HungaryTrends – The week in business and finance

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

WABERER’S AIMS TO FUND POLISH ACQUISITION WITH EUR 50 M IPO

Hungarian road haulage company Waberer’s announced plans to raise 50 million euros in an initial public offering of its shares and list them on the Budapest Stock Exchange. Waberer’s aims to use 32 million euros of the fresh capital to acquire Polish peer Link and the rest for general purposes. Free-float after the IPO is expected to reach at least 50 percent.

HUNGARY Q1 GDP GROWTH 4.2 PC

The Central Statistical Office raised Hungary’s first-quarter GDP growth to 4.2 percent year-on-year in a detailed reading of data from 4.1 percent in the first reading. GDP was lifted by services, industry and construction, the data showed.

INDUSTRIAL OUTPUT FALLS by 3 PC IN APRIL

Industrial output in Hungary fell by an annual 3 percent in April, following a 13.4 percent increase in the previous month, the Central Statistical Office said. In January-April, output was up 4.9 percent year-on-year.

HUNGARY CPI 2.1 PC IN MAY

Consumer prices in Hungary rose by an annual 2.1 percent in May, data released by the Central Statistical Office showed. The pace of the increase slowed from 2.2 percent in April and was in line with analysts’ expectations. Core inflation, which excludes volatile food and fuel prices, rose at the same pace as headline inflation.

GENERAL GOVERNMENT RUNS 213.4 BN DEFICIT AT END-MAY

Hungary’s cash flow-based general government, excluding local councils, ran a 213.4 billion forint (EUR 694m) deficit at the end of May, preliminary data released by the economy ministry showed. The deficit reached 18.3 percent of the 1,166.4 billion forint full-year target.

VIESSMANN TO OPEN EUR 1.73m SERVICE CENTRE IN HUNGARY

German heating and refrigeration systems maker Viessmann is opening a 533 million forint (EUR 1.73m) service centre in Pécs (SW Hungary), Foreign Minister Péter Szijjártó said. Hungary’s government is supporting the investment, which will create 50 jobs, with a 106 million forint grant. The centre will support mainly German clients as well as other international customers. Read more HERE.

OECD RAISES HUNGARY GROWTH FORECASTS

The OECD raised its forecasts for GDP growth in Hungary to 3.8 percent from 2.5 percent for 2017 and to 3.4 percent from 2.2 percent for 2018 in a fresh outlook. The projections are still under the government’s official forecasts for 4.1 percent and 4.3 percent growth in 2017 and 2018, respectively.

VARGA MEETS KAZAKH COUNTERPART IN ASTANA BEFORE EXPO OPENING

Economy Minister Mihály Varga met his Kazakh counterpart Timur Suleimenov in Astana, ahead of the opening of Expo 2017 Astana – Future Energy. Hungary and Kazakhstan have strong ties in the pharmaceutical, energy, farm and food industries, Varga said. The opening of the world exposition in Astana on Saturday paves the way for cooperation in the area of electromobility, he added.

REVENUE OF STADLER HUNGARY UNITS CLIMBS 20 PC IN 2016

Revenue of Swiss rolling stock company Stadler’s three Hungarian units rose by about 20 percent to 25 billion forints (EUR 81m) last year, the parent company said. Last September, Stadler signed a contract with regional railway company GYSEV, owned by the states of Hungary and Austria, on the delivery of ten third-generation Flirt multiple units. It also signed a contract with state-owned Hungarian railway company MAV’s passenger unit on maintenance for 42 Flirt trains.

REVENUE FROM PAYMENT SERVICES FLAT EVEN AS TRANSACTION TURNOVER CLIMBS

Hungarian financial institutions’ revenue from providing payment services reached more than 472 billion forints (EUR 1.53m) last year, practically level with the previous year, even as electronic payment turnover climbed by 12 percent, the National Bank of Hungary said in an annual report on payment systems.

Source: MTI