http://bbj.hu Complete and independent daily business news from Hungary. en-us bbj@bbj.hu webmaster@bbj.hu PHP RSS Feed Generator Hungary's Government Debt Management Center (AKK) cut its offer at an auction of twelve-month T-bills on Thursday not because of demand, but because of scattered yields in bids, AKK deputy-director László András Borbély told Econews. http://bbj.hu/?id=54111 2010-09-02T16:25:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54111 Hungary's K&H Bank had consolidated after-tax profit of HUF 23 billion in the first half, up more than 164% from the same period a year earlier even as the proportion of non-performing loans in the portfolio grew, documents distributed at a press conference on Thursday show. http://bbj.hu/?id=54110 2010-09-02T15:58:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54110 The government has transferred HUF 5.7 billion to national carrier Malév to prevent the repossession of some of its aircraft by a US leasing company, business weekly Figyelő said in its fresh issue on Thursday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54109 2010-09-02T15:36:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54109 The UK's JKX Oil and Gas has agreed to acquire minority stakes in a field in Hungary, the company said in an exploration update on Thursday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54108 2010-09-02T15:02:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54108 Hungary will have to convince the European Commission that an extension of the country's ban on purchases of farmland by foreigners is necessary to prevent serious disturbances in the agriculture sector, Commission spokesman Roger Waite told MTI in Brussels on Wednesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54107 2010-09-02T14:39:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54107 Pick Szeged has resumed production of Herz salami products six months after Hungary's competition office GVH approved Bonafarm Zrt's takeover of the Herz Salami Factory, Bonafarm told MTI. http://bbj.hu/?id=54106 2010-09-02T13:54:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54106 Saigo Port Kft, a member of the Xanga Investment and Development Group (XID), has won a contract in an open tender to build a cargo and logistics base at the international airport of Debrecen (E Hungary), with phase one of the development expected to cost HUF 2.5 billion, the business daily Napi Gazdaság reported. http://bbj.hu/?id=54105 2010-09-02T12:40:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54105 Hungary's National Inspectorate for Environment, Nature and Water has revoked an environmental permit that Holcim Hungaria Zrt, the Hungarian unit of Swiss cement company Holcim, obtained to conduct a 90-hectare expansion of the company's limestone quarry in northern Hungary, the civil environmental-organizations that appealed the decision to grant the permit informed MTI on Wednesday evening. http://bbj.hu/?id=54104 2010-09-02T11:58:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54104 The result of the municipality elections in October may be uncertain only in Budapest, daily Népszabadság reported on the latest survey of research company Szonda-Ipsos. http://bbj.hu/?id=54103 2010-09-02T10:39:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54103 Share turnover on the Budapest Stock Exchange (BSE) was 718 billion in August, down 12% from July, the BSE said, citing double-counting data compiled from brokers. http://bbj.hu/?id=54102 2010-09-02T10:00:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54102 The National Bank of Hungary (MNB) said Wednesday it will start publishing a new index: HUFONIA (Hungarian Forint Overnight Index Average) on its website daily from September 1, the MNB said on Wednesday. The move is designed to support the development of a Hungarian market for Overnight Indexed Swaps (OIS). Official OIS rates are expected to be published daily from the end of September. http://bbj.hu/?id=54101 2010-09-02T08:58:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54101 The recent strengthening of the Swiss franc entails a growth risk for Hungary, and the forint's weakening raises the country's inflation risk and contributes to a rise in the percentage of non-performing loans in bank portfolios, National Bank of Hungary Spokesman András Simon told MTI on Wednesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54100 2010-09-02T06:28:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54100 Hungary's Phylaxia 1912 Holding sustained consolidated losses of HUF 8.8 million in the first half of 2010, compared to consolidated profit of HUF 105 million in H1 of 2009 as the result of sharply increasing financial losses, Phylaxia reported on in the company's consolidated, unaudited first-half IFRS report Tuesday night. Revenue rose 22% and operating profits rose more than five-fold. http://bbj.hu/?id=54099 2010-09-01T19:02:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54099 Telco TvNetwork had net income of HUF 476 million in H1 as proceeds from the sale of networks lifted revenue, the company's unconsolidated Hungarian Accounting Standards report for the period published late Tuesday shows. http://bbj.hu/?id=54098 2010-09-01T15:34:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54098 Genesis Energy Investment, which owns units building solar panel plants in Hungary, Spain and Singapore, had practically no revenue and a loss of HUF 611 million for the first half, the company said in its consolidated IFRS report for the period published late Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54097 2010-09-01T14:31:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54097 State-owned student-loan provider Diákhitel Központ lent