Page 6 - bne_newspaper_May_04_2018

The Regions This Week
May 4, 2018 www.intellinews.com I Page 6
Central Europe
There were few surprises in Prime Minister Viktor Orban’s new cabinet. While on the whole there were few surprises, and most senior minis- ters retained their posts, Orban said he is scrap- ping the development ministry amid a shift in focus to the high tech sector.
Czech carmaker Skoda Auto may build a new factory outside the country to meet growing de- mand, boost production and overcome a domes- tic labour shortage. Skoda will also temporarily shift production of its popular Karoq SUV by the end of 2018 to a plant of parent company Volkswa- gen in Osnabrueck, Germany to meet demand.
Latvian retail sales grew by a calendar-adjusted 6.5% y/y in March, picking up speed from 3.7% annual expansion recorded the previous month, data from the Central Statistical Bureau (CSB) showed. March marked the 28th month in a row in which sales expanded, clearly a positive sign for economic growth.
Poland’s economic sentiment indicator (ESI) fell 0.7 points to 109.3 in April, data released by the European Commission showed. Polish ESI thus fell for a second consecutive month, giving a stronger suggestion than in March that economic growth could be nearing its peak.
Slovakia's governing Smer-SD party would still win a general election if held now, but support for the centre-left party among potential voters has dropped to 20.5%, a poll by the Focus agen- cy showed on May 2. Smer-SD had been polling at around 25% before the political crisis sparked by the murder in late February of investigative jour- nalist Jan Kuciak and his fiancée.
Slovak banks have reported their most success- ful quarter since 2011. Total net profit increased by 2.8% y/y in Q1 to €169.5mn, the Slovak Nation- al Bank (NBS) announced on April 30. The main driver was financial operations revenues, the Slo- vak Bank Association said. Banks also reported an increase in net profit from fees and commis- sions, which grew by 4.8% to €139mn.
Poland-registered GTC acquired Mall of Sofia in Bulgaria, one of the most successful shopping malls in the country. The real estate investment group’s CEO Thomas Kurzmann said the deal was “an excellent opportunity to buy a stable cash- flow generating building, at the heart of Sofia”.
Czech based energy group Energo-Pro issued bonds worth €250mn on the London Stock Ex- change that will be used to refinance debt. The company, which supplies all of Central and South- east Europe, said its bonds were placed mainly with international investors.
Czech purchasing managers’ indices (PMI) de- creased slightly to a seven-month low of 57.2 in April, according to figures released by IHS Markit on May 2. Any figure greater than 50.0 indicates an overall improvement in the sector, but the figure was above market expectations it would sink to 57. PMI decreased from 59 in February and 57.3 in March and sank to the lowest level since September 2017.
The number of long-term unemployed in Czechia has continued to drop, with those out of work for over a year accounting for 31.4% of the total number of unemployed in March 2018, a drop in annual terms of 7.8%age points (pp), the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said.
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