deals which have burdened the Privatbank's subsidiaries.
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BWT said it owns 5.6% of its shares as treasury stock. As a whole BWT controls about 1m of its shares.
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Technology group Andritz plans to distribute up to 1.046m shares at EUR 35.44 apiece to its management as part of a stock option plan, running by April 30, 2012. The shares correspond to about 2.01% of the stock capital.
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Brewery group Brau Union announced sales of EUR 506m for 2010. The company's profit remained stable compared to 2009. Sales volumes rose 1% to 4.65m hectolitres. Brau Union is to launch its 1.5 l PET bottles in Austria as of the next month.
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Leading utility Verbund expects to profit from the forthcoming early closure of nuclear plants in Germany as this will raise electricity prices. Every increase of the prices by EUR 1 will result into extra cash flow of EUR 25m in 2012, the company's CEO said.
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Austria Metall AG (AMAG) expects to start trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange on April 8. The issue volume will stand at between EUR 424m and EUR 535m.
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Hans Linz, the former AvW chief broker, executive and ex-DSV-Leoben president, was put under custody. Prosecutor Thomas Liensberger has filed a claim for damages of at least EUR 35m.
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Motorbike producer KTM Power Sports, which is adjusting its fiscal year to the calendar one, reported sales of EUR 591.4m for the 16 months ending December 2010. The EBIT came in at EUR 30m, while the company's net profit stood at EUR 14m.
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BWG, part of steel specialist Voestalpine, has agreed to buy 71% in Bremen-based Lasa Schienentechnik GmbH. The purchase price for the company, with annual sales of EUR 4m, was not disclosed.
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Real estate company Immofinanz has filed a suit demanding EUR 11.4m as compensation from Karl Petrikovics, Norbert Gertner and Helmut Schwage, former executives and supervisors of Constantia Privatbank and the company itself. The three are accused of enrichment via dubious option deals which have burdened the Privatbank's subsidiaries.
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BWT said it owns 5.6% of its shares as treasury stock. As a whole BWT controls about 1m of its shares.
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Technology group Andritz plans to distribute up to 1.046m shares at EUR 35.44 apiece to its management as part of a stock option plan, running by April 30, 2012. The shares correspond to about 2.01% of the stock capital.
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Brewery group Brau Union announced sales of EUR 506m for 2010. The company's profit remained stable compared to 2009. Sales volumes rose 1% to 4.65m hectolitres. Brau Union is to launch its 1.5 l PET bottles in Austria as of the next month.
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Leading utility Verbund expects to profit from the forthcoming early closure of nuclear plants in Germany as this will raise electricity prices. Every increase of the prices by EUR 1 will result into extra cash flow of EUR 25m in 2012, the company's CEO said.
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Austria Metall AG (AMAG) expects to start trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange on April 8. The issue volume will stand at between EUR 424m and EUR 535m.
*
Hans Linz, the former AvW chief broker, executive and ex-DSV-Leoben president, was put under custody. Prosecutor Thomas Liensberger has filed a claim for damages of at least EUR 35m.
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Motorbike producer KTM Power Sports, which is adjusting its fiscal year to the calendar one, reported sales of EUR 591.4m for the 16 months ending December 2010. The EBIT came in at EUR 30m, while the company's net profit stood at EUR 14m.
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BWG, part of steel specialist Voestalpine, has agreed to buy 71% in Bremen-based Lasa Schienentechnik GmbH. The purchase price for the company, with annual sales of EUR 4m, was not disclosed.
неделя, 27 март 2011 г.
German chart comments - Issue date - 25.03.2011
The DSDS power against J.Lo.'s lambada
Lady Gaga continues her dominance over the German singles chart for a second consecutive week. Further down the top ten, Martin Solveig & Dragonette make a new peak with "Hello" reaching #5. The same can be said also for Flo Rida, whose "Turn Around (5, 4, 3, 2, 1)" makes a surprising upturn and jumps to #8 from #24, becoming yet another top 10 single for the US star.
A position behind Flo Rida, his colleague Jay Sean returns to the chart with the 2009-old "Down". Of course, the interest in the song was triggered by its performance on the German music idol by Pietro Lombardi. First time around "Down" couldn't make it to the 10.
Which leaves us to the highest new entry of the countdown at #10. It's a return to form for Jennifer Lopez, whose "On The Floor" is already massive all over the world. And on top of that, it's actually a quite good song, miles away from the R&B shit she has thrown at us over the last few years. Germans seem to have noticed that and made the single among her most successful in Germany. Still, the superstar is missing a top 4 single in the country ("If You Had My Love" reached #5) and and the situation should have changed with the latest one. However, the chances for success are not so rosy from today's point of you.
At #20, German party kings Die Atzen unite with local megastar Nena for their dance anthem "Strobo Pop". Die Atzen's "Das geht ab" reached "only" #8 but stayed in the top 100 for ages and became the party hymn of an entire generation, while follow-up "Disco Pop" was even more successful in chart terms and peaked at #2. "Strobo Pop" marks the release of a new album by Frauenarzt and Manny Marc and may actually slowly dig its way towards the upper reaches of the chart.
And the remaining new entries with videos:
#38 Clueso - Zu schnell vorbei - a great new song from the German singer, whose "Keinen Zentimeter" (peak #15) and "Gewinner" (peak #21) have only been more successful.
#40 Far East Movement feat. Ryan Tedder - Rocketeer - despite that Ryan's own "OneRepublic" is quite popular in Germany, that doesn't help to bring Far East Movement's sophomore single close to "Like A G6"'s performance, which reached #15 several months ago.
#43 SpongeBob - Lecker lecker - this doesn't need any comment
#48 Within Temptation - Faster - Within Temptation's last single in Germany reached #87 in 2008.
#50 Tom Beck - Sexy
#79 DJ Ötzi - Lieb ich dich
петък, 25 март 2011 г.
In BG Cinemas from March 25
Жена назаем / Just Go With It - So, if you hate Adam Sandler, stop reading now! This movie is 100% certainly not for you, it offers everything with which an Adam Sandler film can be proud of - a ridiculous plot, an idiotic but still charming lead, fabolous locations, gorgeous cinematography... And if the thought of movies such as Anger Management or Big Daddy gives you nightmares, Just Go With It will only intensify them. On the other hand, if you not only can sit through a Sandler vehicle or even have enjoyed his films, the latest is among his better ones. It's far from the craziness of Zohan (what a ride of a movie this is!) but is far superior than last year's awful Grown Ups. And if you can pass the idea that Jennifer Aniston is considered an ugly duckling, who of course turns into a beautiful swan, you'll be treated with one of the best extended cameos this Hollywood season. And last, but not least, we should not forget that the entire movie is illuminated by the beauty of Brooklyn Decker ... (Alexandra) ***
Високо напрежение / Limitless - One of the pleasant surprises this spring, Limitless guarantees two hours of great thrills, clever visual decisions, some good plot turns and an excellent pace. Bradley Cooper in the lead role shows he has the chops to be a real star and to hold a movie on his own and despite the fact that we can go without Abbie Cornish as his girlfriend (she also stars in this week's Sucker Punch), Robert De Niro as Bradley's boss has so small role that he has no time to annoy us with his already typical overacting. The only problem is that you will leave the cinema with the desire to get hold of the magical pill (the movie's mcguffin), which may only get you into trouble. (Tandem) ****
Убийствен спам / Chain Letter - You can only marvel at the BG distributors' decision to release a movie which has not only made slightly below USD 600,000 in its global boxoffice but more importantly is also completely boring. It struggles hard to be the new Saw, but is more a direct-to-DVD sequel of any of Uwe Boll's garbage. And don't get me wrong, I always celebrate when an independent movie hits our screen, but when there are far better choices that will never see cinema distribution here, this is just a waste of time and money... (Alexandra) *
Sucker Punch: Измислен свят / Sucker Punch - Yet another movie of Zack Snyder that delivers great action, great visuals and great soundtrack, but lacks any character motivation. Basically, the story is more than simple - a girl should escape from the mental institution in which her stepfather put her and thus to avoid pending lobotomy. Why is she there is a little bit obscure. Even worse Babydoll may after all have some kind of a backstory, but the patients she befriends with, including Albie Cornish and Vanessa Hudgens, are completely hollow. Yes, they can kick ass and look gorgeous in their sexy outfits, but at the end you may actually care more about Oscar Isaac (the film's villain) and his sidekick with a conscious Carla Gugino, who are perfectly cast. It's obvious that Snyder's aim was to masterly create a fantasy world (actually several of them) and he succeeds in this, but the philosophy wisdom especially towards the end of the movie reminds more of Matrix 2 & 3, than to his own Watchmen. Anyway, if you find the largest possible screen with a digital copy of the movie, you'll definitely not regret spending money on Sucker Punch. It's certain that you'll find no other movie to look so stylish and stunning this year. (Alexandra) ***
Диамант 13 / Diamond 13 (France) - Coming in the last moment, this French movie stars Gerard Depardieu and Asia Argento and promises to be a good crime thriller. The rating of 5.0 in IMDB and the critics abroad however seem to disagree. Try it for yourself, if you can find it in the cinema programme... (ProFilms) **
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Diary of A Wimpy Kid 2 - The first Wimpy Kid was a surprise hit last year but never reached our shores (it is not even on DVD). Perhaps the distributors are too scared that a decent children story will not find an audience here and there are more than one examples that such fears are justified. Still, with the right marketing and movie positioning every movie can find its viewers, right? (Responsible: Alexandra)
The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away
четвъртък, 24 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 23
Real estate company conwert Immobilien Invest SE said its net profit grew 8% to EUR 25.7m in 2010. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 0.30 per share for the year. conwert plans to continue with its strategic refocusing and internal structural optimisation in 2011.
