Finance

According to parallel judgments and the Supreme Court. Ruling at BKS and BTV now also judgment on Oberbank.

In the seemingly never-ending dispute over capital increases at the mutually involved 3 banks (Oberbank, BKS, BTV), a court decision has been made again.

This time UniCredit Bank Austria drew the short straw at Oberbank: As with BKS and BTV, the Vienna UniCredit subsidiary did not get through in court with its request for a special audit at Oberbank. Several other lawsuits and counterclaims continue.

UniCredit Bank Austria, which is involved in the three regional banks listed on the stock exchange, tried to enforce special audits at all three institutions, including the correctness of capital increases. The current Linz judgment (Linz Regional Court) on the Oberbank was preceded by corresponding judgments in Innsbruck and Klagenfurt at BTV (Bank for Tyrol and Vorarlberg) and BKS Bank (Bank for Carinthia and Styria), which had reached the Supreme Court.

Bank Austria was also wrong in the matter of a formal special audit before the highest court.

As the Oberbank said on Wednesday, the Linz Regional Court was referring to the previous decisions of the Supreme Court, but also expressly stated that there was no suspicion of dishonesty or violations of the law by the board members that would justify a corresponding special audit.

Oberbank sees itself well prepared for further disputes

According to its boss Franz Gasselsberger, the Oberbank sees itself well equipped for the further dispute that is to be expected. He does not have high hopes for an amicable solution to the conflict soon.

Bank Austria in Vienna said on request today that the last decisions regarding the implementation of special audits at the 3 banks had “no effect on the necessary clarifications of the central questions of raising and maintaining capital as well as the voting bans on mutual holdings”, which continues are pending in the courts.

In some cases, questions remain with the Supreme Court for clarification. It is fought in triplicate.

The Oberbank and its sister banks accuse UniCredit Bank Austria of trying to gain control of the 3-Banken group.

Sales increase to 10 billion euros, including 6.9 billion euros in Germany. Also active in Austria.

The German Otto Group massively increased its online sales to just under ten billion euros during the corona crisis. Compared to the 2019/20 financial year, it climbed by almost two billion euros or around 23 percent, as the retail and service group announced on Wednesday based on initial forecasts. In Austria Otto belongs to the mail order group Unito, which is active in this country with the brands Quelle, Otto, Universal and Lascana.

In German online retail alone, Otto is expected to generate sales of around 6.9 billion euros by the official end of the financial year on February 28 – after 5.7 billion euros in the same period last year. The reasons for this are the digitization of their own business models and the changed shopping behavior in the pandemic.

E-commerce with “really good numbers”

Sebastian Klauke, Group Board Member for E-Commerce, Technology, Business Intelligence and Corporate Ventures, spoke of “really positive figures in e-commerce”. The single company Otto alone was able to win over 1,000 new partner companies with its new platform model in the current financial year. At the same time, the number of active customers at otto.de rose by almost 30 percent to around 9.4 million. The Otto Group plans to publish the overall results for the 2020/21 financial year in May.

European aviation authority EASA gave the green light on Wednesday.

Boeing's 737 Max crisis jet is allowed to take off again in Europe after a flight ban of almost two years. The European aviation authority EASA gave the green light on Wednesday, as it announced at noon in Cologne.

The prerequisites for the restart are technical improvements to hardware and software as well as additional training for the pilots. According to the authority, the planned improvements meet the requirements for flight safety.

The 737 Max has already been registered again in Boeing's home country, the USA, in Brazil and in Canada. Before a jet of this type takes off again in Europe, technicians must have made the necessary conversions. In addition, the pilots must complete training beforehand.

Government solicited more. Focus advertising balance: “Almost 90 million euros gross additional expenditure comes from the area of public institutions”.

The advertising year 2020 was clearly in decline. In total, there was gross advertising revenue of EUR 5.85 billion, a year-on-year decrease of 5.6 percent. Classic advertising recorded a minus of 4.5 percent (4.2 billion euros), the “Below-The-Line” sector fell by eight percent to 1.65 billion euros, according to the one published on Wednesday Focus advertising balance.

Both sponsoring (minus 8.6 percent) and direct marketing activities (minus 7.0 percent) fell significantly. In contrast, radio (plus 9.1 percent) and online (plus 7.6 percent) increased significantly.

