Hungary Trends – The previous week in business and finance

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

HUNGARY PMI FALLS TO 52.2 IN DECEMBER

Hungary’s seasonally-adjusted Purchasing Managers Index (PMI) fell to 52.2 points in December from 56.3 points in the previous month, the Hungarian Association of Logistics, Purchasing and Inventory Management (Halpim), which compiles the index, said. An index value above 50 shows expansion in the manufacturing sector, while a value under 50 signals contraction.

GEN GOVT DEFICIT REACHES HUF 848.3 BN IN DECEMBER

Hungary’s cashflow-based general government deficit, excluding local councils, reached 848.3 billion forints last year, a preliminary release of data showed. The deficit reached 111.4 percent of the 761.6 billion full-year target but was 389 billion forints under the deficit in 2015.

HUNGARY INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT EDGES UP 0.6 PC IN NOVEMBER

Hungary’s industrial output grew 0.6 percent year-on-year in November, accelerating following a 2.1 percent decline in the previous month. In January-November, output was up 1 percent year-on-year.

BORSODCHEM REVENUE REACHES EUR 1.2 BN IN 2016

Revenue of Hungary’s BorsodChem rose nearly 10 percent to 1.2 billion euros last year, the chemicals company said. Growth was supported by the economic acceleration in central and eastern Europe, efficiency-boosting investments carried out over the past several years and the efforts of the company’s workers, BorsodChem said. EBITDA rose almost 50 percent to exceed 250 million euros. After-tax profit tripled to 75 million euros.

WIZZ AIR PASSENGER NUMBERS REACH 23 M IN 2016

Passenger numbers of Hungarian low-fare airline Wizz Air rose 19 percent to 23 million last year, the company said. Passenger numbers on Wizz Air’s Hungarian flights rose 23 percent to 3.7 million.

HUNGARY VEHICLE IMPORTERS SEE 5 PC MARKET GROWTH IN 2017

Hungarian vehicle importers expect 5 percent market growth this year, the head of professional association MGE said. MGE expects passenger car sales to rise 6 percent this year, climbing over 100,000 for the first year since the crisis, said Peter Erdelyi. Light commercial vehicles sales are set to rise 3 percent to 24,000, he added.

GOVERNMENT WEIGHS FURTHER VAT CUTS FOR STAPLE FOODS

Hungary’s agriculture ministry is considering proposing to the government further reductions in the VAT rates for some staple foods, state secretary István Nagy said. These VAT rate reductions could affect fish, fruit, vegetables or even bread in future, he said.

BUSINESSES TAP HUF 473 BN IN PHASE III FGS CREDIT

A little more than 11,000 Hungarian microbusinesses and SMEs tapped about 473 billion forints in cheap credit available last year in the third and final phase of the National Bank of Hungary’s Funding for Growth Scheme (FGS), a monthly release by the central bank showed. Net outlays — excluding repayments and funding not yet disbursed — came to 359 billion forints at the end of December.

HUNGARY JOBLESS RATE FALLS TO 4.5 PC

Hungary’s rolling average three-month jobless rate reached 4.5 percent in September-November, dropping from 4.7 percent in the previous month and 6.2 percent in the same period a year earlier, the Central Statistical Office said.

PLOTINUS BOARD DECIDES ON DELISTING, SHARE BUYBACK

Holding company Plotinus said its board will propose a delisting from the Budapest Stock Exchange and order a share and bond buyback. Plotinus noted that the price of its shares had risen from 1,525 forints when floated in the spring of 2011 to 5,900 forints, but said its presence on the bourse had “tied up significant resources without producing significant benefit”.

Source: MTI