Summary of economic news released by SITA on June 23
NPP V2 Generated 2,499 GWh of Electricity in Five Months of 2006
Nuclear power plant V2 in Jaslovske Bohunice operated by dominant power producer Slovenske Elektrarne (SE) generated 2,499 GWh of electric energy in five months of this year, down 8 percent y/y. In May alone V2 produced 347 GWh of electricity. At the same time the nuclear power plant supplied than 1,060 terra joules (TJ) of heat by the end of May, the company informed.
Water Utility VVS Significantly Improved its Performance Last Year
Regional water utility in eastern Slovakia Vychodoslovenska Vodarenska Spolocnost (VVS), a.s. Kosice significantly improved its performance in 2005. The company closed last year with a profit of SKK 93.8 million, while in 2004 its profit was only SKK 25.6 million. Total revenues grew by 4.5 percent y/y to SKK 2.179 billion.
A Week Remains for Some Taxpayers to Pay Advance Tax Payments
Private individuals and corporate entities with the duty to pay quarterly advance payments for income tax have the last week to meet their duty for the first time this year. The first quarterly advance tax is due by the end of June. Corporate entities, whose income tax exceeded SKK 50,000 last year, but was not higher than SKK 500,000, must pay advance tax payments of one quarter of the tax paid for the previous taxation period at of the end of every quarter starting with June 30. Private individuals must pay quarterly advance payments for income tax, if their last tax duty exceeded SKK 20,000 and was not higher than SKK 500,000.
Shareholders of Kupele Dudince Spa Decide on Last Year's Loss
Shareholders of Kupele Dudince Spa, a.s. decided at the annual general meeting on Monday to settle the loss from 2005 of nearly SKK 13.6 million. Around SKK 11.6 million will come from the compulsory reserve fund and SKK 2 million will be transferred from the account of retained earnings of previous years. Shareholders also approved last year's annual financial statements.
IT Company Novitech Reports 68 Pct. Increase in Sales over 2005
IT company Novitech, a.s., which develops and implements information systems and provides projects management, reached total sales of SKK 319.9 million in 2005, which is an increase of over 68 percent. Of this, sales of own products and services climbed to SKK 285.8 million, which is up 62 percent y/y. Production costs reached SKK 180.6 million, which is up by nearly 70 percent.
Slovintegra Starts Construction of Steam-Gas Cycle
The company Slovintegra has launched construction of the gas-steam cycle in the Gena industrial park in Levice. The firm plans to invest SKK 2 billion in the project. Head of the Slovintegra board of directors Slavomir Hatina said the launch of operation is planned for the beginning of Q2 2007. The steam-gas cycle should supply heat and electricity to other companies in the industrial park and the town itself. The annual electricity output of the steam-gas cycle will be 80 MW and the total heating performance will represent 32 MW.
Drugs Wholesaler Phoenix will Pay SKK 82.1 Mln. in Dividends
The company Phoenix Zdravotnicke Zasobovanie, a.s. involved in the wholesale business with pharmaceutical supplies will pay SKK 82.05 million in dividends to its shareholders from last year's taxed profit. The company's annual general meeting of shareholders made the decision on dividends on June 19. Shareholders will get SKK 7,500 per share while the company netted almost SKK 124.2 million over last year. Shareholders further decided to keep SKK 42.13 million in retained earnings in the company.
German Truck Concern MAN Opens Plant in Banovce nad Bebravou
German truck producer MAN launched full operation of its truck component plant through its subsidiary LKW Komponenten, s.r.o. in Banovce nad Bebravou in central Slovakia on Friday. "The company invested SKK 353 million in the plant and the opening ceremony completed trial production in the reconstructed plant that began this spring," Banovce nad Bebravou mayor Jan Turcan told SITA. He added that LKW Komponenten currently employs forty people and that this should double the staff number by the end of this year. In 2008 the plant should employ three hundred people.
Card Firm Slovenske Kreditne Karty with SKK 76 Mln. Profit Last Year
Joint-stock company Slovenske Kreditne Karty closed last year with a taxed profit at SKK 75.8 million. The company ceased to exist on December 31, 2005 as an independent legal subject and VUB bank's affiliation Consumer Finance Holding, a.s. became its legal successor. The company which, in cooperation with MasterCard provides loans through credit cards reported revenues from sales of its own products and services at SKK 352 million on production costs of SKK 122.9 million. Generated added value represented SKK 229.1 million. Operating profit at SKK 160.4 million was corrected by a loss from financial operations of SKK 50.2 million, reads data disclosed by the company.
