Finance

According to “Spiegel”, Braun took out a total of 250 million euros in loans prior to bankruptcy.

A company owned by Internet billionaire Oliver Samwer granted former Wirecard boss, Austrian Markus Braun, a credit line of 75 million euros shortly before the collapse of the group. Braun and Samwer had agreed on a loan at the comparatively high interest rate of ten percent on May 19, 2020, reported the “Spiegel” on Friday in advance, citing e-mails and documents.

The loan was granted by the Rocket Internet Global Growth Capital Opportunities Fund (GGC) to MB Beteiligungsgesellschaft (MBB), through which Braun accordingly manages its private assets. In total, the former Wirecard boss had more than 250 million euros in loans from Oldenburgische Landesbank (120 million euros), LGT Bank (30 million euros) and Geneva private bank Mirabaud (26.75 million euros) in the months before the bankruptcy ) and Samwers GGC.

Wirecard filed for bankruptcy at the end of June. The payment service provider is said to have falsified its balance sheets for years. A total of 1.9 billion euros, which should be in trust accounts in Asia, cannot be found. The prosecutors suspect Braun of being one of the main culprits for “commercial gang fraud”, in which the Wirecard executive suite is said to have booked billions in bogus transactions over the years in order to keep the company afloat and to swindle loans.

Samwer tried according to “Spiegel” three days after the loan agreement in May in a phone call to terminate this contract. Braun resisted this. On June 18, Wirecard admitted that there was no evidence of the existence of 1.9 billion euros – less than an hour later, according to the report, Samwer demanded 25 million euros for the GGC fund back; also 27,600 shares as additional security. One day later, MBB also paid off the remaining liabilities to the Samwer company.

Vienna Airport also wants to adapt to the government regulation.

Austrian Airlines (AUA) is tightening its mask requirement. From Monday, only FFP2 masks are allowed on all flights, this applies to both the crew and the passengers, the AUA announced on Friday. The tightening takes place in the course of the expansion of the mask requirement in Austria until February 3rd. The AUA is introducing the FFP2 obligation “until further notice” – that is, without an exact end date.

In addition to an FFP2 mask, more highly classified masks, such as FFP3 masks without a valve, are also permitted, according to the AUA. In addition, the exceptions under the new regulation apply: passengers between the ages of 6 and 14 and pregnant women are allowed to travel with normal mouth and nose protection. Children under 6 years of age are exempt from the obligation to wear a mask.

Furthermore, passengers who cannot wear a mask for health reasons can be exempted from the obligation to wear a medical certificate (on an AUA form) and a negative Covid-19 test, which must not be older than 48 hours .

The AUA is imposing stricter regulations on its passengers than the group parent Lufthansa, which announced on Friday that passengers of the German group will have to wear a medical mask on flights to and from Germany from the beginning of February.

Wearing a surgical mask or an FFP2 mask or a mask with the KN95 / N95 standard is then permitted, but everyday masks are no longer permitted. According to the Federal Association of the German Aviation Industry (BDL), face visors and other coverings such as scarves are also prohibited from the beginning of February. With its tightening, Lufthansa is also taking up the decision of the German authorities at the beginning of the week.

Vienna Airport will also adapt to the new government regulation that will apply from Monday, said a spokesman on APA request. From January 25th, an FFP2 mask and a minimum distance of 2 meters from other people will apply “in aircraft and in the publicly accessible area of the terminals”. You can buy FFP2 masks in the supermarket in the arrivals hall.

The Italian airline carried only 6.3 million passengers, up from 21 million in 2019. The forecasts for 2021 are not encouraging either.

In the 2020 financial year, which was burdened by the corona crisis, the Italian airline Alitalia recorded a decline in sales of 78 percent from 2.67 billion euros to 590 million euros. This was reported by the government commissioner Giuseppe Leogrande, who is responsible for the airline, at a question time in front of the Italian parliament on Friday.

