Summary of economic news released on Thursday, November 30
Privatbanka to Issue SKK 125 Mln. Five-year Bond
Privatbanka, a.s. plans an six-month issue of SKK 125 million bonds with par value of SKK 100,000 from December 7. The security will bear a flexible coupon equaling three-month BRIBOR plus 0.25 percent p.a. The bank will pay yields quarterly, starting on March 7, 2007. The bonds will mature on December 7, 2011 according to information published by Privatbanka.
Aquapark Poprad Swung into Black in 2005
Aquapark Poprad, s.r.o., a company running Aquacity, swung into the black in 2005. While it closed the year of 2004 with a loss of SKK 32.2 million, last year it earned a taxed profit of SKK 5.1 million. The operating profit was SKK 16.2 million, but losses from financial operations were SKK 19.4 million. The company closed the year 2005 in the black thanks to the institute of deferred tax from operating income of SKK 8.3 million.
Minister Says Heating Plants May not be on List of Strategic Firms
Heating plants, in which the government owns a stake maybe will not be put on the list of strategic companies that should not be privatized. According to Economy Minister Lubomir Jahnatek it would mean that these heating companies could be either transferred to the municipalities concerned or a portion of the state stake would be sold. Mr. Jahnatek however said that the government will have the final say on what will happen with the heating plants. "But my personal opinion is that they could be freed," said the minister. He attended a discussion on grounds of the Slovak-Austrian Chamber of Commence and the Slovak-German Chamber of Commerce.
3Q Sales of Bratislava Public Transport Firm at SKK 768.5 Mln.
Public transport company in the Slovak capital, Dopravny Podnik Bratislava a.s. (DPB) informed that its transport sales reached SKK 768.5 million in nine months of this year, up almost 1 percent y/y. The number of passengers increased about 1 percent as well to more than 202 million, said DPB economic director Viliam Majda. Bus transport traditionally had the biggest share on sales amounting to SKK 438.6 million. Sales from bus transport were SKK 244.9 million and trolleybus transport contributed with almost SKK 85 million.
Moody's Assigns Three New National Scale Ratings in Slovakia
On Thursday, Moody's Investors Service has assigned three new national scale ratings in Slovakia, following the earlier introduction of a National Rating Scale in Slovakia on June 15th, 2006. Slovenska Posta, a.s.: was assigned long-term national scale issuer rating of Aaa.sk with a stable outlook. The town of Galanta was assigned long-term national scale issuer rating of Aa2.sk with a stable outlook. The town of Nova Dubnica was assigned long-term national scale issuer rating of Aa3.sk with a stable outlook.
Reduced CO2 Emission Quotas Unacceptable for Chemical Companies
Reduced CO2 emission limits for Slovakia are unacceptable also for Slovak chemical companies, said President of the Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industry Association (ZCHFP) Roman Karlubik. He stated that the reduction in Slovakia's quotas could cause losses amounting to hundreds of millions of crowns to Slovak producers. Insufficient quotas would force companies' additional costs for their purchase, which would deteriorate their economic results. The European Commission set the annual limit for Slovakia at 30.9 million tons while Slovakia asked for a permission to emit 41.3 million tons of emissions annually in 2008-2012.
Cabinet to Approve Share Capital Increase in the NDS
The cabinet should deal at its next meeting with the Transport Ministry's proposal to increase share capital of the National Highway Company's (NDS). The NDS' share capital would be increased by SKK 161.6 million from the current SKK 90.026 billion. The Transport Ministry suggests depositing in its assets 815,535 square meters of land on which a section of the D2 Kuty-Malacky section highway has been built. "The purpose of this transfer is the proprietary settlement of land under this highway section," explains the ministry. The book value of these plots is SKK 59.4 million, while the export estimate is above SKK 161.1 million. This information is outlined in a material that has already undergone interdepartmental review.
SZRB Bank Accepted Loans Worth SKK 5.2 Bln. by October
State-owned guarantee and development bank Slovenska Zarucna a Rozvojova Banka, a.s. (SZRB) accepted 1,036 loans worth SKK 5.189 billion in the January-October period of this year. This is a significant growth in year-on-year comparison, as in the previous year's period the bank only accepted SKK 2.747 billion loans. Direct loans applications made up SKK 4.685 billion this year (up 84.5 percent y/y) and loans accepted indirectly through other banks totaled SKK 503.7 million (143.2 percent y/y). The average volume of an accepted direct loans was SKK 4.657 million while the average indirect loan was SKK 16.789 million.
VsZP Budgets Revenues of SKK 50.9 Bln. for 2007
Slovakia's largest health insurer, Vseobecna Zdravotna Poistovna (VsZP), projects its next year's revenues to reach SKK 50.860 billion. Compared with revenues estimated for 2006 this means a drop by 1.99 percent. According to the draft budget, which the insurer has submitted for interdepartmental review, expenditures next year should shrink by 1.44 percent y/y to SKK 50.060 billion. VsZP expects that the number of its policyholders will constantly decrease in the coming years. In 2007 the number of ifs policyholders should decrease from current 3.417 million to 2.966 million people.
