HungaryTrends – The latest news in business and finance

Budapest, September 4 (MTI) – See below MTI’s main business and financial news from the previous week:

HUNGARY INVESTMENT VOLUME DOWN 20.3 PC IN Q2

Investment volume in Hungary fell by an annual 20.3 percent in Q2, the Central Statistical Office said. Investment volume fell after already dropping 12.6 percent in the first quarter of the year. For the first half of 2016 investment volume was down by 17.3 percent.

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SAMSUNG TO INVEST HUF 100 BN AT EV BATTERY PLANT IN HUNGARY

South Korea’s Samsung SDI will invest 100 billion forints (EUR 322m) in a plant in God, north of Budapest, to produce batteries for electric vehicles for European markets, Hungary’s minister for foreign affairs and trade announced. The plant is expected to reach full capacity by 2018, turning out batteries to power 50,000 electric vehicles.

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BANKING ASSOC HEAD AUGURS MARKET CONSOLIDATION

The growing stress on electronic banking and meeting tighter capital requirements is expected to force a consolidation on Hungary’s banking market, though 4-6 big banks would be enough to ensure adequate retail banking services, Levente Kovács, the head of the Hungarian Banking Association said.

HUNGARY PMI FALLS TO 51.3 IN AUGUST

Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 51.3 points in August from 53.8 points in July, the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim), which compiles the index, said.

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HUNGARY JUNE TRADE SURPLUS REACHES EUR 1.112 BN – KSH

Hungary’s trade surplus reached 1.112 billion euros in June, the Central Statistical Office said in a second reading of data. The surplus was revised minimally downwards from 1.129 billion euros in a first reading published on August 5.

UNEMPLOYMENT RATE FALLS FURTHER TO 5.0 PC

Hungary’s rolling average three-month jobless rate fell to 5.0 percent in May-July, the Central Statistical Office said. The rate, which covers unemployment among 15- to 74-year-olds, was down from 5.1 percent in April-June and 6.8 percent in the same period a year earlier. In absolute terms, there were 228,000 unemployed in Hungary in May-July. Read more HERE.

HUNGARY LABOUR MARKET PARTICIPATION RATE IMPROVING, BUT STILL UNDER EU AVERAGE

Eurostat data shows the rate of Hungarians between the ages of 15 and 74 who were employed or actively seeking employment stood at 59.9 percent last year, up from 55.0 percent in 2006. The rate has risen in seven of the past ten years.

CORPORATE LENDING STOCK OF HUNGARIAN BANKS DECREASES IN JULY – NBH

Corporate lending stock of Hungarian banks was down in July from the previous month as companies made net repayments and revaluations also decreased lending stocks, fresh data from the National Bank of Hungary show. Corporate lending stock of the banks was down by 79.3 billion forints at 5,899.9 billion forints according to non-adjusted data.

BUDAPEST BANK POSTS AFTER-TAX PROFIT OF HUF 13.9 BN IN H1

Hungary’s state-owned Budapest Bank (BB) group had consolidated after-tax profit of 13.9 billion forints in the first half of 2016 according to Hungarian Accounting Standards. The profit of the bank was well over plans, the bank said.

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STATE MONOPOLY IN WHOLESALE TRADE OF SPIRITS, DRUGS COULD BE CONSIDERED

János Lázár, the government office chief, said Hungary could make the wholesale trade of spirits a state monopoly. The monopoly could not apply to retail trade of spirits, he added.

Source: MTI