Auto industry with a large advertising minus

The government and public sector campaigns put an “intense advertising emphasis”. “Almost 90 million euros gross additional expenditure comes from the area of public institutions”, it says in the advertising balance. Spending on domestic tourism has also increased significantly, with the additional expenditure amounting to over EUR 18 million. On the other hand, there is the automotive industry with a minus of 58 million euros in the area of classic advertising.

As in the past, the strongest advertisers in the Corona year were the large trade organizations. Once again led by the Rewe group (Billa, Merkur, Penny, Adeg, Bipa) with a gross volume (classic & direct marketing) of over 200 million euros. This corresponds to an increase of over nine percent. Spar was able to grow even more and thus again took second place in the ranking. The Lutz Group ranks third. “It is also noticeable that with Procter & Gamble only one branded company appears in the top 10 list,” says the advertising balance.

According to experts, the advertising market will develop cautiously positive in 2021. While the advertising companies are forecasting a plus of 1.1 percent, the agency landscape see a plus of 7.6 percent. Cumulatively, this means growth of 2.7 percent.

Agriculture Minister Köstinger demands: Labeling of origin for processed products must also be in regulation.

Health Minister Rudolf Anschober (Greens) has submitted a draft ordinance for labeling the origin of the primary ingredients beef and eggs in public and private communal catering. Agriculture Minister Elisabeth Köstinger (ÖVP) called for food processors to be held accountable in the APA conversation. “I also expect implementation for processed products.” This point should be included in the regulation.

In the government program, the ÖVP and the Greens had committed to mandatory labeling of the origin of the primary ingredients milk, meat and eggs in public and private communal catering such as canteens and in processed foods from 2021. The Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Agriculture have commissioned a legal opinion from Innsbruck's European law expert Walter Obwexer, which is now available.

“There are possibilities”

A country origin labeling of primary ingredients in mass catering and in processed foods is currently only possible for foods where the EU-wide Food Information Regulation and Primary Ingredient Regulation do not apply, Obwexer told the APA. Nationally, a mandatory indication of origin can only be introduced for beef and meat products, egg products and fruit and vegetables. “Austria has limits on this obligation to indicate the source, but there are possibilities,” said Obwexer.

Agriculture Minister Köstinger is confident that Austria can “find its own way”. “We know that there are also hurdles under EU law and that it will not be easy to implement, especially because the European Union's primary ingredient regulation exists.” At the EU level, people will be pushing for origin labeling to be possible in the long term in processed products and in communal catering, including pork, poultry and milk, announced Köstinger. This must happen within the framework of the “from farm to table” strategy.

The domestic food industry has always been critical of the plans of the first turquoise-blue and now turquoise-green federal government to introduce labels of origin for processed foods. Most recently, the industry demanded that the labeling of origin only be implemented in accordance with the EU. A purely national obligation would only affect domestic manufacturers and their foods “Made in Austria”, but not their foreign competitors and imported products, according to the WKÖ Association of the Food Industry.

Statistics Austria: According to preliminary figures, the number of overnight stays fell by more than a third to 97.9 million.

In 2020, the corona crisis put a heavy blow on domestic tourism from March onwards. In the entire calendar year, the number of overnight stays fell below the 100 million mark for the first time in around 50 years compared to the previous year. The number of vacationers almost halved. The accommodation businesses recorded a fall in overnight stays of 35.9 percent from 152.7 million to just 97.9 million, as the preliminary data from Statistics Austria show.

Compared to the previous year, around 55 million overnight stays were missing. The number of holidaymakers in hotels, guest houses and holiday apartments plummeted by 45.8 percent to 25 million – as a result of lockdowns and international travel warnings, 21.2 million fewer guests were welcomed than in 2019.

There were more foreign tourists (15.1 million) than domestic tourists (9.94 million). But the number of visitors from abroad has more than halved (minus 52.7 percent); the number of holidaymakers from Austria only decreased by almost a third (minus 30.5 percent).

“Corona-related business closings, international travel restrictions and quarantine regulations are severely affecting tourism in Austria,” said Statistics Austria boss Tobias Thomas on Wednesday. After a peak in overnight stays of more than 150 million in 2019, the number of overnight stays in the corona year 2020 “dropped to the level of the early 1970s”.

