HungaryTrends – The best business and finance news from Hungary

See below MTI’s main business and financial news from the previous week:

FITCH AFFIRMS HUNGARY ‘BBB-‘ RATING, ‘POSITIVE’ OUTLOOK

Fitch Ratings affirmed Hungary’s Long-Term Foreign- and Local-Currency Issuer Default Ratings (IDR) at ‘BBB-‘, just over the investment grade threshold, in a scheduled review. The outlook for the rating is ‘positive’.

AUDI HUNGARIA STARTS SERIAL PRODUCTION OF SECOND-GENERATION Q3

The local unit of German carmaker Audi started serial production of its second generation Audi Q3 crossover in Győr (NW Hungary). In addition to the Q3, the plant also produces the Audi A3 Sedan, Audi A3 Cabriolet, Audi TT Coupe and Audi TT Roadster.

MASTER GOOD PLANS HUF 15 BN CAPACITY EXPANSION

Hungarian poultry company Master Good announced plans for a 15 billion forint (EUR 46m) capacity expansion at its base in Kisvárda (NE Hungary). The investment will raise Master Good’s revenue by 50 percent within two years after its completion. The government is supporting the investment with a 3.4 billion forint grant, read more HERE.

LENDING CONTINUES TO EXPAND

Both corporate and retail lending of Hungarian banks continued to expand in the second quarter, a report by the National Bank of Hungary (NBH) showed. Net corporate transactions reached 239 billion forints during the quarter and net retail outlays came to 159 billion forints, read more HERE.

TAKARÉK GROUP OUTLAYS EXCEED HUF 200 BN IN H1

Outlays of Takarek Group, which comprises Hungary’s integrated savings cooperatives as well as a handful of banks, exceeded 200 billion forints in the first half of the year, the group said. Corporate outlays came to 120 billion and included over 80 billion in loans financed by the state-owned Hungarian Development Bank (MFB). The group’s stock of mortgage loans rose by almost 53 billion forints close to 390 billion forints.

AKK TO LAUNCH BOND FOR MUNI COUNCILS

The Government Debt Management Agency (AKK) said it will launch a bond that may be only be subscribed by local councils from September. The three-year bond will carry a 1.25 percent coupon. The three-year secondary market benchmark yield was around 1.64 percent during the week.

SHRINKING MARGINS WEIGH ON RABA PROFITS

Second-quarter after-tax profit of Hungarian vehicle maker Rába plunged 55 percent year-on-year to 243 million forints as margins narrowed, an earnings report showed. Revenue climbed by 9 percent to 12.12 billion forints but direct costs of sales outpaced sales growth, increasing by 12 percent to 9.56 billion. Other operating expenses were also up by 12 percent at 2.06 billion forints, causing operating profit to drop by 33 percent to 494 million forints.

Source: MTI