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Online bookmaker bwin, which is to merge with UK PartyGaming as of March 31, said its pro forma consolidated net profit fell to EUR 13.9m in 2010 from EUR 46.3m in 2009. The gross gaming income grew to EUR 514.6m from EUR 446.6m.
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Bank Austria's 2010 results were burdened by write-downs of EUR 360m due to its Kazakhstan subsidiary ATF. Thus the net profit of Bank Austria, which is responsible for the eastern activities of parent UniCredit, decreased 32% to EUR 747m. Excluding the one-off effects, the bank's pre-tax profit would have increased by 13%.
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Regional utility EVN plans to start the construction of a gas network in the region around Zadar in Croatia in April. The company is to provide gas to above 20,000 households by 2013. The investment volume is estimated at EUR 25m.
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Österreichischen Volksbanken-AG (ÖVAG) said it will bundle its real estate activities in a new company, under the name of VB Real Estate Services. The new entity will be responsible for financing, project development, leasing and asset services.
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The number of overnight stays in Austria stood at 42.59m between November and February, down 2.1% year-on-year, Statistik Austria said. In February the number of stays fell 7.1% in annual terms due to different winter holiday dates in many countries.
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Online bookmaker bwin, which is to merge with UK PartyGaming as of March 31, said its pro forma consolidated net profit fell to EUR 13.9m in 2010 from EUR 46.3m in 2009. The gross gaming income grew to EUR 514.6m from EUR 446.6m.
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Bank Austria's 2010 results were burdened by write-downs of EUR 360m due to its Kazakhstan subsidiary ATF. Thus the net profit of Bank Austria, which is responsible for the eastern activities of parent UniCredit, decreased 32% to EUR 747m. Excluding the one-off effects, the bank's pre-tax profit would have increased by 13%.
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Regional utility EVN plans to start the construction of a gas network in the region around Zadar in Croatia in April. The company is to provide gas to above 20,000 households by 2013. The investment volume is estimated at EUR 25m.
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Österreichischen Volksbanken-AG (ÖVAG) said it will bundle its real estate activities in a new company, under the name of VB Real Estate Services. The new entity will be responsible for financing, project development, leasing and asset services.
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The number of overnight stays in Austria stood at 42.59m between November and February, down 2.1% year-on-year, Statistik Austria said. In February the number of stays fell 7.1% in annual terms due to different winter holiday dates in many countries.
сряда, 23 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 22
Rubber specialist Semperit will propose a dividend of EUR 1.25 per share for 2010, up from EUR 1.15 for 2009. The company also confirmed its 2010 preliminary financial results.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it has completed its current share buyback programme ahead of schedule. During the programme the company bought above 47m of its own shares at an average price of EUR 3.08 each.
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Real estate company ECO Business posted EBIT of EUR 29.4m for 2010, up from EUR 12.4m for 2009. ECO booked a profit of EUR 9.1m from portfolio divestments, compared to a loss of EUR 6.9m for 2009. ECO plans to focus on its core markets in Austria and Germany in 2011, with acquisitions also intended.
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UBM, the real estate company of builder Porr, will raise its 2010 dividend to EUR 1.10 from EUR 1 for 2009. UBM's construction output decreased to EUR 217m from EUR 275.4m. EBIT grew 5.7% to EUR 25.8m. The company projects a recovery in the German, Polish and Czech markets for 2011, with the Netherlands targeted as a new market.
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OMV will launch a squeeze-out for the minority shareholders of Turkish Petrol Ofisi. The outstanding shares in the company account for 3.02% of its capital. OMV will offer EUR3.15 per share and then delist Petrol Ofisi.
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Austria's Industrial Producer Price Index stood at 102.3 points in January 2011, up 5% year-on-year, Statistik Austria said.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it has completed its current share buyback programme ahead of schedule. During the programme the company bought above 47m of its own shares at an average price of EUR 3.08 each.
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Real estate company ECO Business posted EBIT of EUR 29.4m for 2010, up from EUR 12.4m for 2009. ECO booked a profit of EUR 9.1m from portfolio divestments, compared to a loss of EUR 6.9m for 2009. ECO plans to focus on its core markets in Austria and Germany in 2011, with acquisitions also intended.
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UBM, the real estate company of builder Porr, will raise its 2010 dividend to EUR 1.10 from EUR 1 for 2009. UBM's construction output decreased to EUR 217m from EUR 275.4m. EBIT grew 5.7% to EUR 25.8m. The company projects a recovery in the German, Polish and Czech markets for 2011, with the Netherlands targeted as a new market.
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OMV will launch a squeeze-out for the minority shareholders of Turkish Petrol Ofisi. The outstanding shares in the company account for 3.02% of its capital. OMV will offer EUR3.15 per share and then delist Petrol Ofisi.
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Austria's Industrial Producer Price Index stood at 102.3 points in January 2011, up 5% year-on-year, Statistik Austria said.
вторник, 22 март 2011 г.
BG Boxoffice update
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| The battle for the BG boxoffice |
Waiting for Love.net, the next BG monster to arrive at our screens, now it's the time for a handful of Hollywood titles to rule at the BG office. Last week's champion Rango registers a relatively minor fall of 23% but that was enough for it to go down to #3, with a total of 155,000 lv in its account. So, it's Battle LA which, as across the ocean, takes the crown with relatively strong, though unspectacular, 103,000 lv (including previews). Unlike the US, Mars Needs Moms cannot be considered a complete flop in Bulgaria, as its almost 50,000 lv from the weekend puts it at #2. In comparison, the much hyped Rango last week had 57,000 lv (excluding previews). Still, we should not underestimate the 3D and IMAX premium to the ticket price of the Mars movie.
Among the holdovers, The King's Speech registers a slow decline of 32%, while Yogi Bear continues to scare kids and adults and already has earned 300,000 lv.
Breaking any trends in Bulgaria, the worst new movie of the week is for a change the worst new entry. Yes, Red Riding Hood manages to put in its basket only around 32,000 (including previews) and lands at #5. Perhaps, the viewers have paid attention to the critics? Just kidding...
Projections for next weekend:*
Limitless - 85,000 (incl. previews)
Just Go With It - 35,000
Chain Letter - 9,000
Sucker Punch - 110,000
Battle LA - a fall around 50%
Mars Needs Moms - a fall around 30%
Red Riding Hood - a fall around 55%
*(I won't bet on them)
(BGN 1 = USD 0.7 / EUR 0.5)
Austria's top economic news - March 21
Pankl Racing Systems AG reported a net profit of EUR 2.82m and EBIT of EUR 3.88m for its extended fiscal 2009/10. The company will adjust its fiscal year to the calender one. Sales came in at EUR 109.2m for the 15 months to December 31, 2010. CEO Wolfgang Plasser said that the first signs of recovery in the racing and aerospace divisions are already being registered. Sales are projected to grow between 5% and 10% for 2011.
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Hitzinger, part of HTI High Tech Industries, announced EUR6m worth of orders for interruption-proof energy systems, as well as EUR2m orders for emergency power supply devices.
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Duro Dakovic TEP, the Croatian subsidiary of insolvent A-Tec/AE&E, was sold to Russian EMAlliance, a spokesman for A-Tec's creditors confirmed media reports. No financial details were given.
