Business and finance news from Hungary – 4th week, 2018

Top business and financial news from last week: 

CONTITECH INAUGURATES HUF 6BN EXPANSION

ContiTech Magyarország, a unit of German automotive industry supplier Continental, inaugurated a 6 billion forint (EUR 19.4m) expansion at its base in Nyíregyháza, in eastern Hungary. The government supported the investment, which created over 200 jobs, with more than 2 billion forints in grant money.

SZENTKIRÁLYI FOUNDER, PASQUALE FAMILY ACQUIRE PEPSICO INTERESTS IN HUNGARY

Levente Balogh, who founded the Szentkirályi mineral water brand in the early part of the decade, teamed up with his Italian partners, the Pasquale family, to acquire PepsiCo’s holdings in Hungary. The acquisition of the PepsiCo businesses will make their joint venture in Hungary market leader on the local mineral water and soft drinks market. Balogh partnered with the Pasquale family in 2015, merging his Szentkirályi business with their Hungarian bottler Kékkuti. Read more details HERE.

ACCENTURE TO MAKE 200 NEW HIRES AT BUDAPEST TECH CENTRE

Consulting and professional services company Accenture announced plans to make 200 new hires at its new technology centre in Budapest this year. The centre, which already has a staff of 150, will hire testers, developers, planners and project managers.

NBH FINE-TUNES NEW IRS FACILITY

The National Bank of Hungary (NBH) said it will make tenders of its new monetary policy interest rate swaps fixed-rate, rather than variable-rate, and link allocations to the size of bidders’ assets. The NBH held the first tender for the monetary policy interest rate swap (MIRS), designed to flatten the yield curve, on Thursday, January 18. “Due to the characteristics of the variable rate tender applied at the MIRS tenders on 18 January 2018, the yield orienting role of the facility did not have the desired effect, as a result of the outstanding demand the NBH could not accept offers submitted at lower yield rates,” the NBH said.

MOL LAUNCHES CAR-SHARING SERVICE

Oil and gas company MOL launched a car-sharing service in Budapest dubbed MOL Limo. The service started with 300 cars, of which one-third are electric vehicles. Read more details HERE.

VEHICLE FUEL SALES RISE 3.3 PC IN 2017

Vehicle fuel sales in Hungary rose by 3.3 percent to 3.469 billion litres last year, data of the Hungarian Petroleum Association (MASZ) showed. Sales of petrol rose by 3.2 percent to 1.351 billion litres and diesel sales were up 3.4 percent at 2.117 billion litres.

TELENOR TO LEAVE HUNGARY?

News of Telenor selling its Eastern and Central European stakes were frequent recently. Hungary might be concerned in this, but the Norwegian company has not commented on these news until now. An official statement has been released which states that Telenor received an offer for its stakes in Bulgaria, Serbia, Montenegro and Hungary. Read more details HERE.

COMPETITION OFFICE RAIDS MAGYAR TELEKOM, TELENOR HQS

Hungary’s Competition Office (GVH) said it conducted unannounced on-site probes at the headquarters of Magyar Telekom and Telenor Magyarország. GVH said it suspected the two telcos had colluded in tenders for broadband spectrum licences. Magyar Telekom and Telenor Magyarország told MTI that they are cooperating with GVH but insisted they had not violated any rules.

OPUS GLOBAL’S ONLINE AND TV AGENCIES COOPERATE ON SALES

Ad space of online ad seller Printimus, 100 percent owned by listed holding company Opus Global, will be available for purchase on Atmedia’s sales platform under a strategic partnership. Atmedia, in which Opus Global recently acquired an indirect 17 percent stake, is contracted by commercial television broadcaster TV2 as well as MTVA, the content provider for Hungarian public media, among others. Printimus is the exclusive agent for ad sales on the websites of Mediaworks, Lapcom and Inform Media Center. Printimus said the partnership would create the 4th to 5th biggest player on Hungary’s online ad market.

Photo: MTI

Source: MTI/Daily News Hungary