SLOVENIA
Gorenje ends 2018 in the red, revenue down 1.7%
Household appliance maker Gorenje, which was taken over by China's Hisense last year, reported EUR 1.1841bn in group sales revenue for 2018, a 1.7% decrease. After ending in the black in 2017, Gorenje recorded a EUR 37.3m net loss in 2018, or EUR 111.2m when factoring in one-off and extraordinary events.
Source: STA
EBRD official identifies funding potential in green energy, tourism
Milan M. Cvikl, a Slovenian who has served as an alternate director at the EBRD since 2017, identified some potential projects that the bank could co-finance in Slovenia in an interview with Večer, saying that today Slovenia would probably not get international funds for a project such as TEŠ6 generator.
Source: STA
NKBM bank's group net profit up 50% in 2018 to EUR 72.5m
NKBM, Slovenia's second largest bank, posted a group net profit of EUR 72.5m for 2018, a year-on-year increase of 50%, shows the audited annual report released on Friday.
Source: STA
Koper not concerned about Chinese investment in rival Trieste
Slovenia's sole seaport in Koper is not concerned about the prospect of Chinese investments in the port of Trieste, its biggest rival among north Adriatic ports. It says there is plenty of scope for growth of all ports in the region.
Source: STA
INTERNATIONAL MARKETS
Dow drops more than 450 points, S&P 500 posts worst day since January amid global growth worries; European stocks close sharply lower as weak data fuels slowdown worries
Stocks tumbled on Friday as global growth fears and the Federal Reserve’s more cautious economic forecast sparked investor angst into the weekend. The Dow Jones Industrial Average sank to its session lows heading into the close and finished down 460.19 points at 25,502.32. Bank stocks led the decline thanks to a sharp pullback in long-term Treasury yields. The S&P 500 fell 1.9 percent to 2,800.71, its biggest one-day drop since Jan. 3. The Nasdaq Composite declined 2.5 percent to 7,642.67 as shares of Facebook, Amazon, Netflix, Alphabet and Apple all closed lower. Nike also weighed on the market throughout Friday’s session. The athletic apparel company’s stock fell 6.6 percent on the back of weak quarterly sales growth in North America. Boeing shares dropped 2.8 percent after Indonesian airline Garuda canceled a $6 billion order for 49 Boeing 737 Max jets. European stocks slipped Friday as worse-than-expected economic data intensified concerns around slowing global growth. The pan-European Stoxx 600 dropped provisionally 1.29 percent, with all sectors and bourses turning negative. Equities were initially positive earlier in the session. A slew of negative economic data weighed on investor sentiment on the final trading day of the week. IHS Markit’s flash euro zone composite Purchasing Managers’ Index (PMI) fell to 51.3 in March from 51.9 the previous month — analysts were expecting a reading of 52. French and German numbers also disappointed, with IHS’ PMI figures for both economies coming in below expectations. Germany’s manufacturing sector contracted for the third month in a row, data showed. Nokia tumbled to the bottom of the Stoxx 600 after the Finnish telecommunications firm published its annual report. The firm said in the report Thursday that it did not plan to take on any new business in Iran this year, citing conflicting U.S. and European trade policies. Shares fell over 5 percent.
Source: CNBC
SERBIA
AIK Banka makes bid for privatization of Slovenia’s Abanka?
Slovenia has received seven binding bids for the privatization of state-owned lender Abanka, including an offer from Serbia's AIK Banka, Seenews reports, citing Ljubljana-based media. In addition to AIK Banka, the list of bidders includes Hungary's OTP Group, Austria's Erste Bank, as well as US investment funds Apollo and Blackstone, it has been reported. The deadline for placing binding bids expired on March 19.
Source: Ekapija
NBS: Inflation expected at 2.1-2.7% in one year ahead
According to the results of the February survey, one-year and two-year ahead inflation expectations of the financial and corporate sectors kept moving within the target tolerance band (3±1.5%). One-year ahead inflation expectations stayed unchanged from January, at 2.7% in the financial sector and 2.1% in the corporate sector. There were no changes in two-year ahead inflation expectations either. Since early 2019, inflation expectations of the financial and corporate sectors have stood exactly at the NBS target midpoint (3.0%).
Source: NBS
MTLC: Metalac scheduled GA for 24th April
Metalac (MTLC) announced it regular GA for 24th April this year. The agenda includes decision on dividend payment. Proposed amount is RSD 85 per shares, gross. This bears 4.1% yield on a current market price, while record date is 14t April 2019.
Source: Belex, Ilirika