Shareholders of Levitex Decide to Settle Last Year's Loss
The annual general meeting of shareholders of textile weaver Levitex, a.s. Levice decided how to settle last year's loss of the company amounting to SKK 24.3 million. They agreed to use SKK 11.7 million from the retained earnings account to pay the loss, along with SKK 10 million from the statutory reserve fund, whereby from retained earnings for 2003 and 2004, SKK 778.300 will be used, said the chairman of the company's board of directors Stanislav Hornak. The remaining SKK 1.9 million of the total loss will be left on the unsettled loss account from previous years. Shareholders further agreed to decrease the company's share capital.
MONEY MARKET: NBS Interventions Deepen Liquidity Deficit
The liquidity deficit on the interbank market significantly deepened at the end of this week. Tatra Banka dealer Jozef Bozek stated that an equivalent of EUR 600 million to EUR 650 million left the banking sector on Friday after National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) direct interventions on the market on Wednesday. Commercial banks deposited SKK 27.42 billion in their reserve accounts in the central bank on Friday, meeting the minimum requirement for June on a cumulative basis at 91.74 percent by Sunday. However, banks borrowed up to SKK 29.735 billion from the central bank on a one-day basis.
STOCK MARKET: SAX Index Remains at Thursday's Level at End of Week
The Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) closed the trading week in a calm atmosphere. The value of the official SAX share index has not changed from Thursday and remained at 376.13 points. Turnover on the BCPB decreased from SKK 1.999 billion on Thursday to SKK 294.662 million on Friday with just SKK 168,800 in share trading.
Analysts Expect NBS to Wait with Further Key Interest Rate Increase
The National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) shouldn't increase key interest rates at the NBS Bank Board meeting next week, think market analysts. CSOB analyst Silvia Cechovicova sees no reason so far for further tightening monetary policy after a key interest rate rise by 50 basis points last month. The central bank will probably wait until the new ruling coalition is formed and its impact on the exchange rate of the Slovak crown is known, added the dealer.
Antitrust Office Rules Ecopress Misused Dominant Market Position
Ecopress, a.s. Bratislava, publisher of HOSPODARSKE NOVINY (HN) daily violated economic competition. This information stems from a verdict issued by the Antitrust Office (PMU) Council on June 9. PMU fined Ecopress SKK 100,000 for misusing its dominant market position. The PMU Council confirmed PMU's decision from November 8, 2005 that Ecopress was at odds with the law when it conditioned providing electronic files for HN monitoring to two monitoring agencies: Newton Information Technology and Slovenska Monitorovacia Agentura by subscription to 1,500 copies of HN for each of them. The PMU Council's verdict is incontestable. However Ecopress can file a lawsuit at Bratislava Regional Court within two months.
Slovak Telekom Appeals against Telecommunications Office Decision
Slovak Telekom has appealed against the decision by telecommunications market regulator the Telecommunications Office (TU) stating that Slovak Telekom is a company with a significant influence on the local and long-distance call retail market for household and corporate customers through its fixed line network. The operator's position on the relevant retail market is such that it enables it to set call prices independent of competition, said TU. Slovak Telekom appealed against this decision within fifteen days of the decision being issued on June 7. The company maintains that the consultation process has not been completed in line with the electronic communications law and thus TU started the proceeding itself at odds with the law, meaning the decision itself is also in contravention to the law due to processing errors.
SPP Not Considering Raising Natural Gas Prices for Now
Gas utility Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP) is not considering raising natural gas prices for households at the moment. President of the SPP board of directors Philipe Boucly said after the annual meeting of the international association Eurogas that they are monitoring and considering the situation. He said it is too premature for now to make statements on this topic as the price of crude oil remains high on global markets, which affects the price of natural gas. It is currently conditioned on dynamic economic growth and thus high consumption in countries such as India and China and also the unclear situation in Iraq and Iran, added Mr. Boucly.
RUZ Employer Association Wants to Preserve Tripartite in Current Form
The National Association of Employers (RUZ) expects the new government to preserve the current tripartite system. "We find the current social partnership system functional and see no reason for its revision," RUZ secretary Martin Hostak commented on information on the tripartite's alleged non-functionality. He stated that the current Council of Economic and Social Partnership (RHSP) originated based on a voluntary agreement of social partners in November 2004.
FOREX MARKET: Trading Relatively Calm on Friday
Trading in the Slovak crown was relatively calm on Friday. Tatra Banka dealer Boris Somorovsky stated that the local currency opened at 38.25/38.30 SKK/EUR. Demand decreased after National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) interventions on Wednesday, but on the other hand the Slovak currency still remained under pressure from development on regional markets. The Hungarian forint, as well as the Turkish lira and the Polish zloty were weakening. The Polish currency responded to the Polish finance minister's resignation with losses and thus the exchange rate of the Slovak crown against its referential currency the euro moved to 38.30/38.34 SKK/EUR, said the dealer. The exchange rate already stood at 38.27/38.32 SKK/EUR before the close of trading.