Wood-processing company Bucina Zvolen, a.s. plans to decrease its share capital. The firm’s board of directors wants to use these resources to cover last year’s loss. It amounted to SKK 487 million, the board’s chairman Peter Lispuch told SITA. He ascribed the loss chiefly to the sale of the company’s decorative chipboard division. „Share capital should be reduced by lowering of par value of shares with an exclusive purpose of loss coverage,“ stressed Mr. Lispuch. According to the corporate register, the firm’s share capital is currently SKK 1.326 billion.
SHP Harmanec Paper Mill Group Reports SKK 2.223 Bln. Sales in 2003
Sales of paper mill group SHP Harmanec, a.s. totaled SKK 2.223 billion last year. Revenues from distribution of its own products and services amounted to SKK 1.617 billion, which is an increase of 5.4 percent y/y. Production consumption in the group dropped SKK 19.2 million to be at SKK 1.304 billion at the end of the last year. The group generated added value of SKK 272.6 million, compared with SKK 314 million in 2002. Revenues from sales of goods were SKK 605.8 million on costs of sales of SKK 566 million.
Excise Tax Collection in Line with Plan So Far
Customs and tax offices in Slovakia collected SKK 19.344 billion in excise taxes in the first half of this year, which is 47.3 percent of the figure projected for the whole of 2004. Despite expected shortfall stemming from the change of the collection system, the H1 development of excise tax collection copies the plan, spokesman of the Slovak Tax Directorate Robert Merva told SITA. As of May 1, collection and administration of these taxes is in jurisdiction of customs offices and tax offices only receive taxes and sanctions that should have been paid before this date. „Tax collection increased by about SKK 2.8 billion from the same period of last year,“ said Mr. Merva.
LSH Bratislava Announces Mandatory Buyout Bid
LSH a.s. Bratislava company, operating in the real estate sector, announced a mandatory buyout bid for its shares. The bid applies to bearer shares and the buyout price is SKK 332 per share. The bid expires in thirty calendar days from the date of its announcement. According to data published by the company, LSH will cover obligations stemming from the bid from its own resources. The company was obliged to announce the bid since shareholders at their annual general meeting on June 23 decided on withdrawal of the shares from trading on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB).
Amea Company Plans Production of 2,100 Touch Up Paint Pens Daily
Newly founded company Amea, s.r.o. Bratislava plans to manufacture 2,100 paint touch up paint pens for repair of small scratches on car varnish. The company started production in July, general manager Robert Wolf said at a press conference on Monday. „Currently we focus on ten colors used by Czech car manufacturer Skoda, however, we are ready to supply a varnish of any kind“, he added.
Fitch Affirms Slovakia’s Slovenska Sporitelna’s Ratings
International rating agency Fitch Ratings has affirmed Slovenska Sporitelna’s (SLSP) ratings at long-term A-, short-term F2, individual C/D and support 1 on Monday. The outlook for the long-term rating is stable.
Asset Management Companies Want to Increase Profitability
The majority of asset management companies are at present restructuring their business activities to enhance profitability through reducing variable costs. This stems from an international study carried out by the companies Create and KPMG International. „This sector continues to face a serious challenge of regaining the trust of investors. Therefore, basic business indicators such as performance, charges, and services are under constant close management scrutiny,“ said the Create company director and main author of the study, Amin Rajan.
Alternative Telecommunications Operators Fined for Breaching License
Telecommunications Office (TU) as a market regulator fined telecommunications providers Amtel Slovensko, eTel Slovensko and GlobalTel Slovakia with an SKK 500,000 penalty for breaching their license terms by providing voice over the Internet service through access code 019XY. „For providing voice service through the Internet there are exclusively access codes 0602 XXXXXX, while the 091XY prefix is designed only for Internet connection“, spokesman for the regulator Roman Vavro said on Monday. He admitted that the market regulator made a mistake when it granted license for alternative operator Nextra for providing voice over the Internet service through prefix 091XY. Therefore, Nextra can provide voice over the Internet service through 091XY prefix, while other operators were fined for it, he said.
Poultry Producer Podtatranska Hydina Reports H1 Loss of SKK 7.6 Mln.
Poultry producer Podtatranska Hydina, a.s., Kezmarok more than doubled its H1 loss to SKK 7.6 million in 2004. During the first six months of the previous year it generated a loss of SKK 3 million. The operating loss of SKK 5.9 million was increased by a loss from financial operations of SKK 1.7 million. The company reported total sales of SKK 91.1 million for the first six months, down from SKK 97.5 million in H1 2003. Sales of its own products and services shrank by almost 4 percent y/y to SKK 63.2 million. Production costs were at SKK 67.1 million. Finance director of Podtatranska Hydina Frantisek Kalafut informed SITA that the company generated an aggregate added value of SKK 14.2 million, down from SKK 18.7 million one year ago.
Tatrachema Trnava Earned H1 Profit of SKK 4.9 Mln. in 2004
Tatrachema v.d., Trnava, a producer of cleaning products, earned a profit of SKK 4.9 million on total sales of SKK 148.9 million for the first half of 2004. Sales for its own products and services accounted for SKK 139.3 million on production costs of SKK 92.4 million. Sales of other goods made up SKK 22.8 million.
Reming Consult Consulting Company’s 2003 Production at SKK 146.2 Mln.
Project, engineering, and consulting company Reming Consult, a.s. Bratislava closed last year with output of SKK 146.2 million, which in a y/y comparison represents growth of almost 28 percent. Production consumption represented SKK 97.2 million last year, up 27 percent year-on-year. The company generated added value of SKK 49 million, which represents y/y growth of 26 percent, shows data published by the company.
Vegum Group Reached Consolidated Sales of SKK 1.292 Bln. Last Year
Rubber producer group Vegum, a.s., Dolne Vestenice closed the year 2003 with consolidated sales of its own products and services amounting to SKK 1.292 billion. This is 4.1 percent more than during the previous year. Production costs shrank by SKK 7.8 million to SKK 906.9 million. The company revealed on Monday that the group generated added value of SKK 416.2 million last year, up from SKK 347.9 million one year earlier.
GE Capital Multiservis Provided Loans of SKK 460 Mln. in H1 2004
GE Capital Multiservis, a company that offers installment sale financing, provided its clients with loans of SKK 460 million over the first six months of 2004, up almost 90 percent y/y. Chairman of the board of directors Branislav Katreniak gave SITA news agency the latest information on the company’s performance.
MONEY MARKET: FinMin Accepts SKK 1.685 Bln. in T-Bill Auction
The Finance Ministry accepted SKK 1.685 billion from bank bids totaling SKK 5.875 billion in an auction of T-bills on Monday. The average yield in the auction was 3.49 percent p.a. „The yield corresponds with market prices, however, the market did not expect a 0.1 percentage-point decrease from the last auction,“ Slovenska Sporitelna dealer Pavel Janosik told SITA.
STOCK MARKET: Slovnaft and VUB Shares Support SAX Index on Monday
Shares of Slovnaft refiner and VUB bank supported the official SAX share index at the beginning of the last July week. The index grew 0.25 percent, or 0.51 points to 201.88 points. Turnover on the Bratislava Stock Exchange (BCPB) moderately increased from SKK 243.36 million on Friday to SKK 272.3 million on Monday with a mere SKK 4 million in share trading.