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Refractory material maker RHI confirmed its preliminary financial results for 2010. The company's shareholders will receive EUR 0.50 as dividend per share.
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Telekom Austria said it has proposed between EUR 800m and EUR 950m for the takeover of 51% in Telekom Srbija. The final offer will depend on the company's talks with the Serbian government. The latter has so far demanded at least EUR 1.4bn for the stake.
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The Tokyo branch of motorcycle producer KTM said it decided to relaunch operations after the devastating earthquake in the country some ten days ago.
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The number of used motor vehicles registrations in Austria increased 15% year-on-year to 70,568 in February, Statistik Austria said.
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Hitzinger, part of HTI High Tech Industries, announced EUR6m worth of orders for interruption-proof energy systems, as well as EUR2m orders for emergency power supply devices.
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Duro Dakovic TEP, the Croatian subsidiary of insolvent A-Tec/AE&E, was sold to Russian EMAlliance, a spokesman for A-Tec's creditors confirmed media reports. No financial details were given.
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Refractory material maker RHI confirmed its preliminary financial results for 2010. The company's shareholders will receive EUR 0.50 as dividend per share.
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Telekom Austria said it has proposed between EUR 800m and EUR 950m for the takeover of 51% in Telekom Srbija. The final offer will depend on the company's talks with the Serbian government. The latter has so far demanded at least EUR 1.4bn for the stake.
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The Tokyo branch of motorcycle producer KTM said it decided to relaunch operations after the devastating earthquake in the country some ten days ago.
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The number of used motor vehicles registrations in Austria increased 15% year-on-year to 70,568 in February, Statistik Austria said.
понеделник, 21 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 18
Lingerie maker Wolford said its net profit grew to EUR 8.9m in the first three quarters of fiscal 2010/11 from EUR 4.6m a year earlier. Sales rose 6.6% to EUR 120m. The results were boosted by the company's consequent cost reduction and efficiency increase measures, CEO Holger Dahmen said. Wolford projects a rise in sales and a considerable improvement in the earnings for full 2009/10.
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Fibre producer Lenzing said it sticks to its capital increase plans but they will be postponed from April to a later stage due to the unfavourable conditions on capital markets. The EUR 75m hike will be carried by the end of the second quarter of the year.
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Thomas Streimelweger, founder of IT services company S&T, has reportedly given up his 28% stake in the firm to three of his creditors, Format wrote. Streimelweger has bank debts worth a total of EUR 16m. The stake is later to be auctioned together with the 29% shareholding of insolvent AvW, Format wrote.
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Erste Group said it will raise its dividend proposal to EUR 0.70 per share for 2010 from EUR 0.65 initially envisaged. The increase is to the excellent capitalisation of the bank and its profit growth in 2010, the management said.
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Fibre producer Lenzing said it sticks to its capital increase plans but they will be postponed from April to a later stage due to the unfavourable conditions on capital markets. The EUR 75m hike will be carried by the end of the second quarter of the year.
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Thomas Streimelweger, founder of IT services company S&T, has reportedly given up his 28% stake in the firm to three of his creditors, Format wrote. Streimelweger has bank debts worth a total of EUR 16m. The stake is later to be auctioned together with the 29% shareholding of insolvent AvW, Format wrote.
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Erste Group said it will raise its dividend proposal to EUR 0.70 per share for 2010 from EUR 0.65 initially envisaged. The increase is to the excellent capitalisation of the bank and its profit growth in 2010, the management said.
петък, 18 март 2011 г.
German chart comments - Issue date - 18.03.2011
(Bruno Mars catches a digital grenade)
Mr. Bruno Mars has to finally retreat from the top of the German singles chart as his "Grenade" slips to #2. It's all thanks to the unstoppable Lady Gaga, whose "Born This Way" flies #5 to #1 to become her fourth number one in the country next to "Poker Face", "Bad Romance" and "Paparazzi". Not only that, but "Born This Way" becomes the first single in Germany to reach the top spot on digital sales only - a new era has definitely started.
At #3 Sunrise Avenue's excellent "Hollywood Hills" reaches a new peak (and it's because of songs like this being hits in Germany that I enjoy so much the country's chart). At #7, after a slow, several-month climb, French DJ Martin Solveig finally can say hello from the inside of the top ten.
The highest new entry can be found at #12, coming from Enrique Iglesias. "Tonight (I'm Lovin' You)" has already been massive around the world, and even in the USA, so now it's time for Germans to welcome the song in the top 20. It also marks the 12th year in which the Spanish heartthrob is conquering the charts, though still lacking the #1 spot in Germany. And yes, VIVA is playing the "F*ck" version of the song, isn't this just splendid...?
Next up is Usher, whose "More" charts new at #17. The song, which in many countries suffered from the lack of video when first entered the countdowns, succeeds to become the seventh top 20 single of the US star in Germany. It follows hot on the heels of the smash "DJ Got Us Fallin' in Love", which reached #5 several months ago.
At #30 Beth Dito, the singer of Gossip, brings her first solo single in the chart. Apart from Gossip's monster "Heavy Cross", who we all know is the longest running single in the German singles chart ever (without going out of the countdown), "I Wrote The Book" becomes only the third Gossip-related song to enter the top 30.
And the remaining new entries with videos:
#32 Jupiter Jones - Still - not a bad entry for the debut single of the German band.
#36 ZAZ - Je Veux - another example that songs in French have their chance for success in Germany.
#39 Bullmeister - Girls Beautiful - the sales of the song are boosted by its use in the latest edition of Germany's Next Topmodel.
#50 Alphaville - Song For No One - The follow-up of ""I Die for You Today" (peak #15) is even a better song. A great comeback!
#51 Edita - The Key - She may have won the first edition of X Factor in Germany, but a superstar she is not.
#64 Marteria - Sekundenschlaf - Yes, no one watches VIVA anymore...
#95 Jenix - Here We Go Again
Austria's top economic news - March 17
Austrian Airlines (AUA) closed 2010 with an operating loss of EUR 64.7m, down from EUR 290.9m for 2009. AUA, part of German Lufthansa, should return in the black in 2011.
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Cardboard maker Mayr-Melnhof (MM) said it will propose a dividend of EUR 1.95 for 2010, up from EUR 1.70 for 2009. MM's net profit grew 13.3% to EUR 110.4m for 2010, benefiting from the increase in demand. Sales rose to EUR 1.779bn from EUR 1.602bn. The company will target expansion in new markets.
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Wienerberger announced the takeover of family-owned facing brick producer Heylen Bricks in Belgium. The company booked sales of EUR 6.2m last year.
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Sport items maker Head said it has repurchased 10.06% of its own shares for EUR 4.17m. The stock will be used for serving the company's stock option programme.
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Wienerberger is interested in the brick business of HeldebergCement, Bloomberg reported, quoting the German company. However, a spokeswoman for the Austrian brick maker said that currently there are no talks over any takeover.
In BG Cinemas from March 18
Червената шапчица / Red Riding Hood - So the first worthy contender for the Razzie awards next year has already arrived in our cinemas. It's a shame that a great premise has been handled with the clear aim to be only liked by people between 14-16 of age (and, as the boxoffice results in the US showed last weekend, even they failed to provide the cash). The Twilight parallels are too many for the movie's own good - the director is the same, the girl is torn between two hot guys (who apparently are immune to catching cold) and there is a werewolf. And even the heroine's father is the same actor... The two male leads are too busy caring for their haircuts than to act, while Amanda gives her best but the others and the script simply don't provide any support. The only good points are perhaps the great production design and the craftily handled feeling of disbelief among the characters. These are however fast swallowed by Gary Oldman's ridiculous role, his more ridiculous elephant and most of all by his crew - yes, he has two Afro Americans and an Asian guy as sidekicks. Avoid! (Alexandra)
Майло на Марс / Mars Needs Moms - You probably have heard by now that this is the worst disaster Disney has faced in its recent history. There can be a heated discussion why a 130m budgeted movie managed to make a miserable USD 7m in its opening weekend in the States, but the reasons are definitely more than one. Who knows, perhaps cinema viewers have become sick of "cheaply" looking animation whose only aim is to deprive them of their cash with the 3D gimmick, or the sci-fi concept was a little bit too much? Still, you should not judge by the movie's poor performance, as actually the title is not that bad. Yes, it has no Pixar quality, or even that of Dreamworks, but still has its good moments and most of all - it has warmth, something greatly missing from (yes, I will say it) - Tron: Legacy! And among the best things regarding the Bulgarian release is the absence of the voice of Seth Green as the main protagonist (who is a boy!), this man is extremely irritating and should stay away from any film productions... (Forum Film)
Световна инвазия - Битка Лос Анджелис / Battle: Los Angeles - At a first glance, it should have been the worst movie of the week, but actually it is the best even by a mile. Yes, the story is absolutely predictable, the characters are thin and stereotyped and yes, the Americans are once again the good guys. However, what did you expect from a US movie, when Hollywood is pumping the cash? The influence from Black Hawk Down, Green Zone and The Hurt Locker, especially in the handheld camera style, is clear but actually this whole mix surprisingly clicks together. The movie is entertaining, keeps the attention, has great visuals and a feeling of suspense. Still, Michelle Rodriguez should have kicked more ass...(Alexandra)
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Sanctum - As Piranha 3D proved at the start of the year, Bulgarians do not like live-motion 3D movies, especially when the cast lacks any A-list names. So it is not a big surprise that this cave story, promoted by 3D guru himself James Cameron, was cancelled from BG distribution. Still, I'm more than sure that it would have been a great thrill ride and far better than the Nic Cage vehicle we have this month. (Responsible - A+)
четвъртък, 17 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 16
Businessman Michael Tojner has acquired above 30% in Private Equity Performance Beteiligungs AG and has to launch a takeover offer for the company. His proposal stands at EUR 1.66 per share, or 25.64% above the average share price of the company in the last six months.