The holidaymakers from abroad booked 66.3 million overnight stays – a decrease of 41.2 percent compared to the previous year. According to statisticians, overnight stays by foreign guests were below 70 million for the last time in 1970 (63.6 million). The overnight stays by domestic guests fell by a good fifth to 31.63 million (minus 20.8 percent).

According to the Vienna Regional Court, the reason for this is the risk of obscuration and crime.

In the new BVT affair, a former official of the Federal Office for the Protection of the Constitution and Counter-Terrorism was imposed on remand. This was announced by a spokeswoman for the Vienna Regional Court at the request of the APA. The decision is justified with the risk of obscuration and the risk of a crime.

According to media terms, the man is accused of querying and selling data from various files and registers, including to foreign services, the scandal company Wirecard and possibly to political parties. There are similar allegations against a former BVT department head, who, however, was recently released after an extensive testimony.

Several BVT officials are said to have passed on “personal data” to Wirecard and checked the solvency of providers of pornographic websites for Wirecard.

The domestic industry remains on a growth path at the beginning of the year

Despite the corona crisis, the industry in Austria continued to grow at the beginning of the year. The growth in orders remained almost unchanged and, for the first time in a year, additional jobs were created in the industry, explained the economic experts at Bank Austria. The Purchasing Managers' Index (EMI) determined by the institute rose to 54.2 points in January, the highest value in over two years.

This means that the indicator is above the threshold of 50 points for the seventh consecutive month, i.e. in the growth zone. With the slight improvement compared to the end of the year, the trend in Austria differs from the overall European development, because the EMI in the euro area fell by half a point to 54.7 points in January, as German industry in particular grew weaker, according to chief economist Stefan Bruckbauer.

However, supply bottlenecks would lead to a massive increase in costs in the domestic industry, while the fierce competition only allowed moderate price adjustments in sales. Companies are increasingly confronted with disruptions in the supply chain, which would affect the availability of some raw materials and intermediate products, among other things as a result of bottlenecks in shipping containers.

According to the experts at Bank Austria, the industrial business prospects would deteriorate somewhat in the short term, because the extended lockdown should immediately lead to weaker industrial activity. But production expectations for the next twelve months had climbed to a three-year high because the prospect of a normalization of economic life with the start of vaccinations had become more concrete.

In 2020, the corona crisis put a heavy blow on domestic tourism from March onwards. In the entire calendar year, the number of overnight stays fell below the 100 million mark for the first time in around 50 years compared to the previous year. The number of vacationers almost halved. The accommodation businesses recorded a fall in overnight stays of 35.9 percent from 152.7 million to just 97.9 million, as the preliminary data from Statistics Austria show.

Compared to the previous year, around 55 million overnight stays were missing. The number of holidaymakers in hotels, guest houses and holiday apartments plummeted by 45.8 percent to 25 million – as a result of lockdowns and international travel warnings, 21.2 million fewer guests were welcomed than in 2019.

There were more foreign tourists (15.1 million) than domestic tourists (9.94 million). But the number of visitors from abroad has more than halved (minus 52.7 percent); the number of holidaymakers from Austria only decreased by almost a third (minus 30.5 percent).

“Corona-related business closings, international travel restrictions and quarantine regulations are severely affecting tourism in Austria,” said Statistics Austria boss Tobias Thomas on Wednesday. After a peak in overnight stays of more than 150 million in 2019, the number of overnight stays in the corona year 2020 “dropped to the level of the early 1970s”.

The holidaymakers from abroad booked 66.3 million overnight stays – a decrease of 41.2 percent compared to the previous year. According to statisticians, overnight stays by foreign guests were below 70 million for the last time in 1970 (63.6 million). The overnight stays by domestic guests fell by a good fifth to 31.63 million (minus 20.8 percent).

The French buy less and save more

In France, consumer mood has fallen against the background of a high number of new infections in the corona pandemic. According to the Insee statistics office, the index value for the consumer climate in January fell by three points to 92 points. Analysts had only expected a slight decrease to 94 points on average.

At the end of 2020, the prospect of nationwide corona vaccinations had noticeably lightened the mood of French consumers. Despite the dampening mood, the value for January is above the index levels from spring 2020 and last November, when government measures to contain the pandemic weighed on.

The statistical office reported declines in the propensity of the French to buy and in the assessment of their personal financial situation for January. On the other hand, there was an increase in the propensity to save.