The number of passengers fell from 21.2 million in 2019 to 6.3 million. Of the 6.3 million passengers in 2020, 2.8 million boarded Alitalia planes in January and February, i.e. before the outbreak of the pandemic.

The forecasts for 2021 are not encouraging. Demand in the first half of the year decreased by 60 percent compared to the same period in 2020. “The services of the aviation industry this year will be like those in the acute phase of the coronavirus emergency in 2020,” emphasized Alitalia General Director Giancarlo Zeni. It is now questionable whether aviation can recover with progressive vaccinations.

The new nationalized Alitalia was due to be launched in April, but the airline's prospects are uncertain. The workers' organizations criticized the plans to massively cut jobs and reduce the fleet.

Alitalia has not made a profit since 2002. Numerous attempts to find a private buyer failed. The company has been insolvent since 2017. The state had recently granted the company bridging loans in the billions.

Customers should pay attention to additional costs and possible penalties – negotiating with the previous bank could also pay off.

The Chamber of Labor (AK) warns of pitfalls when rescheduling loans. In principle, the following applies: “The higher the outstanding credit balance and the longer the remaining term, the more you can save.” When rescheduling to a new bank, however, one also has to pay attention to additional costs or a possible penalty. Negotiating with the previous bank could also pay off.

Even though the fixed interest rate agreement is still in place, banks are offering to agree a new, lower fixed interest rate. “It can pay off twice to negotiate with the previous bank. You can save interest with little or no additional costs,” said AK consumer advocate Martin Korntheuer in a press release on Friday. However, if you reschedule to another bank, you may incur additional costs such as processing fees, costs for a new entry in the land register or estimated costs. These could possibly eat up the interest savings entirely or even turn the rescheduling into a negative deal.

If you want to repay the loan early, you should also ask the bank whether there are any costs. Depending on the point in time at which the loan was concluded, the bank can demand a so-called penalty if this has been contractually agreed. Consumer loans that were taken out by June 10, 2010 can be repaid at any time and free of charge. If you take out a contract after June 11, 2010, this is only possible free of charge with variable interest rates; a penalty of up to 1 percent may apply for fixed-interest financing.

The AK has also calculated models as to whether rescheduling pays off in view of the low interest rates and cheap loans: If you reschedule a residential loan from your bank to a new institute, you have a remaining debt of 200,000 euros, 2.75 percent interest and a remaining term of 20 years with a new loan with 1.25 percent interest a saving of 26,450 euros. With a remaining debt of 200,000 euros (2.75 percent interest, ten years remaining term) there is a risk of a loss of over 2,500 euros for a new loan with 2.25 percent interest.

“If a consumer loan remaining debt of 5,000 euros, a fixed interest rate of seven percent and a remaining term of seven years is rescheduled for a new loan at another bank with four percent, a total saving of 490 euros is included, with a remaining term of one year a loss of 17 euros,” said Korntheuer . The AK asked nine banks and four building societies about debt rescheduling costs.

So far the German government has assumed economic growth of 4.4 percent

According to a media report, the German government is significantly lowering its economic forecast for the German economy. They will reduce their growth expectations for the gross domestic product (GDP) to three percent, as the “Spiegel” reported. So far, she has assumed an increase of 4.4 percent.

According to information from the Reuters news agency, this forecast will be revised significantly downwards next week with the publication of the new annual economic report. In the autumn forecast last year, the virus-related lockdown was not foreseeable, which was extended this week.

In addition, the decline in economic output in 2020, at minus 5.0 percent, was less than expected by the government at the time. She had assumed a minus of 5.5 percent. Economy Minister Peter Altmaier had already said last week that because of the pandemic and the lockdown, the economy would not grow as strongly as expected.

Statistics Austria: occupancy reached only 30.5 percent in the past winter half-year 2019/20 – that was 7.2 percentage points less than the year before.

The corona pandemic also brought domestic tourism to a standstill in 2020. The hotels, guest houses and holiday apartments were only occupied by an average of just under a quarter in the summer months (May to October). “The pandemic caused foreign guests to stay away, and despite 'Holidays in Austria', the bed occupancy fell by 12.4 percentage points to 24.1 percent,” said Statistics Austria General Director Tobias Thomas on Friday. So three out of four beds remained empty.

