Two of Austria’s leading construction companies had good and bad news for shareholders in the past few days. Strabag SE, the country’s busiest building firm, said it achieved a turnover of 13.7 billion Euros in 2011. This is an improvement of 11 per cent compared to 2010. The company’s earnings before interest and taxes (Ebit) […]
UNIQA Versicherungen AG (UNIQA) boss Andreas Brandstetter announced plans for a capital increase. Brandstetter said the move would be carried out later this year instead of only in 2013. He explained that another capital increase would be within the bounds of possibility for next year. He said the revenues from the measure would be used […]
Federal Railways (ÖBB) tickets could be more expensive later this year. ÖBB CEO Christian Kern refused to rule out price hikes yesterday (Thurs). Kern pointed out that ÖBB did not up passenger tickets in the past four years. “We are not a charity organisation,” he said. Kern underlined that a further improvement of services was […]
A study has made aware of immense savings potential in the health sector. The investigation – carried out by the Institute for Advanced Studies (IHS) – shows that Austria’s clinics could cut their costs by two billion Euros in the coming five years by cooperating more closely. IHS experts said hospitals should specialise on certain […]
An economist has dismissed claims that a higher pension age means more unemployment. Former Institute for Economic Research (WIFO) chief Helmut Kramer said yesterday (Thurs) it was nothing but a “myth” that the number of young people out of work will rise if the average retirement age increases. “There is no connection between a later […]
An Upper Austrian food industry company has purchased a Zielpunkt stake of nearly 25 per cent. The Traun-based Pfeiffer Group announced yesterday (Thurs) it acquired a 24.9 per cent interest in its Viennese rival. The company, which concentrates on the management of supermarkets in Upper Austria, did not say how much it paid for the […]
Austrian Airlines (AUA) is not expected to make it into the black this year despite the recent agreement between bosses and works council chiefs. The struggling airline’s executive board agreed with works committee leaders to cut pilots’ wages by 25 per cent on average soon. The AUA pilots’ representatives managed to avoid an enforced change […]
The president of the Austrian Economy Chamber (WKO) has rejected accusations that companies are bullying elderly employees. Conservative Pensioners’ Union chief Andreas Khol claimed that many of the people who retired before having reached the regular pension age might have been “bullied” by their employers. Khol said he agreed with Karl Blecha, who heads the […]
Significantly fewer Austrians will travel to Greece this summer, preliminary booking records show. The Verkehrsbüro Group, Austria’s biggest tourism company, said yesterday (Weds) the number of Austrians planning holidays in the debt-stricken country in southern Europe had been 21.6 per cent higher at the same time last year. The travel office enterprise said Greece remained […]
Decision-makers have defended the construction of the Semmering tunnel. Social Democratic (SPÖ) Traffic Minister Doris Bures praised the agreement between the provinces of Lower Austria and Styria, Federal Railways (ÖBB) and the state as an “important signal for future generations”. ÖBB boss Christian Kern pointed out that a train journey from Vienna to Graz would […]