December 2020

A total of 116 high-quality old and new apartments are being built on the site of the former Döbling office building.

In the Gatterburggasse12 there is a lot of construction going on. In the 19th district of Vienna, the “Inside XIX” residential project at Buwog is in the middle of the project implementation. In the course of this, the former official building is being revitalized. In the front area, fifteen newly refurbished, modern apartments including a penthouse will be created from the old office space. In addition, there will be 101 new apartments in the rear of the building.

“The combination of old and new buildings was the most exciting and at the same time the most challenging,” explains the architect of the residential project, Christian Heiss. The old apartments have been completely renovated, including newly laid herringbone parquet floors made of oak, double doors and old Viennese fittings. It is a matter of opinion whether these are ultimately authentic old-style apartments.

The entrance area leads to the new building via the old building

Heiss has a clear opinion on this: “A life in an old building with all the amenities of a new building.” The architects' office has brought the artist Claus Prokop on board for the imposing entrance area, especially for the wall design and the banister.

His contribution was essential for the architect because: “It is very important how you enter a house. The best apartment is of no use if the way there is awful, ”says the architect. The exclusivity of the furnishings is not only visible in the foyer, but also continues into the bathrooms, which are equipped with fittings from well-known brands such as Villeroy and Boch, Dornbracht and Grohe.

The artist Claus Prokop is responsible for the artistic design of the foyer

Quality that has its price. Because the condominiums, which are 48 to 150 in size, you have to be able to afford. According to Buwog managing director Andreas Holler, the average price per square meter is around 7700 euros. The price range for the purchase price of the apartments is accordingly between 380,000 euros and 2 million euros.

“The target group is of course more in the exclusive area. From career-conscious singles, couples to wealthy seniors, ”explains Holler. The good location in Döbling also has its price: “You can get to town quickly, with good infrastructure, but also right in the countryside,” says the Buwog boss. The apartments should then be ready for occupancy in autumn 2022.

According to orf.at, some property management companies are already advising tenants that operating costs will rise in the coming year.

Due to the coronavirus pandemic, the Viennese were at home more often this year than usual. That also changed habits: The apartment was heated during the day, cooking in the apartment meant that more dishes had to be washed and there were laptops and laptops in the home office Computer fixed companion, reports orf.at. All of this logically leads to more consumption of water, electricity and heat.

increase

In a letter from a property management company available to wien.orf.at, the residents of a house are therefore anticipated an increase in general operating costs. Because it is expected that these were ten percent higher than in previous years. Since the billing for 2020 will not take place until 2021, the aim is to counteract this with the increase.

According to orf.at, Wiener Wohnen, which manages the Viennese community housing, did not want to go into the possible increases. A spokeswoman also refers to the utility bill in the coming year. It is currently not possible to say whether there will be any increases due to the coronavirus pandemic.

The Upper Austrians are thus able to enter the North American market and compensate for declines in Europe.

The battery manufacturer Banner, based in Leonding (Linz-Land district), has received an order worth EUR 60 million in the USA. The Upper Austrian company is to produce 1.5 million lead-acid batteries for a customer in the automotive industry, which will be retrofitted in European vehicles. The company reported in a press release on Wednesday that this will offset the corona-related decline in sales in Europe for banners.

Lots of potential

The order means market entry in North America and “makes a significant contribution to securing jobs in Austria,” said the commercial director Andreas Bawart. “Starting in 2021, we will be delivering lead-acid batteries in the six-figure range to the USA every year,” said Sales and Marketing Manager Franz Märzinger.

With a market share of European vehicles of around 15 percent, the potential across the Atlantic is very great.

With its recycling cycle, in which 99.9 percent of used batteries are reused, Banner is now also setting international standards for environmental protection and sustainability. Slight growth is expected for 2020 despite the difficult conditions.

High export quota

The family company has been producing batteries for all types of vehicles since 1937 and employs around 805 people across Europe. Over 4 million starter batteries are produced and sold annually. In the 2018/2019 financial year, sales amounted to 307 million euros and the export quota was 95 percent.

China has already developed several of its own corona vaccines, but is now also buying from Biontech / Pfizer.

The Chinese pharmaceutical company Fosun Pharma has ordered 100 million doses of the corona vaccine from the Mainz-based company Biontech and its US partner Pfizer. Half of it should be delivered by the end of the year, Fosun Pharma announced on Wednesday. The agreement has a volume of 250 million euros.

