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bne Tech
July 12, 2019 www.intellinews.com I Page 26
Hungary’s largest online booking site acquires Czech peer
Levente Szilagyi in Budapest
Hungarian booking website Szallas.hu acquired sector peer Czech-based Hotel.cz group on July 8, making it the fifth market outside of Hungary, in line with its growth strategy.
Hungary’s tourism sector is flourishing and the industry is breaking records year in year out. Last year overnight stays exceeded 30mn, split equally between domestic and foreign guests. Domestic tourism is rising on the back of rising purchas- ing power of households, new hotel developments and by the use of SZEP recreational voucher cards. Parliament raised taxes on most fringe benefits from January 1, except for the cards that can be used for catering and hotel services.
The government declared its goal is to increase the share of the sector to reach 16% of GDP by 2030 from 10% at present.
Szallas.hu is the largest online booking site in Hungary, which now offers its services in six countries: Croatia, the Czech Republic, Hungary, Poland, Romania and Slovakia. The company saw revenue rise 23% to HUF4.2bn in 2018, half of it coming from its foreign units.
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iHunt shares start trading on the Bucharest stock exchange
Shares in mobile phone importer iHunt started trading on the alternative trading system of the Bucharest Stock Exchange (BVB) on July 9, following the company’s IPO.
“The strategic objective of the company is to become, over a two-year timespan, the largest direct importer of Chinese mobile phones under its own brand, included in the portfolio of major local operators,” the exchange said in a statement.
As reported earlier, iHunt plans to put new shares accounting for 10% of its capital up for sale, but
more shares, up to 25% of the capital, might be issued depending on the demand. The company’s shares will be traded on the special AeRo section, where the listing requirements are looser than on the regulated market.
The main shareholder of iHunt Technology Import Export Ploiesti is Romanian entrepreneur Cezar Catalin Stroe (99.5%). Since its launch with two employees in 2015 the company has grown to a business with 25 employees, a share capital of RON1.4mn and a turnover of over RON24mn.