Austrian Economic News - Week 4 -10 Jun

Monday

Regional energy provider EVN said it had agreed to a new credit line worth some EUR 500m. The credit will have a maturity of five years and will serve as liquidity reserve.

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Steel major voestalpine will close down its rails production plant in Duisburg, Germany, by the end of 2013. The move is part of the company's decision to focus only on specialised railway products.

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Technology group Andritz has secured further almost 10% in German Schuler. Thus, the Austrian company has got hold of 63.5% in the metal press specialist.

Tuesday

Austrian utilities Verbund and EVN are interested in the sale of four hydropower plants in Albania, daily Wirtschaftsblatt reported. Verbund has confirmed its interest to the paper.

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Mexican billionaire Carlos Slim has acquired a 4.1% stake in Telekom Austria, media reported on Tuesday. According to a report of magazine News, Slim, who is the richest man in the world, plans to tie up his stake with that of Ronny Pecik and thus to take control of almost 25% in the telecommunications provider.

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Vienna Airport officially opened its new terminal Check-in 3. A poll among the first passengers showed that it is valued positively by majority of them. The terminal, so far known as Skylink, was delayed several times due to exploding costs. 

Wednesday

US rating agency Moody's has reduced the credit ratings of Austria's top banks - Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI), UniCredit Bank Austria and Erste Group Bank AG. The move was attributed to the unfavourable conditions in some of the markets in CEE as well as the increased risks from further shocks triggered by the euro debt crisis. The outlook for Erste and Bank Austria was lowered to "negative".

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Real estate developer Immofinanz started its residential project Debowe Tarasy in Poland on Wednesday. The project value stands at EUR 21.7m.

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Wiener Privatbank plans to buy Matejka & Partner Asset Management GmbH from the Themis private foundation. The deal price was not disclosed.

Thursday - Public Holiday

Friday

Auto parts supplier Miba said it raised its net profit by 35.1% year-on-year to EUR 13.15m in the first quarter of fiscal 2012/13. Sales increased 16% to EUR 160.9m. However, the company does not expect in the current year the same strong growth rates as in the previous two years.

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EnergieAllianz Austria, which consists of Bewag, EVN and Wien Energie, will reduce its electricity prices as of July 1. An average household will thus save around EUR 26 per year. Leading utility Verbund also announced plans to cut prices.