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Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI)'s engagement in Japan stood at about EUR 500m at the end of February. However, three fourths of the exposure is secured via non-Japanese securities, the bank told APA. Erste Group said its exposure in the crisis-hit country was minor. Peers BAWAG P.S.K. and Volksbank AG, in turn, said they had not invested in Japan. Bank Austria, as part of Italian UniCredit, was unable to provide detailed figures. Insurers Vienna Insurance Group and Uniqa also said their engagement in the country was small.
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US asset manager Legg Mason Inc holds currently 10.6% in rubber specialist Semperit, the latter said. The stake corresponds to around 2.07m shares.
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Austria's EU harmonised annual inflation rate stood at 3.1% in February, compared to 2.5% in January, Statistik Austria reported. This was the highest rate since September 2008.
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Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI)'s engagement in Japan stood at about EUR 500m at the end of February. However, three fourths of the exposure is secured via non-Japanese securities, the bank told APA. Erste Group said its exposure in the crisis-hit country was minor. Peers BAWAG P.S.K. and Volksbank AG, in turn, said they had not invested in Japan. Bank Austria, as part of Italian UniCredit, was unable to provide detailed figures. Insurers Vienna Insurance Group and Uniqa also said their engagement in the country was small.
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US asset manager Legg Mason Inc holds currently 10.6% in rubber specialist Semperit, the latter said. The stake corresponds to around 2.07m shares.
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Austria's EU harmonised annual inflation rate stood at 3.1% in February, compared to 2.5% in January, Statistik Austria reported. This was the highest rate since September 2008.
сряда, 16 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 15
Austrian Post AG raised its net profit by 48.5% on the year to EUR 118.7m for 2010. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 1.60 per share, up from EUR 1.50 before. EBIT grew 5% to EUR 156.9m, while sales edged down 0.2% to EUR 2.357bn. Post AG projects an increase in sales of between 1% to 2% for the current year. The company expects the share of its letter business to continue declining, while that of parcel deliveries and logistics to go on growing. Post AG's own postal office network will continue shrinking, while that of its partners will expand.
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The merger of Bwin with UK PartyGaming has been entered in Austria's trade register, Bwin said. The merger of the two online bookmakers will take effect as of March 31. The new entity, under the name of bwin.party, will be registered in Gibraltar. Consequently the shares of Bwin will cease trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange after March 25.
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Siemens Austria will seek to grow at a pace higher than the GDP development in the countries it is active in 2011, CEO Wolfgang Hesoun said. For Austria this means that the company is expected to grow by above 2%. According to the manager, the main problems will result from the reduced state investments in the current year. Siemens Austria will also target to become a competence centre for its parent in terms of biotechnology.
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Frauenthal Holding plans to issue a corporate bond worth EUR 75m, with an option for an increase, in the first six months of the year. Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Erste Group will act as joint lead managers for the issue.
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Austria's construction cost index rose 3.7% on the year to 102 points in February 2011, Statistik Austria said. On a monthly basis, the index went up 0.3%.
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The merger of Bwin with UK PartyGaming has been entered in Austria's trade register, Bwin said. The merger of the two online bookmakers will take effect as of March 31. The new entity, under the name of bwin.party, will be registered in Gibraltar. Consequently the shares of Bwin will cease trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange after March 25.
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Siemens Austria will seek to grow at a pace higher than the GDP development in the countries it is active in 2011, CEO Wolfgang Hesoun said. For Austria this means that the company is expected to grow by above 2%. According to the manager, the main problems will result from the reduced state investments in the current year. Siemens Austria will also target to become a competence centre for its parent in terms of biotechnology.
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Frauenthal Holding plans to issue a corporate bond worth EUR 75m, with an option for an increase, in the first six months of the year. Raiffeisen Bank International AG and Erste Group will act as joint lead managers for the issue.
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Austria's construction cost index rose 3.7% on the year to 102 points in February 2011, Statistik Austria said. On a monthly basis, the index went up 0.3%.
вторник, 15 март 2011 г.
BG Boxoffice update
Finally, the Tilt monster has to retreat from the number one spot in the BG boxoffice as the power of the lizard and more probably of Johnny Depp was never to be underestimated. Thus Rango takes the leadership with the so-so 77,000 lv and we have seen better results from animated movies before. However, it is more adult than childish, and comes in no 3D, so actually no surprises here.
Despite that it has been written off even before its release by its own distributor, ballet psychodrama Black Swan managed to earn around 33,000 for the weekend with only six screens (previews included). And if the Arena cinema chain has run it, it would have a result north of 50,000 lv. All responsible for that crime against cinema should be ashamed!
Remember last week when I said that Dilemma would have the same fate as The Adjustment Bureau? Oh, how wrong I was as the movie managed to earn as twice as low as the Matt Damon vehicle! With a result of slightly above 8,700 lv, the movie crashed and burnt outside the top 10. And don't think that this trend to skip your own movies from your own cinema chain will stop soon. In other words - it doesn't matter how high "your highness" will fly abroad, it will unfortunately "hop" all over our screens.
Despite that it has been written off even before its release by its own distributor, ballet psychodrama Black Swan managed to earn around 33,000 for the weekend with only six screens (previews included). And if the Arena cinema chain has run it, it would have a result north of 50,000 lv. All responsible for that crime against cinema should be ashamed!
Remember last week when I said that Dilemma would have the same fate as The Adjustment Bureau? Oh, how wrong I was as the movie managed to earn as twice as low as the Matt Damon vehicle! With a result of slightly above 8,700 lv, the movie crashed and burnt outside the top 10. And don't think that this trend to skip your own movies from your own cinema chain will stop soon. In other words - it doesn't matter how high "your highness" will fly abroad, it will unfortunately "hop" all over our screens.
Austria's top economic news - March 14
Fibre producer Lenzing is registering a considerable surplus of demand compared to supply on the cellulose fibre market, CEO Peter Untersperger told WirtschaftsBlatt. The manager expects the gap between produced quantities and demand worldwide to be around 11m tonnes in 2030. Therefore, Lenzing's investment plan envisages the spending of EUR 1.5bn in the next four years for boosting the capacity to 1m tonnes from 710,000 tonnes currently. The company will attempt to retain and even boost its market share of 17% globally.
понеделник, 14 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 11
Atrium European Real Estate booked a net profit of EUR 111.06m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 448.97m for 2009. The real estate developer plans to raise its dividend payment to EUR 0.14 from EUR 0.12 per share. Atrium's gross rental income grew 1.8% to EUR 151.5m. The company intends to launch its first large-scale real estate project after the financial crisis in Lublin in Poland in 2011.
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Erste Group moved up four places to #89 in the global biggest bank ranking of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for 2010. Erste's peer Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) advanced to #133 from #137.
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Austria's imports grew 16.3% year-on-year to EUR 113.45bn in 2010, Statistik Austria said. Exports went up 16.5% to EUR 109.19bn, resulting in a foreign trade deficit of EUR 4.26bn.
