TMCnet News
CTK's Business News in Brief(Czech News Agency Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge) Cuts in mandatory spending may save up to Kc35bn -Kalousek ---------------------------------------------------------- Prague - Cuts in mandatory state budget expenditures combined with economic growth could help save between Kc30bn and Kc35bn, new Finance Minister Miroslav Kalousek said in an interview for weekly Ekonom. During its term in office, the coalition government wants to lower the share of mandatory expenditures from 54.7 to less than 50 percent. SSHR money still on accounts at private banks -- server ------------------------------------------------------- Prague - The State Material Reserves Administration SSHR money is still on accounts at private banks although the Supreme Audit Office NKU had criticised it, and the money was to be transferred immediately to the central bank CNB, server Aktualne.cz said today. NKU said there was a risk the state would lose most of the money should a private bank go bust. Alternative oil supply to CR to cost hundreds of millions --------------------------------------------------------- Prague - Ensuring alternative oil supply to the CzechRep through the TAL pipeline from Triste, Italy, to Karlsruhe, Germany, and then through the Ingolstadt IKL pipeline to the CzechRep would cost hundreds of millions of crowns, Czech deputy premier Alexandr Vondra told reporters today. Talks to ensure an alternative option across south-west Europe in case of oil supply crisis via the Druzhba pipeline were launched last week. Czech gas sales drop by dozens percent on warm winter ----------------------------------------------------- Prague - Czech gas distributors report a drop in natural gas sales by several dozen percent because of this year's warm winter, while power producers see a much smaller decrease in electricity demand. Gas importer RWE Transgas expects a 25 percent year-on-year drop in January sales, said spokesman Martin Chalupsky. Ladislav Kriz from state-run power producer CEZ said the company registered a decrease in electricity consumption of around 3 percent in December and early 2007. Warm weather improves performance of most companies --------------------------------------------------- Prague - The unusually warm weather is helping in particular building and transport companies, but other firms also benefit from saving on energy and problem-free transport, according to a poll CTK made among businesses. However, the effect is opposite on gas and heating companies, retailers selling winter sport equipment, ski-lift operators and farmers. Ten comps want to prepare food for CSA passengers --press --------------------------------------------------------- Prague - Ten companies are interested in gaining orders for preparing food for Czech Airlines (CSA) passengers and CSA closed the first round of accepting offers in the sale of its catering unit last week, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes today. Analysts estimate CSA could get hundreds of millions of crowns from the sale. Among the companies interested in providing the service are Gastro Hroch which prepares food also for air carrier Travel Service, as well as Jidelni a luzkove vozy Ceskych drah, Zatisi Catering Group and Sky Chef which has property ties with Lufthansa. There are also speculations about the firm Sodexho and Air France subsidiary. Volny starts to offer films over Internet ----------------------------------------- Prague - Czech telecoms services provider Volny said today it had started to offer film downloads over the Internet as of Wednesday. Volny, run by telco firm Czech On Line, also plans to launch Internet television broadcasting this year, the company said in a press release. Carlsberg will sell Budvar beer in its chain --press ---------------------------------------------------- Prague - Danish brewery Carlsberg will distribute Czech premium lager Budejovicky Budvar in its retail chain in Scandinavia and Croatia, daily Hospodarske noviny (HN) writes today. Both sides want to announce the signing of a contract on business cooperation at the end of this week or early next week. In Scandinavia, the lager will be sold under Czech brand name Budejovicky Budvar because the Budweiser name mostly belongs to US firm Anheuser-Busch in these countries. Bestsport posts Kc100m profit in 2006 after 2005 loss ----------------------------------------------------- Prague - Gross profit of Czech company Bestsport, which owns and runs the multipurpose Sazka Arena in Prague, exceeded Kc100m last year according to preliminary results, Zdenek Zikmund, spokesman for lottery firm Sazka, told CTK today. In 2005, Bestsport posted a Kc149m loss due to high writeoffs and interest on loans. Tiba creditors reject court settlement, Tiba may go bust -------------------------------------------------------- Hradec Kralove - Creditors of indebted Tiba Dvur Kralove nad Labem, the largest Czech printed textiles producer, today rejected court settlement proposed by Tiba which may end up in bankruptcy, with creditors holding 42 percent of the claims voting for the settlement, Tiba CEO Martin Klodner has said. Consent of creditors owning at least three-quarters of claims was needed for Tiba not to go bust, he told CTK. Viadrus raises exports by 28 pct to Kc1.15bn in 2006 ---------------------------------------------------- Ostrava - Exports of Czech boilers maker Viadrus from ZDB Group grew by 28 percent year-on-year to Kc1.15bn last year, exceeding Kc1bn for the first time ever, director Roman Boczek