HUF 11.53 billion in the first half of 2010, down slightly from HUF 11.8 billion in H1 of 2009, Diákhitel reported on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54096 2010-09-01T14:20:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54096 Raiffeisen Bank had after-tax profit of HUF 1.79 billion in H1 as interest revenue grew and write-offs and risk provisions fell, the bank's unaudited consolidated IFRS report for the period published late Tuesday shows. http://bbj.hu/?id=54095 2010-09-01T13:40:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54095 http://bbj.hu/?id=54093 2010-09-01T13:31:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54093 The chief office of investigations has charged Miklós Tátrai, former head of the Hungarian National Asset Management Company (MNV), with causing damages to the state in connection with a planned casino investment which is under a government investigation, the office said on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54094 2010-09-01T13:14:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54094 First-half consolidated after-tax profit of CIB Bank plunged 82pc to HUF 105m from the same period a year earlier as revenue from commissions and fees dropped, the bank's IFRS report for the period published late Tuesday shows. http://bbj.hu/?id=54092 2010-09-01T12:29:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54092 The Sziget Kulturális Menedzser Iroda's annual musical festival in Tirgu Mures, Romania, the Peninsula/Félsziget Festival, drew attendance of 63,000 in 2010, up 5pc from 2009, though ticket revenue covered only an estimated 90pc of the cost of holding the multi-day event this year, Budapest-based media company econet.hu announced on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54091 2010-09-01T11:37:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54091 Hungary's seasonally adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 51.9 in August from 53.5 in July, , the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim), which published the monthly index, announced on Wednesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54090 2010-09-01T10:24:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54090 Hungary had a €564 million trade surplus in June 2010, up from a downward revised €398 million trade surplus in May and a €317 million surplus a year earlier, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said in on Wednesday. The figure is down just €3 million from a first reading published on August 6. http://bbj.hu/?id=54089 2010-09-01T09:17:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54089 The “A” category businesses at the Hungarian Stock Exchange BÉT had a total profit of not more than HUF 116 billion in the first half of the year, business daily Napi Gazdaság reported. http://bbj.hu/?id=54088 2010-09-01T07:56:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54088 Hungary is expected to become the third European Union member that can export meat to Vietnam, state secretary in charge of farm affairs at the Rural Development Ministry György Czerván told MTI on Tuesday, after returning from a trip Vietnam and Laos. http://bbj.hu/?id=54086 2010-08-31T17:00:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54086 The Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) sold HUF 60 billion of three-month discount T-bills at an auction on Tuesday, raising its sales as oversubscription rose further. Despite continued strong demand, yields rose for the second auction in a row. http://bbj.hu/?id=54087 2010-08-31T16:40:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54087 The government aims to preserve the local ownership rate in big companies which are majority Hungarian owned, National Development Minister Tamás Fellegi said answering a question at a meeting with foreign diplomats in Budapest on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54085 2010-08-31T16:38:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54085 Hungarian-owned life insurer CIG Pannónia will submit a request to list its shares along with a prospectus for investors to financial market regulator PSzÁF on Wednesday, the company told MTI. http://bbj.hu/?id=54084 2010-08-31T16:12:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54084 The signing of new foreign currency-based retail mortgage loans by Hungarian banks came to a practical halt in July as the result of a government ban on such borrowing, fresh data published by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) on Tuesday show. http://bbj.hu/?id=54083 2010-08-31T15:53:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54083 The value of euro-based loans Hungarian banks signed with corporate clients in July exceeded the value of forint loans for the second month in a row, fresh data published by the National Bank of Hungary (MNB) on Tuesday show. http://bbj.hu/?id=54082 2010-08-31T15:29:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54082 Hungarian investment funds and assets managers held HUF 9,200 billion for institutional investors at the end of Q2, 3.96% more than three months earlier, the Hungarian Association of Investment Funds and Asset Managers (BAMOSz) said on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54081 2010-08-31T14:47:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54081 Second-quarter investment data published on Tuesday morning came as no surprise but were still disappointing, analyst told MTI. They do not expect investment volume to improve significantly over the coming quarters. http://bbj.hu/?id=54080 2010-08-31T14:15:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54080 Hungarian households again borrowed more than they repaid in forints and repayed more than