Installment payment & partial delivery

A first tranche of 125 million euros will be due upon delivery of the first 50 million doses, the second installment should be transferred as soon as the Chinese authorities give the green light for the vaccine. China has already developed several of its own corona vaccines and ramped up the corresponding production capacities. Corporations from the People's Republic also rely on partnerships with foreign companies to ensure that the Chinese population is supplied with vaccines.

The Biontech-Pfizer vaccine has already received emergency approval in several countries, including the US, UK and Singapore. The European Medicines Agency (EMA) is advising on the approval of the vaccine next Monday.

This is currently not possible because of the lockdown in the branches of the Deutsche Bundesbank.

In Germany, there are apparently D-Mark treasures in drawers or in the basement: almost 19 years after the introduction of euro cash, not everyone has said goodbye to the old currency. At the end of November, according to the Deutsche Bundesbank, notes and coins with a total value of 12.4 billion marks (6.34 billion euros) had not yet been exchanged.

Finds less often

That year, D-Marks worth a good 53.4 million marks were received in the branches of the central bank. That is significantly less than in previous years. The finds are becoming increasingly rare. “In the current year, however, we had a disproportionately strong decline in D-Mark filings. This is likely to be due to restrictions in connection with the corona pandemic,” said Bundesbank board member Johannes Beermann of the German press agency.

As before, banknotes with a value of 5.79 billion marks and coins with a volume of 6.61 billion marks have not yet been returned. According to the Bundesbank, the largest proportion of banknotes that have not yet been returned, measured by value, consists of 100 and 1000 mark notes. The Bundesbank expects that some of the D-Mark holdings will never be returned – partly because collectors have secured old notes and coins.

Open-ended exchange

Most of the stocks were exchanged around the introduction of euro cash at the beginning of 2002. Again and again, however, D-Mark treasures are discovered by chance, hidden in drawers, in cellars, books or in the garden.

Unlike in many other euro countries, the old notes and coins can be exchanged for an unlimited period at the Bundesbank. The exchange rate is unchanged: you get one euro for 1.95583 Deutschmarks.

Due to the restrictions on business and society from this Wednesday (16.12.) On by the federal and state governments, notes and coins can initially only be submitted to the Bundesbank by post. “From this Wednesday we will stop the so-called everyone business in the branches of the Deutsche Bundesbank until January 10th. This means that D-Mark exchange is no longer possible on site for the time being,” said Beermann.

After the elimination of one-off effects, the group result fell by 34 percent to EUR 200 million.

As expected, the listed Lower Austrian energy supplier EVN achieved less profit in the past 2019/20 financial year. Due to the elimination of one-off effects, consolidated earnings fell by around 34 percent to EUR 200 million and were thus at the upper end of expectations. The corona crisis only affected the supplier operationally in certain areas. The shareholders are to receive EUR 0.49 (0.50) per share, as EVN announced on Wednesday.

Punctual impairment

Thanks to the integrated business model and broad customer diversification, the corona crisis only affected the operating result selectively. Isolated delays in construction projects or investments as a result of the lockdown in spring 2020 should be made up for in the 2020/21 financial year.

The energy business was characterized by unfavorable generation and market price developments. Electricity production from renewables fell by almost 3 percent, but the share rose to around 60 percent (after 41 percent) due to thermal generation being reduced by more than half.

Generation from thermal power plants fell by 53 percent; the previous financial year still included the production at the Dürnrohr coal-fired power plant, which ended in August 2019. In the electricity wholesale prices, Covid-19 only had an impact in the short term, on the futures market a return of electricity prices to pre-Corona levels can be seen.

Higher dividend

Operationally, EBITDA fell 6.5 percent to EUR 590.4 million. After a positive effect of EUR 41.6 million in the previous year, the effects of impairment tests amounted to minus EUR 20.6 million and mainly related to the German power plant Walsum 10, which is partly owned by EVN.

EBIT fell by 32.3 percent to EUR 273.1 million. The financial result improved by 47.3 percent to minus 15.8 million euros, mainly driven by the higher Verbund dividend. At 2.1 billion euros, sales were 4.4 percent below the previous year's level.

For the current 2020/21 financial year, EVN is expecting consolidated earnings in a range of around EUR 200 to 230 million, assuming average general conditions in the energy industry.

The further course of the corona crisis and the resulting macroeconomic effects could, however, have a negative impact on individual business areas and thus the development of earnings. Annual investments should reach an average of around 450 million euros over the next few years.