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Erste Group moved up four places to #89 in the global biggest bank ranking of Boston Consulting Group (BCG) for 2010. Erste's peer Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) advanced to #133 from #137.
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Austria's imports grew 16.3% year-on-year to EUR 113.45bn in 2010, Statistik Austria said. Exports went up 16.5% to EUR 109.19bn, resulting in a foreign trade deficit of EUR 4.26bn.
неделя, 13 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 10
Schoeller-Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment (SBO) raised its sales by 22.3% to EUR 307.7m in 2010 benefiting from the rising oil prices. EBIT grew 74.8% to EUR 49.4m. The company plans to boost its dividend payment to EUR 1 from EUR 0.50 for 2009. SBO expects increasing demand for oil and gas for 2011, with the developments in the crisis-hit oil countries closely observed.
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Vienna Airport reported 1.26m passengers for February 2011, up 5.1% on the year. However, the number of passengers towards northern Africa registered a significant decrease. Traffic to eastern Europe grew 5.1%.
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Real estate group CA Immo AG said it expects increasing results for 2011, boosted mainly by the consolidation of Europolis bought from OeVAG. The company envisages a dividend of around 2% of the net asset value in 2012. CA Immo reported a net profit of EUR 45.4m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 76.9m for 2009.
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Holding company Unternehmens Invest AG (UIAG) revised down its figures for the first quarter of fiscal 2010/11 and said it booked a net profit of EUR 1.07m rather than the initially announced EUR 5.77m. The EBIT loss came in at EUR 240,000.
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Vienna Airport reported 1.26m passengers for February 2011, up 5.1% on the year. However, the number of passengers towards northern Africa registered a significant decrease. Traffic to eastern Europe grew 5.1%.
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Real estate group CA Immo AG said it expects increasing results for 2011, boosted mainly by the consolidation of Europolis bought from OeVAG. The company envisages a dividend of around 2% of the net asset value in 2012. CA Immo reported a net profit of EUR 45.4m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 76.9m for 2009.
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Holding company Unternehmens Invest AG (UIAG) revised down its figures for the first quarter of fiscal 2010/11 and said it booked a net profit of EUR 1.07m rather than the initially announced EUR 5.77m. The EBIT loss came in at EUR 240,000.
събота, 12 март 2011 г.
German chart comments - Issue date - 11.03.2011
(Chris Brown - the RiRi days are over and we can't get enough of BEP)
Though Lady Gaga tried two weeks ago to replace him at the top, Bruno Mars' reign over the German chart continues this week. And for the time being it seems that no-one is gonna remove "Grenade" from the number one soon. Adele moves up one to #2, while Taio Cruz' collaboration with Kylie Minogue (far better than the Travie McCoy version) enters the top three for the first time this week.
Further down the chart Lady Gaga's "Born This Way" wins back a position and moves up to #5, while Sunrise Avenue's "Hollywood Hills" continues its ascend and this week enters the top 10 at #6.
The highest new entry comes in at #8 belonging to Chris Brown. The notorious star has been in the top 10 only once with his debut single "Run It" (peak #5) from 2005. Of course "Yeah 3X" marks a new era for him and not surprising the single, with its good (European) dance flavour, shoots in straight at #8. Surprisingly, the single has not managed yet to enter the US top ten...Last Chris Brown was in the German top 100 with "Forever" which reached #20.
A position behind Rihanna's best friend enters the latest single (and actually the second one from their latest album) of Black Eyed Peas. "The Time" already has been massive in Germany, while its follow-up "Just Can't Get Enough" duly becomes the tenth single of Fergie and co. which enters the top 10 in Germany. It is also an another example of the rising and still irritating trend to release singles well ahead of their videos, which is bad...
The latest news for Roxette is far from bad though. The Swedish legends finally return to the top 10 in Germany as "She's Got Nothing On (But The Radio)" moves two to #10. It is the first single of Roxette to reach a position as high as this after "How Do You Do!" was number two 19 years ago...
The next new entry sees the comeback of Avril Lavigne in the charts. After "What The Hell" more or less flopped around the world, it was never to be expected it would do bigger things in Germany. Still by entering at #21, it is by two positions more successful than the latest single of Britney Spears, which this week goes down to #29 from #23. Avril has three top 10 hits in Germany on her account.
A curious new entry at #25 where schlager singers Ute Freudenberg and Christian Lais bring their Berlin hymn "Auf Den Dächern Von Berlin". However, don't let the schlager title stop you to check it out - it is a good pop song.
Yet another curious new entry can be found at #31. "Snowflakes" is the debut single of US synthie pop group White Apple Tree, for which the English version of Wikipedia has never heard of. And of course, the song has no video but it features in the soundtrack of German blockbuster "Kokowääh" which most of you know was responsible for the success of Hurts' "Stay" (this week at #4).
And the remaining new entries with videos:
45 Rockstroh - Wolke 7
59 Eliza Doolittle - Pack Up - yes, the fact it was huge in UK last year did not help in Germany.
63 Wir Sind Helden - Alles Auf Anfang - a surprisingly catchy song
72 The Black Pony - Scars And Bruises
81 Bläck Fööss - Mir Han E Hätz Für Kölle - blame the carnivals
92 Räuber - Wunderbar (Der Hochzeitswalzer) - see above
In BG Cinemas from March 11
Да кажа или да не кажа? / The Dilemma - Despite that it almost made it to the MISSED OPPORTUNITY section, the latest movie from Ron Howard has managed to come to the big screen after all (kudos to the distributor for that). The problem however is that it's definitely a film with a lot of intentions, a strong cast, but after all nothing memorable in it. At the end, there are some better comedies in the multiplexes currently, but still The Dilemma has more laughs than most of the Vince Vaughn crap from the last few years. Perhaps one of the best moments is the Vaughn/Tatum face-off, while the anniversary dinner speech will only remind you of The Wedding Crashers and how superior it is... (Forum Film)
Ранго / Rango - Rango is ugly, provocative and thus a real cult movie in the making. Don't get me wrong, it has some moments for the kids, but is definitely a far cry from your typical children-friendly stuff. And most importantly, it's gonna scare many of the little ones. The animals are ugly, they smoke and spit, they shoot and rob, and they pop up from one great scene to another. And as it is a day for Forum Film congratulations, once again great job for releasing two versions of the film - one dubbed in Bulgarian and one subtitled with the voice of Johnny Depp. You, the cinema lovers, know what to choose, so seek it. (Forum Film)
Черен лебед / Black Swan - You may have already heard a lot of opinions on the latest Aronofski's masterpiece, and the chances are that you may have already watched it, but still, the movie event of the year is hitting our cinemas at last. However, if you are easily appalled by graphic violence and sex scenes (here little is spared) and prefer your movies to give you easy answers, you'll most probably hate it. But, if you are among those who want to see something provocative, with great music, great cinematography, great performances (yes, Natalie deserved all the awards, but Barbara Hershey as her mother and Mila Kunis as her ballet opponent should also be recognised) and intriguing dark scripts, this is for you. And if you remain untouched by the final ballet number, why are you reading my blog anyway? Passionate film making has never been better... (A+)
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - The Roommate - Yes, chances these films to end up in Bulgarian cinemas are always slim, but nevertheless, the title made respectable for the horror genre 37m in the USA, and having in mind, the completely unknown Chain Letter will actually be released next week here, I guess The Roommate would have been a better choice. (Responsible - Alexandra)
четвъртък, 10 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 9
Aluminium producer Austria Metall AG (AMAG) plans to launch an IPO in 2011. The proceeds from the move will be used for the company's expansion. The firm will implement a capital hike, while its core shareholders, Constantia Packaging and One Equity Partners, will reduce their stakes as part of the move.
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Sugar, starch and fruit Agrana is to invest EUR 56m in the construction of a new wheat starch plant in Pischelsdorf. The facility is to start operations in the third quarter of 2013.
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Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) will start offering life insurance products in Montenegro. The company plans investments of EUR 800,000 for the next three years.
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OMV does not plan to end its presence in crisis-hit Libya, CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer said. He, however, pointed out that the company is not financing the Gaddafi family and is only in contact with the National Oil Company. The manager did not say how the currently reduced oil production in the country is affecting the company.
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OMV plans to decide in the first half of the year on the way of financing to be used in order to reduce its liabilities, its CEO said. The company has to cut its debt after the recent big-scale acquisitions in Tunisia and Turkey. OMV considers a combination of alternative hybrid capital, corporate bond or capital increase.
