Wiberg 2009 turnover spiced up despite crunch

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Business

Spice producer Wiberg had a record turnover last year despite reducing the number of staff, it was announced today (Weds).The Salzburg firm said it managed to increase its annual turnover by two million Euros year on year to 122 million Euros despite the ongoing economic crisis in 2009. The number of employees meanwhile declined from […]

IHS chief calls stabilisation package ‘a reasonable solution’

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Business

Bernhard Felderer, who heads the Vienna economic think tank the Institute of Higher Studies (IHS), has said that last night’s Euro-zone stability package was “a reasonable solution” that had already begun to stem speculation against the Euro.Speaking today (Mon) Felderer said: “They (finance ministers) did not have many other options,” adding that “it is not […]

Austrian students’ knowledge of economics cause for concern

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Business

Austrian students are interested in economics, but their knowledge about it is cause for concern, according to the Austrian Institute for Educational Research on Economics (ibw).The Institute’s report released today (Fri) are the results of a test taken by 1,900 students in Austrian higher-educational institutions and shows that only half of them had an adequately […]

Baxter to expand in Austria, Bohuslav claims

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Business

US pharmaceutical firm Baxter will expand its operations in Vienna and Orth an der Donau, Lower Austria, the Lower Austrian Economic Councillor Petra Bohuslav has said.The statement came today (Fri) following her return from a visit to Chicago, Illinois, where Baxter International’s headquarters are located.Since Baxter’s Austrian locations were its most important in the area […]

Austrian exports rose in February

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Business

Austrian exports rose in February by 5.5 per cent year on year to 7.82 million Euros, according to Statistik Austria.The agency added today (Fri) that imports had grown by 3.4 per cent year on year to 8.08 billion Euros in February. Both exports and imports had declined year on year in January.For the two months […]

Verbund interested in French hydroelectric plants

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Business

Austrian electricity provider Verbund wants to buy hydroelectric plants in the Pyrenees and the Alps in France, firm General Director Wolfgang Anzengruber said today (Fri).He said Verbund would compete for licences for plants operated by EdF and GdF-Suez that would be newly issued. Verbund would be interested in obtaining 10 per cent, or 5,000 MW, […]

OMV chief expects much better results this year

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Business

Austrian oil and gas producer OMV’s chief Wolfgang Ruttenstorfer has said he expects his firm to have much better results this year than in 2009.Ruttenstorfer said today that predictions were difficult at present, especially given the recent sharp decline in the price of OMV’s stock, but said the plunging Euro would be “positive” for the […]

Signa buys Vienna’s IZD Tower

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Business

Signa Holding added another high-profile property to its portfolio this week as the real estate firm bought the IZD Tower in Vienna-Donaustadt.Signa boss Benko said yesterday (Weds) his company paid British fund Matrix 212.25 million Euros for the skyscraper located near Vienna International Centre. Matrix paid 247 million Euros when it acquired the building four […]

AWO to host renewable energy showcase in Prague

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Business

The Austrian Foreign Trade’s (AWO) representation in Prague is to host a showcase in a bid to strengthen ties with Czech companies in the renewable energy sector, it has been announced.Officials said many “very interesting and promising” biomass, biogas and waste management projects were currently going on in the Czech Republic.Austria is the official partner […]

Viennese study shows Brit bosses earned the most in 2009

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Business

Austrian business chiefs earned almost 500,000 Euros in so-called crisis year 2009, research shows.The research by Viennese consulting firm Kienbaum presented today (Thurs) shows that heads of Austrian firms cashed in an average 468,000 Euros before tax last year.Kienbaum experts said Austria lies above the European average, adding that comparable figures for the previous year […]