SLOVENIA
Slovenia's largest dairy boosting exports
Ljubljanske Mlekarne, Slovenia's largest dairy, saw a 13% increase in sales revenue last year as exports surged by 40%. Due to higher buy-in prices, operating profit was only slightly above the 2016 figure.
EU urges Slovenia to update budget plan ASAP
The European Commission urged Slovenia on Friday to update its budget plans for next year as soon as possible to ensure compliance with the EU's fiscal recommendations.
Finance ministry says govt working on budget plans
After the European Commission urged Slovenia on Friday to update its budget plans for 2019 as soon as possible to ensure compliance with the EU's fiscal recommendations, the Finance Ministry said today it was ""completely normal"" that such plans were not included in the budget documents immediately after a new government takes over.
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow falls more than 300 points as the market's October struggles persist; European markets close lower as Brexit talks rumble on; Carrefour shares up 9%; European markets close flat as Brussels looks to reduce tensions with Italy
The Dow Jones Industrial Average rose on Friday on the back of strong earnings from Procter & Gamble as Wall Street tried to regain its footing after a sharp sell-off in the prior session. The 30-stock index climbed 64.89 points to 25,444.34, led by a 8.8 percent surge in Procter & Gamble shares, their biggest since Oct. 28, 2008. The Dow also posted its first weekly gain in four, climbing 0.4 percent in that time. Procter surged after reporting better-than-expected earnings. The company said it got a boost from strong beauty-product sales. The S&P 500 closed just below the flatline at 2,767.78, however, as declines in health care and consumer discretionary offset a 2.3 percent gain in consumer staples. The Nasdaq Composite fell 0.5 percent to 7,449.03 as Facebook, Amazon and Netflix all pulled back. Honeywell and Schlumberger also reported better-than-forecast profits. American Express, PayPal and Skechers all posted on Thursday earnings that topped analyst expectations. Their shares rose 3.8 percent, 9.4 percent and 13.8 percent, respectively. European stocks pared earlier losses on Friday after Europe's economy commissioner said no decision had yet been taken on Italy's controversial budget plan. The pan-European Stoxx 600 ended a shade lower, 0.06 percent down as Friday's closing bell rang. Auto stocks was the worst-performing sector amid corporate news. Michelin fell 11.28 percent, its worst day in seven years, after announcing lower full-year forecasts. Europe's oil and gas stocks were above the flat-line. Norway's Aker BP, partly owned by oil major BP, was the top sectoral performer, after the company reported stronger-than-anticipated third-quarter operating profit forecasts. Shares of the Olso-listed stock rose 4.13 percent.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
OTP Bank to buy Societe Generale Bank
The new owner of Societe Generale Bank will be OTP Bank, Vecernje Novosti daily has unofficially learned. OTP, which bought Vojvodjanska Banka a year ago, is already doing due diligence of Societe, and it is preparing for the acquisition. Several sources confirmed this for the newspaper. If this merger is realized, OTP Bank should be ranked third in terms of the market share in Serbia. According to the sources of the daily, it is certain that the forthcoming period, regarding the consolidation of the banking capital and the change of ownership, will be very dynamic.
Source: Ekapija
Gazprom Energoholding interested in investing in energy projects in Serbia
The Minister of Mining and Energy Aleksandar Antic had a meeting on Thursday, October 18, 2018 with the representatives of Russian company Gazprom Energoholding which has expressed interest in investing in energy projects in Serbia, the ministry announced after the meeting. Denis Fyodorov, General Director at Gazprom Energoholding, said that the company was ready for other projects in the renewable energy sector and that it wished to start expanding to Europe directly from Serbia.
Source: Ekapija
Early elections not excluded, Serbia’s President says
Serbia’s President Aleksandar Vucic confirmed on Thursday he had a meeting with the closest party allies but would not say if the topics included early elections, adding that if there was a pressure that could happen, the Beta news agency reported. Speaking to reporters at the sidelines of the Belgrade Security Forum conference, Vucic said he would not like to stay in power with the support of five-six percent of the voters, although the elections should be called in two years.
Source: N1