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Online bookmaker Bwin, which recently merged with UK PartyGaming, expects Germany to soon end the state monopoly in gambling, its CEO Norbert Teufelberger told Handelsblatt. The country is currently discussing the future of the gambling sector.
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Real estate company CA Immo AG posted a consolidated profit of EUR 45.4m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 76.9m for 2009. The company, which bought Europolis last year, expects a further increase in its earnings in 2011.
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Austrian services companies reported a revenue increase of 3.3% year-on-year, Statistik Austria reported.
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The number of new vehicle registrations in Austria grew 23.5% year-on-year and 7.3% month-on-month to 31,832 in February 2011, Statistik Austria said. New passenger cars registrations increased 21.2% to 26,412.
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Sugar, starch and fruit Agrana is to invest EUR 56m in the construction of a new wheat starch plant in Pischelsdorf. The facility is to start operations in the third quarter of 2013.
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Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) will start offering life insurance products in Montenegro. The company plans investments of EUR 800,000 for the next three years.
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OMV does not plan to end its presence in crisis-hit Libya, CEO Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer said. He, however, pointed out that the company is not financing the Gaddafi family and is only in contact with the National Oil Company. The manager did not say how the currently reduced oil production in the country is affecting the company.
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OMV plans to decide in the first half of the year on the way of financing to be used in order to reduce its liabilities, its CEO said. The company has to cut its debt after the recent big-scale acquisitions in Tunisia and Turkey. OMV considers a combination of alternative hybrid capital, corporate bond or capital increase.
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Online bookmaker Bwin, which recently merged with UK PartyGaming, expects Germany to soon end the state monopoly in gambling, its CEO Norbert Teufelberger told Handelsblatt. The country is currently discussing the future of the gambling sector.
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Real estate company CA Immo AG posted a consolidated profit of EUR 45.4m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 76.9m for 2009. The company, which bought Europolis last year, expects a further increase in its earnings in 2011.
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Austrian services companies reported a revenue increase of 3.3% year-on-year, Statistik Austria reported.
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The number of new vehicle registrations in Austria grew 23.5% year-on-year and 7.3% month-on-month to 31,832 in February 2011, Statistik Austria said. New passenger cars registrations increased 21.2% to 26,412.
сряда, 9 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 8
Fibre producer Lenzing said it plans to propose a dividend of EUR 1.55 per share for 2010, down from EUR 2 for 2009. The company also confirmed its preliminary financial results for 2010. Lenzing booked EBIT of EUR 231.9m and sales of EUR 1.77bn. The dividend payout will be adjusted to the investment and growth plans of the firm.
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Technology group Andritz said its EBIT rose 66.9% to EUR 245.5m for 2010. Sales grew 11.1% to EUR 3.55bn and net profit improved 85.5% to EUR 179.6m. The results came higher than the analysts' expectations. The company sees a friendly environment for its main activities in 2011. Andritz will propose a dividend of EUR 1.70, up from EUR 1 for 2009.
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Refractory material maker RHI said its net profit soared to EUR 105.7m for 2010 from EUR 21.4m for 2009. Sales grew 23% to EUR 1.52bn, while EBIT went up 73% to EUR 138.8m. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 0.50, the first payment in many years. RHI projects a sales increase of about 5% for 2011 boosted by its Industrial division.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it plans to repurchase convertible bonds worth a total of EUR 466.4m, including accrued interest. The company will buy back its EUR 454.7m 2014 bond and its EUR 10.5m 2017 bond.
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Builder Porr envisages to withdraw from the Hungarian market, CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss told WirtschaftsBlatt. The Slovak activities will also be closely reviewed, while the company plans to speed up its business in Bulgaria once again. Austria's order backlog was full for 2011, the CEO added.
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Lenzing said it plans to launch a capital increase of about EUR 75m in the second quarter. The proceeds will be used for supporting the company's growth plans in Asia. Core shareholder B&C, which now owns 90.5% in Lenzing, will also offer shares for sale as part of the move.
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Technology group Andritz said its EBIT rose 66.9% to EUR 245.5m for 2010. Sales grew 11.1% to EUR 3.55bn and net profit improved 85.5% to EUR 179.6m. The results came higher than the analysts' expectations. The company sees a friendly environment for its main activities in 2011. Andritz will propose a dividend of EUR 1.70, up from EUR 1 for 2009.
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Refractory material maker RHI said its net profit soared to EUR 105.7m for 2010 from EUR 21.4m for 2009. Sales grew 23% to EUR 1.52bn, while EBIT went up 73% to EUR 138.8m. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 0.50, the first payment in many years. RHI projects a sales increase of about 5% for 2011 boosted by its Industrial division.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it plans to repurchase convertible bonds worth a total of EUR 466.4m, including accrued interest. The company will buy back its EUR 454.7m 2014 bond and its EUR 10.5m 2017 bond.
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Builder Porr envisages to withdraw from the Hungarian market, CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss told WirtschaftsBlatt. The Slovak activities will also be closely reviewed, while the company plans to speed up its business in Bulgaria once again. Austria's order backlog was full for 2011, the CEO added.
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Lenzing said it plans to launch a capital increase of about EUR 75m in the second quarter. The proceeds will be used for supporting the company's growth plans in Asia. Core shareholder B&C, which now owns 90.5% in Lenzing, will also offer shares for sale as part of the move.
вторник, 8 март 2011 г.
BG Boxoffice update
So Tilt continues to rule the BG boxoffice, despite, as I said before, lack of any significant qualities. But having in mind the success of the Стъклен дом series, there actually should be no surprised. The most curious thing however is the relative failure of the latest Nicolas Cage vehicle. We all know how the BG viewers like him, they also like films with fast cars and they like 3D. That's why Drive Angry's 74,000 lv boxoffice in its debut weekend can be seen as a disappointment. Still don't expect the title to not make good money in the next few weeks. In that connection, showing once again the quality of choices made at the multiplexes, the Yogi Bear registers a 13% climb in its fourth weekend and has above 270,000 lv so far. At the same time, the much superior Gnomeo and Juliet will struggle to make 150,000.
And ladies and gentlemen, the BG audience has decided to check out what the fuss with The King's Speech was all about and actually went and watched it in its second weekend. That's why the excellent film, believe it or not, registers a boost of 66% and already has almost 100,000 lv as boxoffice.
And what about the other two new offers this week? They can be found in the lower end of the top ten with almost identical results of around 20,000 lv. Love and Other Drugs and The Adjustment Bureau are both enjoyable titles and should have been higher. So what went wrong, despite the lack of Ashton Kutcher? First, there are many comedies out there, so Love and Other Drugs is probably not the first choice. As long as the great The Adjustment Bureau is concerned, the fact that it was a world premiere did not manage to offset one of the strangest decisions in the BG distribution in the last few years -- simply and unexplainably the movie is not shown in the very own cinema chain of its distributor! And, the fact that if a movie is not played in Cinema City (i.e. The Mall) means that many clever individuals think there is not such a movie at all has taken its toll. How it feels like to kill your own movie -- an essay on the subject should be written soon. (Expect next-week's Dilemma to have the same fate).
Austria's top economic news - March 7
Lighting specialist Zumtobel said its net profit soared to EUR 52.6m in the first three quarters of fiscal 2010/11, from EUR 21.3m a year earlier. EBIT grew to EUR 66.7m from EUR 40.5m. Sales increased 10.2% to EUR 908.9m. The company projects sales of EUR 1.2bn for the full fiscal year.
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Builder Strabag said it has taken over Swiss Brunner Erben and Astrada in an attempt to become the third biggest player in the country. The move will raise Strabag's sales in Switzerland to some CHF 800m per year.
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Century Casinos said it has applied for a casino license in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel. The license, valid until 2023, will be granted in the summer. The company plans to invest CHF 30m if it wins the contract.
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Austria's wholesale prices index stood at 108.4 points in February, up 1.3% in monthly terms, Statistik Austria said. In annual comparison, the increase was 12.7%.
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Builder Strabag said it has taken over Swiss Brunner Erben and Astrada in an attempt to become the third biggest player in the country. The move will raise Strabag's sales in Switzerland to some CHF 800m per year.
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Century Casinos said it has applied for a casino license in the Swiss canton of Neuchatel. The license, valid until 2023, will be granted in the summer. The company plans to invest CHF 30m if it wins the contract.
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Austria's wholesale prices index stood at 108.4 points in February, up 1.3% in monthly terms, Statistik Austria said. In annual comparison, the increase was 12.7%.