they borrowed in foreign currencies in July, a pattern unbroken since late spring of 2009, data from the National Bank of Hungary published on Tuesday showed. Excluding exchange-rate and seasonal effects, households have been net borrowers each month since last September except for January. http://bbj.hu/?id=54079 2010-08-31T13:51:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54079 The Hungarian branch of the Credit Agricole Corporate and Investment Bank (CA-CIB) generated profit of HUF 400 million in the first half of 2010, down from a profit of HUF 1.8 billion in H1 of 2009, Credit Agricole informed MTI. http://bbj.hu/?id=54078 2010-08-31T13:44:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54078 E.ON Hungaria, the Hungarian unit of German energy giant E.ON, will fill the company's gas-storage facilities to their 4.2 billion cubic-meter capacity by the beginning of the heating season in mid-October, the business daily Napi Gazdaság reported on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54077 2010-08-31T12:30:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54077 First-half revenue of the Hungarian unit of Austria's Payer Group rose almost 10% to €17.2 million from the same period a year earlier, Payer Industries Hungary managing director Gábor Bárány-Helmik told MTI. http://bbj.hu/?id=54076 2010-08-31T12:24:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54076 Swiss fragrance and flavors maker Givaudan intends to build a CHF 170 million best-in-class, centralized savory flavors production facility in Hungary, in close proximity to the fast-growing markets of Eastern Europe. http://bbj.hu/?id=54075 2010-08-31T11:58:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54075 The rise in Hungary's industrial producer prices slowed to 0.2% in July from the previous month but the twelve-month rise picked up to 8.7%, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54074 2010-08-31T11:20:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54074 Investment volume in Hungary dropped 4.9% year-on-year in the second quarter of 2010, and was down by a seasonally adjusted 0.6% from Q1, the Central Statistical Office (KSH) said on Tuesday. Investment volume has been declining yr/yr for the tenth quarter in a row, and a quarter-on-quarter rise in Q1 proved temporary. http://bbj.hu/?id=54073 2010-08-31T10:49:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54073 Budapest bourse traded IT company Kulcs-Soft Nyrt said net profit jumped 57% to HUF 44 million in H1 compared to the same period last year. http://bbj.hu/?id=54072 2010-08-31T08:51:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54072 Hungarian printing company Állami Nyomda's first-half net income plunged 72% to HUF 163 million from the same period a year earlier as its margin narrowed, the company's consolidated IFRS report for the period published late Monday shows. http://bbj.hu/?id=54071 2010-08-31T08:00:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54071 German automotive industry supplier Continental on Monday marked the 20th anniversary of the establishment of its factory in Budapest. Continental has so far invested more than €140 million at the plant which employs 1,200 people, including 300 engineers. http://bbj.hu/?id=54070 2010-08-30T17:13:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54070 The Hungarian Energy Office (MEH) has replied to Russian oil and gas company Surgutneftegas regarding a request to withdraw a decree that ended the process to include Surgutneftegas in Hungarian peer MOL's share registry, MEH directorate head Csaba Vigassy told MTI on Monday. http://bbj.hu/?id=54069 2010-08-30T16:15:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54069 http://bbj.hu/?id=54068 2010-08-30T15:46:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54068 http://bbj.hu/?id=54067 2010-08-30T15:43:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54067 http://bbj.hu/?id=54066 2010-08-30T15:42:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54066 http://bbj.hu/?id=54065 2010-08-30T14:28:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54065 http://bbj.hu/?id=54064 2010-08-30T14:16:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54064 http://bbj.hu/?id=54063 2010-08-30T13:19:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54063 http://bbj.hu/?id=54062 2010-08-30T13:17:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54062 http://bbj.hu/?id=54061 2010-08-30T11:37:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54061 A real-estate investment on a similar scale to the controversial King's City casino is being planned for a Danube island in northern Budapest, daily Népszabadság reported on Monday.   http://bbj.hu/?id=54060 2010-08-30T11:10:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54060 Hungary should continue fiscal consolidation and bring the country's budget deficit to below 3% of GDP in 2011 under the European Union's excessive-deficit procedure, European Commissioner for Economic and Financial Affairs Olli Rehn told the weekly newspaper Vasárnapi Hírek in an interview published on Sunday.   http://bbj.hu/?id=54059 2010-08-30T11:05:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54059 http://bbj.hu/?id=54058 2010-08-30T11:04:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54058 http://bbj.hu/?id=54057 2010-08-30T09:12:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54057 http://bbj.hu/?id=54056 2010-08-30T09:10:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54056 Economic-research company GKI has reconfirmed its earlier prediction that Hungary's GDP will grow about 1% in 2010, GKI reported in an analysis prepared jointly with Erste Bank. http://bbj.hu/?id=54055 2010-08-30T06:54:00Z http://bbj.hu/?id=54055