“If the tourist winter season 2019/20 was already affected by corona-related closings and travel restrictions for a month and a half, the decline in the summer season 2020 was even more pronounced,” said Thomas. In the case of commercial accommodation establishments (except camping), occupancy fell by 15.8 percentage points to 26.3 percent compared to the previous summer. The private companies recorded a decrease of 3.3 percentage points to 18 percent.

In Austria, as a holiday destination, the beds available in the accommodation industry were only just under a third full even before Corona. In the winter season 2019/20 (November 2019 to April 2020) the occupancy rate averaged only 30.5 percent, as can be seen from the data from Statistics Austria from today, Friday. A year earlier, the beds were still 37.7 percent occupied.

In the commercial sector, two out of three beds remained cold in the winter of the previous year. At an average of 33.3 percent, the occupancy rate was 8.4 percentage points below the value of 2018/19, but was still significantly higher than in private companies. Only about every fifth bed made money there – the occupancy rate deteriorated by 3.8 percentage points to 22.5 percent.

In the entire tourism year 2019/20 (November 2019 to October 2020) around 1.14 million beds were available in 68,402 accommodation establishments (excluding camping) across Austria. The number of beds increased slightly by 0.9 percent compared to the previous year, and the number of establishments rose only slightly by 1.5 percent. Half of the bed supply (50.6 percent) came from the two federal states of Tyrol (352,010; plus 0.4 percent) and Salzburg (226,675; plus 1.7 percent).

Order volume of 600 million euros for both 50:50 project partners together.

The Strabag construction group has landed a major contract in Germany for the expansion of the “A1” in Lower Saxony. Strabag and its project partner Johann Bunte Bau account for half of the EUR 600 million contract for the 29.5-kilometer stretch of motorway, which is to be widened from two to three lanes in each direction of travel. The contract also includes structural maintenance for 30 years.

Within the A 1 Lohne Bramsche consortium, the German Johann Bunte Bau has the technical lead and Strabag the commercial lead, the Austrian construction giant announced on Friday. The construction work is to begin on February 1st – while the motorway is still in operation. The motorway section should be completed in mid-2025. In the course of the work, 14 bridges and two overpasses over the motorway will also have to be built. Another 18 bridges are being renovated.

Survey: Eurozone economy contracted again at the beginning of the year

According to a survey, the economy in the euro zone contracted again at the beginning of the year despite a robust industry. The purchasing managers' index – which summarizes industry and service providers – fell by 1.6 to 47.5 points in January, as the IHS Markit institute announced in its monthly survey of thousands of companies. The barometer moved further away from the growth threshold of 50 points.

“The fact that the euro zone is facing a double recession seems more and more inevitable in view of the tightened restrictions to contain the corona pandemic, with which companies are struggling,” commented Markit chief economist Chris Williamson on the development. “At least one consolation results from the fact that the current decline in growth is weaker than in the spring of last year.”

This is primarily due to the industry. It benefits from the increasing demand for export goods. The barometer for industry fell by 0.5 points, but remained clearly in the growth zone at 54.7. “Thanks to the sustained growth in incoming orders, new export orders and order backlogs, production was expanded for the seventh month in a row,” explained Institut.llts

The service providers, however, are still burdened by the lockdown restrictions. Here the barometer fell by 1.4 to 45.0 points. “According to the unanimous opinion of the respondents, the decisive factor for the fifth consecutive business losses in the service sector were the tightened restrictions to contain the corona pandemic,” it said.

Bitcoin accelerates its downward slide and for the first time since the beginning of January slipped back below the psychologically important mark of $ 30,000. The oldest and most important cyber currency fell on Friday by up to eight percent to $ 28,765 and headed for the largest weekly loss since the stock market crash in March 2020 with a total of around 16 percent. At the beginning of January, the cryptocurrency had reached a record high of just under 42,000 dollars.