Slovak Farmers Will Get SKK 10.5 Bln. in Direct Payments this Year
The Agricultural Paying Agency (PPS) has already delivered about 10 percent of decisions on direct payments for farmers, the head of the direct support authorization section informed at the press conference, given by the Agriculture Ministry on Thursday. PPA will pay approx. SKK 10.5 billion to the farm sector, mostly comprising of a flat payment for area and contributions for disadvantaged areas and areas with environmental limitations. The remainder is support for tobacco, hops, nursing cows, sheep and goats. "The amount of SKK 4.8 billion will be allocated for flat payments for area, SKK 2.2 billion for crops on arable land and SKK 441 million for a special payment for sugar," said Agriculture Minister Miroslav Jurena. He added that tobacco growers will obtain SKK 112.2 million in total, hop growers SKK 2.7 million, breeders of nursing cows SKK 120 million and breeders of sheep and goats SKK 171 million. The remaining about SKK 3.1 million will go for disadvantaged areas.
Ditec Posts Sales of Products and Services of SKK 399.3 Mln. in 2005
Slovak IT company Ditec, a.s. Bratislava reported total sales of SKK 641.2 million last year, down 0.3 percent y/y. Thereof, its sales of products and services were SKK 399.3 million, down 5.3 percent y/y. Production costs dropped 2.1 percent y/y to SKK 368.8 million. Sales of goods amounted to SKK 201.6 million. Cost of sales were SKK 188.9 million. Added value decreased 33.7 percent to SKK 51.6 million, informed the company.
MONEY MARKET: Banks Easily Meet November Reserve Requirement
Thursday's trading on the interbank market only concerned overnights, Tatra Banka dealer Jozef Bozek commented. Commercial banks deposited SKK 12.254 billion in their reserve accounts in the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) meeting the minimum requirement for November on a cumulative basis at 100.10 percent. An additional SKK 1.93 billion ended in the NBS one-day sterilization. The central bank set the minimum reserve requirement for December at SKK 21.932 billion.
STOCK MARKET: SES Tlmace Shares Help SAX Index Strengthen Slightly
The Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) reported transactions with only one SAX base title on Thursday. Shares of the power-engineering firm SES Tlmace pushed slightly higher Slovakia's official SAX share index 0.02 percent or 0.09 points to 412.89 points. Turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) dropped from SKK 343.9 million on Wednesday to SKK 9.9 million on Thursday, of which SKK 8.8 million was in share trading.
Banks in Slovakia Earned SKK 13.403 Bln. in Ten Months of 2006
Commercial banks in Slovakia closed the first ten months of this year with an aggregate taxed profit of SKK 13.403 billion according to international financial reporting standards (IFRS). Ten-month pretax profit was SKK 16.084 billion. Net interest income was SKK 27.855 billion. Net income from fees and commissions was SKK 9.186 billion. The aggregate balance-sheet total of banks in Slovakia stood at SKK 1,413 billion at the end of October, the National Bank of Slovakia (NBS) informed.
FOREX MARKET: Crown Posts New Highs, Corrects Later
The Slovak currency moderately weakened against the euro on Thursday. Although the crown opened at 35.470 SKK/EUR, the exchange rate stood at 35.600/35.615 SKK/EUR at the close of trading. The Slovak currency reported a new high against the euro of 35.450 SKK/EUR during the day. CSOB dealer Richard Brza commented that crown's weakest point of the day was 35.640 SKK/EUR. He assumes that the crown could be traded against the euro in the band between 35.400 SKK/EUR and 35.700 SKK/EUR on Friday. "Foreign banks currently rather start profit taking, but crown's strengthening can not be ruled out," Mr. Brza added.
Natural Gas Price to Decrease 4.04 Pct. from January 2007
Natural gas price for households in Slovakia will decrease by 4.04 percent on average from January 1, 2007, the chairman of the board of directors of gas utility Slovensky Plynarensky Priemysel (SPP), Jan Massmann told a news conference on Thursday. The Regulatory Office for Network Industries (URSO) approved the proposal for new gas prices for households on Thursday. "We are pleased that after the period of gas prices growth, we can offer customers natural gas at lower prices," said Mr. Massmann.
SkyEurope's Preliminary Loss Deepened for Past Business Year
Slovak low-cost airline SkyEurope Airlines reported preliminary revenues of EUR 158.6 million in the business year that ended on September 30, 2006, which is a 40.7-percent y/y increase. At the same time, the firm registered EBIT losses of EUR 55.2 million, while in the previous business year, the airline reported losses of EUR 33.6 million. Net losses in the monitored period were EUR 57.3 million, up EUR 28.7 million y/y. "Thirty-five newly opened lines, the establishment of another base in Prague, and the introduction of five Boeing 737-700 Next Generation airliners into operation influenced performance in the just finished business year," the company commented.