told CTK today. Boczek would not disclose the company's sales for 2006. Exports increased mainly thanks to entry to new markets and growing volume of supplies to existing customers. Bratislava airport to invest Sk100m this year --------------------------------------------- Bratislava - The M.R.Stefanik airport in Bratislava wants to invest Sk100m in new car parks and partial reconstruction of a terminal this year to meet conditions for passenger transport within the Schengen Space, management said today. The investment which will also create 300 parking places is lower than the one promised by TwoOne worth billions of crowns. TwoOne was interested in the airport but a tender was cancelled last Oct. Slovak bourse counts on sale to strategic partner ------------------------------------------------- Bratislava - The Slovak bourse BCPB in which the state holds three-quarters of shares counts on sale of the block of shares to a strategic investor, CEO Maria Hurajova told journalists today. The previous government of Mikulas Dzurinda wanted to sell BCPB after a central depository became its part last year. But, the current government of Robert Fico is opposed to its sale for now. fs,kou,vr/er Logica CMG supervises toll collection as of Jan 15 -------------------------------------------------- Prague - Logica CMG supervises toll collection in the Czech Republic as of Monday, Jan 15, Transport Ministry spokesman Karel Hanzelka told CTK today, adding the company was selected by the Roads and Motorways Directorate which cancelled a tender last Dec. Logica CMG will be supervising the success rate of toll collection until the winner of a tender to be called by the end of Jan is made public. Hyundai has 600 job applications for its Nosovice plant ------------------------------------------------------- Ostrava - Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Czech registers about 600 job applications, the same amount it wants to hire by the end of the year for work in a plant in Nosovice in northern Moravia which will start to be built in spring, spokesman Petr Vanek told CTK today. Most applications have been sent by local residents but there are also applications from abroad, he said. SZPI forbids Tesco to sell butter with false description -------------------------------------------------------- Brno/Prague - The State Agricultural and Food Inspection (SZPI) has forbidden today the retail chain Tesco to sell two kinds of butter from Belgium to which false description has been applied, SZPI spokesman Ivo Klemes told CTK. Products sold as "Les 3 sapins" and "Belle de Herve" were described as fresh butter although they did not meet the relevant parameters. Tesco Stores CR spokeswoman Jana Matouskova said the firm had started to withdraw the two kinds of butter immediately. Wages in aviation producers association ALV to grow 3 pct --------------------------------------------------------- Prague - Wages in companies grouped in the Association Of The Aviation Manufacturers (ALV) will increase by a minimum of three percent this year in line with the collective agreement signed today, the union association KOVO told CTK. The agreement between ALV and KOVO concerns roughly 7,000 employees in the aviation industry. Import Volkswagen Group raises sales to Kc13bn in 2006 ------------------------------------------------------ Prague - Import Volkswagen Group, which imports Volkswagen, Seat and Audi cars to the Czech Republic, increased sales by 12 percent to a preliminary Kc13bn last year, while profit before tax rose by nearly one-quarter to Kc311m, the company said in a press release. The firm imported a record 18,377 cars to the Czech Republic last year, nine percent more against 2005. Dalkia CR to raise wages by 4.5 pct in 2007 ------------------------------------------- Ostrava - Employees in Czech energy company Dalkia Ceska republika will see their wages rise by an average 4.5 percent this year, company spokesman Milan Wagner told CTK today. The average monthly wage in Dalkia was Kc26,840 in 2006, some Kc9,000 more than the average in the region. Intersport wants to triple market share by 2010 ----------------------------------------------- Prague - Intersport, involved in the sale of sports equipment, wants to triple its market share in the Czech Republic to 30 percent by 2010, Intersport Oesterreich, which is also in charge of the Czech market, told a press conference today. In 2010, the company's Czech network should include 45-50 shops compared with the current 22. Investment in new outlets could reach EUR7-12m (Kc190-330m) by 2010, the firm said. Czech comp Agrofert can take over Hydina in Slovakia -- PMU ----------------------------------------------------------- Bratislava - Czech farm group Agrofert Holding, owned by Slovak entrepreneur Andrej Babis, can take over Slovak poultry meat processor Hydina Cifer as the anti-monopoly office PMU has okayed the merger, PMU spokeswoman Alexandra Bernathova said today. Babis bought Hydina last summer on top of acquisition of the two biggest Slovak poultry meat processors Hyza Zilina and THP Topolcany. New operator Telefonica 02 lures over 100,000 clients to date ------------------------------------------------------------- Bratislava - The third mobile operator in Slovakia Telefonica O2, which plans to launch operation in February, has attracted more than 100,000 potential customers who have registered for the use of pre-paid services, the Internet portal mobilmania.sk reported today. vr,cjl/er Copyright 2007 CTK Czech News Agency. Source: Financial Times Information Limited. |