“Investors fear the US government will

Regulatory belts too tight and Bitcoin and Co. blown away

could take to breathe, “said analyst Timo Emden von Emden

Research. Another reason to sell was, according to stockbrokers

Warning from research house BitMex that some Bitcoin could have two

Times have been spent. These concerns were raised, however

shortly afterwards absent-minded. Investors are still of this

News scared, said analyst Kyle Rodda from

Brokerage IG. “You shouldn't put too much in an immature

Interpreting the market like Bitcoin, but has the momentum

reversed. “

At the end of 2020, a price rally began that had driven Bitcoin to around $ 42,000 at the beginning of January. That was more than four times as much as in early October. A tailwind had provided the digital currency with ever wider acceptance. So it was a kind of accolade that the payment service PayPal enabled its US customers to trade in crypto currencies. But not only PayPal, also large financial investors are showing a greater interest in digital currencies. For example, last year the asset manager Fidelity launched a fund that invests in Bitcoin.

US Treasury Secretary Yellen is a Bitcoin critic

However, calls for stricter regulation of cryptocurrencies are also repeatedly loud. With the new US Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, a dedicated Bitcoin critic is in the government of US President Joe Biden. The former president of the US Federal Reserve had only warned on Tuesday that cryptocurrencies could be used to finance illegal transactions. This statement was enough to weaken the Bitcoin price further. Concerned investors now fear that the new US government could crack down on cryptocurrencies. In addition, critics see the discontinuity of Bitcoin as evidence that it is unsuitable as a means of payment and financial investment. And last but not least, generation – so-called mining – with computers consumes a lot of energy and is expensive.

The great-grandson of company founder Daniel Swarovski was managing partner of the crystal company for 35 years. He now died after a long illness.

Gernot Langes-Swarovski, a Tyrolean entrepreneur legend, is no more. He died on Thursday in close family circle after a long illness at the age of 78. Langes-Swarovski, who was successful in many areas in addition to the crystal business, had recently largely withdrawn from public life.

Only at the home games of “his” WSG Tirol (formerly Wattens), of which he was president until 2013, was he a loyal and proud regular guest until the end. Daughter Diana now runs the club. With the soaring of the “FC Swarovski Tirol”, which the entrepreneur led as president from 1986 to 1992, he presented her with a lot on the football ground.

In general, the great-grandson of Daniel Swarovski, the founder of the meanwhile world-leading company in the manufacture of cut crystal, seems to have a proverbial “golden hand” and a great entrepreneurial flair. After all, he was not only successful in his own field, but also as a “winemaker” with huge wineries in Argentina and China, as a producer of organic products, as an aviation entrepreneur with the foundation of “Aircraft Innsbruck” (later Tyrolean Airways) and as football president.

Under him, Swarovski became an international brand

Born in Wattens, Langes-Swarovski first studied at the University of Social and Economic Sciences in Innsbruck. The passionate early riser joined the family business in 1964 as a limited partner and managing partner. From then on, he shaped the global face for almost half a century and thus the success of the crystal company, which is now active in over 170 countries. For a total of 35 years, he headed the company as managing partner alongside his fourth generation cousins.

In his era, for example, the further development of the core business (cut crystals for the jewelry and fashion industry) with the worldwide marketing of crystalline gift and jewelry items fell. The first Swarovski shop was opened in London in the early 1980s. Most recently, the group announced that it would close 750 of its 3,000 shops worldwide.

In 2002 he finally handed over his 35-year management activity at the Swarovski headquarters in Wattens to his son Markus and then gradually withdrew from public life. Gernot Langes Swarovski was the bearer of the Great Decoration of Honor of the Republic of Austria and the Ring of Honor of the State of Tyrol.

In the past weeks and months, the crystal group, now under the leadership of CEO Robert Buchbauer, has repeatedly hit the headlines because of massive job cuts. In addition, there had been violent internal family disputes over the orientation of the group and a new group structure.