понеделник, 7 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 4
Real estate firm Immofinanz AG has launched a convertible bond via which it aims to raise EUR 515.12m. The subscription price was set at EUR 4.12 apiece, while the interest rate will stand at 4.25%.
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Lighting specialist Zumtobel has opened its light centre in Dubai, which will be used for a "doorway" for projects in the region.
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Austria produced above 1.7m hl of wine last year, down 26% in annual comparison, Statistik Austria said. The wine growing area was lowered 3% to 43,700 hectares.
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Lighting specialist Zumtobel has opened its light centre in Dubai, which will be used for a "doorway" for projects in the region.
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Austria produced above 1.7m hl of wine last year, down 26% in annual comparison, Statistik Austria said. The wine growing area was lowered 3% to 43,700 hectares.
неделя, 6 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 3
BKS Bank said its net profit grew 14.8% to EUR 46.4m for 2010. The bank plans unchanged dividend of EUR 0.25 per share. Risk provisions rose to EUR 47.6m from EUR 37.4m. BKS Bank expects a "volatile" business development in 2011. The firm will continue its expansion in Slovenia.
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Allianz Austria said its 2010 net profit increased 29.7% to EUR 105.9m, while the gross premium income fell 3.9% to EUR 1.286bn. The company's head, Wolfram Littich, said he is optimistic for 2011.
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Volksbank international (VBI), the eastern European subsidiary of OeVAG, reported a net loss of EUR 21.8m for 2010 due to high write-offs in Romania and Ukraine. The pretax profit collapsed to EUR 2m from EUR 47.5m for 2009. VBI is soon to be sold by its parent.
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Allianz Austria said its 2010 net profit increased 29.7% to EUR 105.9m, while the gross premium income fell 3.9% to EUR 1.286bn. The company's head, Wolfram Littich, said he is optimistic for 2011.
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Volksbank international (VBI), the eastern European subsidiary of OeVAG, reported a net loss of EUR 21.8m for 2010 due to high write-offs in Romania and Ukraine. The pretax profit collapsed to EUR 2m from EUR 47.5m for 2009. VBI is soon to be sold by its parent.
събота, 5 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 2
Verbund, Austria's biggest utility, said its net profit fell 37.8% year-on-year to EUR 400.8m in 2010. EBIT decreased 20.5% to EUR 828.5m. The results were burdened by reduced hydropower potential, lower wholesale prices and one-off costs. Shareholders will get EUR 0.55 per share as dividend, compared to EUR 1.25 a year earlier. Sales fell 5% to EUR 3.3bn. Verbund projects unchanged earnings for 2011 if the hydropower conditions remain average. The dividend policy of a payout of 45% to 50% will be kept.
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Technology group Binder + Co AG said its sales rose slightly to EUR 63.25m in 2010 from EUR 63.13m a year earlier. EBIT grew to EUR 7.22m from EUR 6.66m. The company registered a considerable increase in order intake from the start of the second half of the year.
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Brewery Ottakringer Brauerei said it has raised its prices due to the high raw material costs. The company also announced it sold 616,300 hectolitres of bier in 2010, up 0.7%. Mineral water unit Vöslauer reported 2.5m hectolitres sales, an increase of 4.6%.
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The ATX committee of the Vienna Stock Exchange said it will include the shares of real estate companies Immofinanz AG, CA Immobilien Anlagen AG and Conwert Immobilien Invest SE in the ATX main index of the bourse. At the same time, the stock of bwin, Flughafen Wien and Mayr-Melnhof will be excluded from the index.
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Technology group Binder + Co AG said its sales rose slightly to EUR 63.25m in 2010 from EUR 63.13m a year earlier. EBIT grew to EUR 7.22m from EUR 6.66m. The company registered a considerable increase in order intake from the start of the second half of the year.
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Brewery Ottakringer Brauerei said it has raised its prices due to the high raw material costs. The company also announced it sold 616,300 hectolitres of bier in 2010, up 0.7%. Mineral water unit Vöslauer reported 2.5m hectolitres sales, an increase of 4.6%.
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The ATX committee of the Vienna Stock Exchange said it will include the shares of real estate companies Immofinanz AG, CA Immobilien Anlagen AG and Conwert Immobilien Invest SE in the ATX main index of the bourse. At the same time, the stock of bwin, Flughafen Wien and Mayr-Melnhof will be excluded from the index.
петък, 4 март 2011 г.
German chart comments - Issue date - 04.03.2011
(Lena takes control, while Britney flops)
It's an interesting week in the German charts, with Bruno Mars still standing at the summit, with his "Grenade" clocking a third week there in a row. The lights are however all on Lena, who manages to bring five new entries in the countdown. The hype of course comes after Germany's decision to once again push the singer as its representative to the Eurovision song contest. As we all know, it was Lena who last year won the contest with her "Satellite". I'm still not quite sure whether the strategy to back her again would be of any good. At least, the single to present Germany "Taken By A Stranger" shoots itself directly at #2 in the top 100. Other Lena's songs which were considered as Eurovision entries can be found at #15 ("Push forward"), #53 ("Maybe"), #55 ("A million and one") and #58 ("Mama told me"). All songs are included in Lena's second album "Good News" which returns to the summit of the LP chart this week.
With Lena going at #2, it's Gaga who has to fall to #6 from #2. Her single now has a video, so its sales should stabilise.
Proving once again why she is a superstar in Germany, Pink brings yet another single in the top 10. "Fucking Perfect" follows the #5 peak of "Raise Your Glass" and enters this week at #7. The formula is once again the same as Pink retells another underdog story, which obviously is loved by music fans around the world...
In the top 20 it's great to see Sunrise Avenue rising seven to #11 with "Hollywood Hills" and also Roxette finding a new generation for their music as "She´s got nothing on (But the radio)" sticks to #12.
A lot of lessons should be learned by the music industry on how it managed to make Britney Spears's comeback single "Hold It Against Me" flop in Germany. Yes, the song is still in the top 30, by coming in at #23, but is the third least successful single of the superstar in Germany so far. So what went wrong? First, the song was released in UK and USA weeks ago, and in the era of Internet who has expected that Germans would wait passionately for the official release? And second, the video was released too late... Just watch UK, the song was going out of the top 40 when the video (which is expensive, I'm sure) hit the TVs and Internet. What was the point of all that?
Further down the chart, backed by the enormous support of VIVA, The Naked And Famous have their first hit in the country as "Young Blood" enters new at #30. All who watch the music channel (which is an overstatement as now you can only watch soaps, cartoons and reality shit on it) should know that as of January 1, the song is used for VIVA's new programme spots/advertising blocks.
And the remaining new entries with videos:
#33 Caro Emerald - A night like this (first top 40 single for Caro Emerald, after previous "Break It Up" peaked at #70)
#45 Depeche Mode - Dreaming of me (the song re-release is a celebration to the band's first new entry 30 years ago)
#46 R.E.M. - Oh my heart (believe or not, but one of the greatest bands ever has only one top 10 single in Germany with "Shiny Happy People" reaching #10)
#56 Robyn - Indestructible (never being popular in Germany, the Swedish star biggest hit here is "With Every Heartbeat", which peaked at #39)
#70 Darius & Finlay feat. Nicco - Till morning (a great dance track from the Austrian producers)
#81 In Extremo - Zigeunerskat
In BG Cinemas from March 4
С мръсна газ / Drive Angry 3D - I'm certain that Drive Angry could be the perfect guilty pleasure for many but somehow I cannot overcome the unpleasant feeling that its main protagonist is played by Nicolas Cage. Perhaps, now, when the film tanked in the USA, the producers will understand that this man is overrated as an actor, he not only cannot act (or at least he is too lazy to care) but also has the strange habit to experiment with bad haircuts... The only bonus points are awarded to William Fichtner as one of Drive Angry's villains called simply The Accountant. (Alexandra)
Агенти на съдбата / The Adjustment Bureau - The March movie calendar starts with quite a pleasant surprise, coming from this Matt Damon-Emily Blunt vehicle. Genre speaking, The Adjustment Bureau is a sci-fi, but actually, and here lies its success, it's a romantic film, and one of the best for quite a long time. The movie, however, would not have worked if there was no chemistry between the two leads (take note Depp and Jolie!). Blunt and Damon are just marvellous as the characters who are not destined to be with each other, despite their blooming love and passion. In most of the film you will so root for them and cross fingers that they will escape the traps of fate, that you will not pay attention to the holes of the plot. Not that there are many anyway...(Forum Film)
Любовта е опиат / Love and Other Drugs - Oh, when I wrote my first "MISSED OPPORTUNITY" in January, who'd have thought that I'd be proven wrong. Yes, the movie's cinema distribution was cancelled but then the plans were relaunched, which, fingers crossed, will happen more often. So, the wait was definitely worth it as Love and Other Drugs is not only great fun but may also raise some serious questions. Jake Gyllenhaal's Persian days are long forgotten, while Anne Hathaway is slowly, but steadily, turning into one of the best young actresses. And it is also great to see director Edward Zwick (The Last Samurai) trying something contemporary as a plot. The only problem, however, is that if you want to choose between romantic films this weekend, you should definitely select the aforementioned The Adjustment Bureau. Or you can just watch both...(Alexandra)
MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Rabbit Hole - There really should be no surprised that this drama, with Nicole Kidman and Aaron Eckhart in the lead, did not reach the cinema screens despite such plans. First, it comes from the only distributor of independent movies whose The Fighter vanished from the screens in just two weeks (don't remember such a record recently) and second, Rabbit Hole deals with serious subjects such as an unbearable loss, which as many know is avoided by the "too-clever" multiplex audience. It's a shame, really... (Tandem)
четвъртък, 3 март 2011 г.
