Austrian Economic News - Week 21 - 27 May

Monday

Industrial group Frauenthal said it booked a zero net profit for the first quarter of the year, compared with EUR 3.5m a year earlier. Sales went down 2% to EUR 136.4m. The profit was burdened by the weaker operational development at the Automotive and Industrial Honeycombs divisions.

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Linz Textil Holding AG announced that its turnover decreased to EUR 40.2m in the first quarter of the year from EUR 42.3m a year earlier due to the atypical market development of the first three months of 2011. EBIT almost halved to EUR 1.6m. The company thus projects a lower net profit for full 2012 than that for 2011.

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Real estate developer CA Immobilien Anlagen AG said on Monday its net profit soared 70.7% to EUR 17.3m in the first three months of the year. Rental income went up 13% to EUR 72.4m. The results came higher than the figures expected by analysts.

Tuesday

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) said it will seek the approval of an up to 15% share buyback from its shareholders on June 20. Part of the stock will be cancelled.

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IT group Beko Holding posted a net profit of EUR 4.8m for the first half of fiscal 2011/12, up from EUR 900,000 a year earlier. Sales rose 3.5% to EUR 27.7m. The company gave no specific forecast for the rest of the business year.

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Züblin, the German subsidiary of construction group Strabag, registered an order backlog of a record-high of EUR 3.9bn for the first quarter, up by one-third. Order intake went up 35% to around EUR 1bn, the company's CEO said.

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Troubled ÖVAG plans to buy back hybrid bonds worth EUR 300m. The move is agreed with co-owner, the state of Austria, and is part of the bank's restructuring initiatives. 

Wednesday

Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) said on Wednesday its group profit went up 7.9% to EUR 117.7m in the first quarter of the year. VIG's premium income rose by 5.5% to EUR 2.747bn. For 2012 the insurer intends to focus on organic growth but does not exclude takeovers.

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Schoeller Bleckmann Oilfield Equipment (SBO) announced that its Q1 2012 net profit soared 54.1% to EUR 17.8m thanks to the robust sector conditions. Revenues increased 23.9% to EUR 120.6m. If the global economy remains stable, the firm expects strong conditions in the oil sector by the end of the year.

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Vienna Airport announced that its revenue rose 5.7% to EUR 139m in the first three months of the year. Net profit increased by 9.1% to EUR 21.6m. The company raised its forecasts for full 2012 and now expects a net profit of EUR 55m. Passenger number is seen up by between 4% and 5%.
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Holding company Unternehmens Invest AG (UIAG) reported a net profit of EUR 962,000 for the second quarter of its fiscal year, compared with a loss of EUR 3m a year earlier. 

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Brick producer Wienerberger has prolonged a credit line worth EUR 250m until May 2016. The credit was initially planned to expire in 2013.

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Telekom Austria's managers got the approval of the company's shareholders at their general meeting on Wednesday. The shareholders also green lighted the proposal for a dividend of EUR 0.38 per share for 2011. Ronny Pecik, a core shareholder in the firm, was also elected as a member of the supervisory board.

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The 62 Austrian regional cooperative banks or Volsbanken were burdened by EUR 333m in total by their exposure on troubled major sector player ÖVAG. This led to EUR 94.5m as a loss from operations last year. 

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Sparkassen Immobilien AG (s Immo) said its net profit in Q1 grew 18.2% to EUR 6.4m, while rental income remained stable at EUR 30.1m. The company considers to divest 5% of its portfolio in 2012.

Thursday

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) said its net profit doubled to EUR 541m in the first quarter of the year compared with the same period a year earlier. The growth was attributed to one-off effects from security trading. Due to cost cutting measures, especially in Ukraine, the bank reduced its headcount by 895.
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Sanochemia Pharmazeutika AG announced its net profit decreased to EUR 306,000 in the first half of fiscal 2011/12 from EUR 836,000 a year earlier. The company was burdened by significant price growth in terms of energy and raw materials. Revenue went up to EUR 16.465m from EUR 16.351m.
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Real estate company and hotel operator Warimpex Finanz- und Beteiligungs AG reported a net profit of EUR 259,000 in the first three months of the year, compared with a loss of EUR 3m in the same period of 2011. The results were boosted by higher sales in the hotel segment. Turnover as a whole grew 18% to EUR 12.2m.

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Lighting producer Zumtobel Group has received a EUR 6.5m order for the new campus of the Vienna's University of Economics. 

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Catering group Do&Co said its revenues rose 9.5% on the year to EUR 466.4m in fiscal 2011/12. Net profit increased 25.1% to EUR 15.4m. Dividend will be raised to EUR 0.45 per share from EUR 0.35.

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Motorcycle producer KTM boosted its sales by 13.5% to EUR 135.7m in the first quarter of the year. However, the company slipped into a net loss of EUR 0.2m from a profit of EUR 0.2m. The company referred to restrictive market conditions.

Friday

Insurer Uniqa ended the first quarter of 2012 with a net profit of EUR 30.4m, up 13.8%. Premium income grew 2.6% to EUR 1.614bn. The company managed to lower its PIIGS exposure by 43% to EUR 1.166bn. Uniqa still targets for 2012 earnings (EGT) of above the last-year result of EUR 141.8m.

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Construction materials maker Wienerberger AG said it had completed the takeover of the outstanding 50% in subsidiary Pipelife. The deal was approved by all corresponding authorities.
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Oberbank, part of the 3-Bankengruppe, announced a net profit of EUR 33.2m for the first three months of the year, an increase from EUR 28.1m a year earlier. The credit volume went up 3.3% to EUR 10.9bn.
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Bank für Tirol und Vorarlberg AG (BTV), also part of the 3-Bankengruppe, said its net profit in the first quarter went up 14.1% to EUR 15m.

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Karl Minhard, head of the works council of Austrian Airlines, announced on Friday he will remain as pilot for the company and will keep his position in the council. The decision of Minhard is a signal that the situation at AUA has calmed down after the decision of the management to make the collective agreement for the onboard staff less generous than before.

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BKS Bank, the third bank that forms the 3-Bankengruppe, said its pretax profit decreased by 6.5% to EUR 11.8m in the first three months of the year.

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Software producer Fabasoft AG said it turned to an operating profit of EUR 700,000 for fiscal 2011/12, compared with a loss of EUR 300,000 a year earlier. Revenues increased to EUR 22.9m from EUR 21.1m. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 0.15 per share.