Austria's top economic news - April 6

Car parts supplier Polytec posted a net profit of EUR 25.6m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 51.4m for 2009. The company booked EBIT of EUR 27.2m, up from a loss of EUR 30.2m. Sales went up 27% to EUR 770.1m. Polytec projects a slight organic increase in its sales for 2011. The company will examine further acquisition possibilities.
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IT services provider S&T will reduce by above 25% the number of its employees in Austria, WirtschaftsBlatt reported. The move, which should be implemented by mid-May, is to affect some 70 employees.
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Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna's top venue for concerts and sports tournaments, will be called in the future Erste Bank Wiener Stadthalle. The renaming comes after Erste Group signed a sponsoring and cooperation contract with the municipality-owned hall.
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Austrian Airlines (AUA) said the current turbulences, including the unrest in North Africa, the natural disasters in Japan and the rising oil prices, will lead to a burden of EUR 30m for 2011. This will mean that the already loss-making air carrier will once again have to tighten its cost control in order to achieve its target for an operating profit for 2011.
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EnerjiSA, the Turkish joint venture of Austria's leading utility Verbund, has taken a loan of EUR 700m for a period of 12 years. The money will be used for boosting the company's power plant potential by 1,000 MW.
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Moody's reduced its long-term credit rating on Österreichische Volksbanken AG (ÖVAG) to Baa2 from Baa1.
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Office furniture maker Bene said it expects to report a 5% fall in its sales for fiscal 2010/11. The company however managed to convert the trend in the second half of the year and expects more revenues for the current fiscal period. The 2010/11 operating result was improved but still remained negative.
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Austria's wholesale prices index rose 0.9% month-on-month in March 2011, Statistik Austria reported. The index grew 12.1% in annual terms.