Austria's top economic news - March 1
Vaccine developer Intercell said its 2010 net loss soared to EUR 255.2m from EUR 18.38m a year earlier. Sales decreased 45% to EUR 34.2m, missing analysts' forecasts. The results were massively burdened by the company's failure in the development of a vaccine for traveller's diarrhoea. For 2011 the company projects sales to recover and the loss to be reduced to between EUR 30m and EUR 40m.
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Austria's unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in February 2011, representing 20,648 less unemployed and 13,925 people less on training courses. A total of 361,759 were unemployed.
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BDI BioEnergy plans to distribute EUR 2.65 per share to its shareholders. The move results from a decision for a capital reduction of EUR 10.07m.
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The withdrawal of builder Porr from the Libyan market will cost around EUR 1.5m, which will be divided with local partner, and Porr's shareholder, Renaissance, CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss told APA. The company has been present on the local market for a very short time.
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Circuit board maker AT&S has bought a 120,000 sq m land plot for its expansion in China. The site will be located in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
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Chip maker austriamicrosystems (AMS) said its sales grew 53% to EUR 209.4m in 2010. The company turned a net profit of EUR 23.1m, compared to a loss of EUR 16.7m for 2009. AMS envisages a dividend of EUR 0.52 per share for the year. For 2011 sales are seen growing by around 10%.
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Austria's construction sector booked order backlog of EUR 5.9bn at the end of November 2010, down 4.8% in annual terms, Statistik Austria said.
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Austria's construction sector delivered an output of EUR 13.1bn between January to November 2010, down 4.1%, Statistik Austria reported. Civil engineering fell 7.7% on the year.
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The turnover of Austria's construction and industrial sectors stood at EUR 21.8bn in November 2010, up 14.5% Y/Y, Statistik Austria reported. Employment rose 1.1%.
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Austria's unemployment rate stood at 4.3% in February 2011, representing 20,648 less unemployed and 13,925 people less on training courses. A total of 361,759 were unemployed.
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BDI BioEnergy plans to distribute EUR 2.65 per share to its shareholders. The move results from a decision for a capital reduction of EUR 10.07m.
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The withdrawal of builder Porr from the Libyan market will cost around EUR 1.5m, which will be divided with local partner, and Porr's shareholder, Renaissance, CEO Karl-Heinz Strauss told APA. The company has been present on the local market for a very short time.
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Circuit board maker AT&S has bought a 120,000 sq m land plot for its expansion in China. The site will be located in the southwestern city of Chongqing.
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Chip maker austriamicrosystems (AMS) said its sales grew 53% to EUR 209.4m in 2010. The company turned a net profit of EUR 23.1m, compared to a loss of EUR 16.7m for 2009. AMS envisages a dividend of EUR 0.52 per share for the year. For 2011 sales are seen growing by around 10%.
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Austria's construction sector booked order backlog of EUR 5.9bn at the end of November 2010, down 4.8% in annual terms, Statistik Austria said.
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Austria's construction sector delivered an output of EUR 13.1bn between January to November 2010, down 4.1%, Statistik Austria reported. Civil engineering fell 7.7% on the year.
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The turnover of Austria's construction and industrial sectors stood at EUR 21.8bn in November 2010, up 14.5% Y/Y, Statistik Austria reported. Employment rose 1.1%.
сряда, 2 март 2011 г.
BG Boxoffice update
During the past weekend, Big Mommas 3 was not so big as I feared, but still managed to earn as much as The King's Speech and True Grit combined. Another proof of the quality of the decisions made by the Bulgarian audience. Bulgarian Tilt, albeit actually not so good, continues to lead the boxoffice, while The Fighter vanished from Bulgarian cinemas in just two weeks... Look how The Black Swan will graciously fail to fly in two weeks time despite being massive everywhere around the world.
Austria's top economic news - February 28
Toll specialist Kapsch TrafficCom said its sales grew 74% to EUR 258.5m in the first nine months of fiscal 2010/11. EBIT more than tripled to EUR 23.2m, while net profit fell 22% to EUR 16.8m. The fourth quarter will be marked by the projects in South Africa and Poland and preparations for auctions in Hungary.
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Austria's annual inflation rate grew to 2.4% in January 2011, reaching its highest level since October 2008, Statistik Austria said. The rate was boosted by higher fuel and home costs. The EU-harmonised index rose to 2.5% from 2.2% in December.
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SW Umwelttechnik said its sales rose 12% to EUR 73.8m in 2010. EBIT fell to EUR 1.2m from EUR 1.4m. Pretax loss narrowed to EUR 2.3m from EUR 2.9m. The company projects a light sales increase and considerable earnings improvement in 2011.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it has divested a retail park in German Castrop Rauxel for EUR 9.8m. The property was bought by a Luxembourg investment fund.
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Utility Verbund and its Turkish partner Sabanci Holding have opened their first wind park in Turkey. A total of EUR 40m were invested in the park, with a capacity of 30 MW.
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Christoph Herbst, interim CEO of Vienna Airport, told WirtschaftsBlatt he aims the company to save an amount in the medium double-digit million range in 2011. Alone the firm will target to cut its costs by between EUR 4m and EUR 5m in the field of consultancy contracts.
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Agrana and Raiffeisen Ware Austria have decided to merge their fruit concentrate subsidiaries Agrana Juice Holding and Ybbstaler Fruit Austria in a new joint venture. Agrana will hold 50.01% in the new entity initially. The new firm is projected to have annual sales of about EUR 250m.
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Holding company Unternehmens Invest AG (UIAG) booked an operating loss of EUR 240,000 for the first quarter of 2010/11. Due to one-off items, the company however posted a net profit of EUR 5.77m.
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Austria's annual inflation rate grew to 2.4% in January 2011, reaching its highest level since October 2008, Statistik Austria said. The rate was boosted by higher fuel and home costs. The EU-harmonised index rose to 2.5% from 2.2% in December.
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SW Umwelttechnik said its sales rose 12% to EUR 73.8m in 2010. EBIT fell to EUR 1.2m from EUR 1.4m. Pretax loss narrowed to EUR 2.3m from EUR 2.9m. The company projects a light sales increase and considerable earnings improvement in 2011.
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Real estate company Immofinanz said it has divested a retail park in German Castrop Rauxel for EUR 9.8m. The property was bought by a Luxembourg investment fund.
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Utility Verbund and its Turkish partner Sabanci Holding have opened their first wind park in Turkey. A total of EUR 40m were invested in the park, with a capacity of 30 MW.
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Christoph Herbst, interim CEO of Vienna Airport, told WirtschaftsBlatt he aims the company to save an amount in the medium double-digit million range in 2011. Alone the firm will target to cut its costs by between EUR 4m and EUR 5m in the field of consultancy contracts.
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Agrana and Raiffeisen Ware Austria have decided to merge their fruit concentrate subsidiaries Agrana Juice Holding and Ybbstaler Fruit Austria in a new joint venture. Agrana will hold 50.01% in the new entity initially. The new firm is projected to have annual sales of about EUR 250m.
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Holding company Unternehmens Invest AG (UIAG) booked an operating loss of EUR 240,000 for the first quarter of 2010/11. Due to one-off items, the company however posted a net profit of EUR 5.77m.
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