Financial news

In 2015, the declared taxable income of companies for financial 2014 is BGN 16.5 billion. This is an increase of 8%, or BGN 1.2 billion compared to the previous year, says the report of the National Revenue Agency for 2015. While some companies reported much better results, a number of companies sink. Announced financial loss for 2014 is BGN 11.5 billion and is twice more than the previous year. Best results were reported by companies in the sector trade and repair of motor vehicles, whose total income for the year increased by BGN 427.5 million (+13.7%) to BGN 3.539 billion. Manufacturing enterprises declare profit growth of BGN 525.7 million (+8.5%) to BGN 3.352 billion. Sector transport and storage declared profit increase by BGN 140.6 million (+5.5%) to just over BGN 1 billion. Profit of companies in the construction sector increased by BGN 132.5 million (+13.9%) to BGN 1.08 billion.

Bulgaria registered zero growth in industrial production on a monthly basis for April 2016 following a 0.7% drop for March. Year-on-year, Bulgaria’s industrial production increased by 2.5% in April 2016, just off the annual growth rate of 2.6% recorded in March. Bulgaria’s calendar and seasonally adjusted production index measured 112.3 points for April 2016, little changed from 112.4 points for March. The EU28 calendar and seasonally adjusted production index measured 105.6 points in April 2016. In April 2016, seasonally adjusted industrial production rose by 1.1% month-on-month in the euro area and by 1.3% in the EU28. In the EU28, the increase of 1.3% was due to production of non-durable consumer goods rising by 2.3%, durable consumer goods by 1.9%, capital goods by 1.7%, energy by 0.5% and intermediate goods by 0.4%. Industrial production increased by 2.0% year-on-year in the euro area and by 2.5% in the EU28 in April 2016.

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Companies

The assets managed by Bulgarian insurance companies grew by an annual 5.3% to BGN 6.26 billion at the end of March, the country's central bank said. The assets of life insurance companies increased by 11.1% on the year to BGN 1.74 billion at end-March, while the assets managed by general insurance companies rose by 3.2% to BGN 4.46 billion, the Bulgarian National Bank (BNB) said on its website. Compared to the end of last year, total insurance companies' assets were up 2.4%, with life insurers' assets up 4.8% and general insurers' assets up 1.4%. At the end of 2015, the share of the assets of life insurance companies in the total assets was 27.8%, up from 26.3% at the end of March 2015 and 27.1% as of end-2015. The share of general insurance companies in the overall assets was 72.2% compared to 73.7% at end-March 2015 and 72.9% at end-2015.

Bulgarian telco BTC announced the results of its change-of-control waiver offered to bondholders in respect to its EUR 400 million 6.625% bond issue, stating that 87.43% of bondholders accepted the waiver. The consent solicitation was initially due to expire on June 3, however the company extended it several times, the latest being to June 13. The proposed waiver will become effective upon the execution of the company's acquisition before September 30, the company said. BTC, which operates under the Vivacom brand, commenced a consent solicitation relating to its bond issued in November 2013 and due 2018 in late May. The telco, which is in the process of changing its ownership, proposed a signing of a waiver without which it could be required, as a result of the completion of its acquisition, to offer to repurchase all of the bonds at 101% of the principal amount, together with accrued and unpaid interest.

Representatives of Chinese company Porter City Holdings and municipal officials of Bulgaria's second biggest city of Plovdiv discussed a project to set up a zone for economic cooperation in Bulgaria. The planned zone will represent an innovative public platform for business, e-commerce, logistics and finance, allowing direct contact between customers and manufacturers. It will spread over 2.6 million sq m near Plovdiv and will include facilities with a built-up area of about 5 million sq m. The zone will accommodate the offices of European and Asian companies, including the European headquarters of Porter City Holdings. Porter City Holdings and a Bulgarian company, Sienit Holdings, signed an agreement to cooperate in the implementation of the project. Both companies also signed agreements with Chinese financial companies and investment funds on the project's financing, the ministry said. It did not provide any further details about the financial side of the project.

US-based multinational online transportation network company Uber Technologies Inc. plans to triple the number of software developers at its engineering centre in Bulgaria's capital Sofia. The company, whose ridesharing services were banned in Bulgaria last year, plans to increase the number of its software engineers in the country from over 20 to 60 within in a year. The Sofia engineering centre, which is one out of a total of six similar units worldwide, will work on high-tech software servicing electronic payments and invoices for clients using Uber's online platform in more than 330 towns in 61 countries, the agency elaborated. In September 2015, Bulgaria's Supreme Administrative Court confirmed a BGN 200,000 fine imposed on Uber by the competition regulator for unfair competition and banned Uber's service. The app-based car service began operating in Sofia in December 2014.

Austrian company Kronospan will make one of the largest industrial investments in Bulgaria over the next three years and will invest BGN 350 million in new production. The expansion of the company's operations comes after in mid-2015 it bought the production site of the now non-working enterprise Woodworking-VT. Thus it increased the total area of the factory to over 120 thousand square meters. That provided the necessary land for the construction of new investment as well as planned future projects. The company will open 100 new jobs with wages above the national average, which will increase the amount of income in the region. This will be the biggest investment of Veliko Tarnovo and one of the largest in the country.

Europe

The annual rate of the CPI measuring inflation in the UK remained unchanged at 0.3% in May, with the core inflation also staying steady at 1.2%, figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed on Tuesday. With the exception of March, when the CPI spiked to 0.5% on the back of an earlier Easter this year, inflation has been stuck at the same level since the start of this year, the ONS figures showed. Significantly low inflation suggests the Bank of England (BoE) will not be in a rush to raise interest rates, which it has held at a record low level since March 2009. "The Bank of England will be less pleased with only stable inflation down at 0.3%, but its mind will likely be very much on next Thursday’s EU membership referendum," Howard Archer from IHS Economics noted after the data were made public on Tuesday. The CPI data today showed inflation remained subdued and unchanged in May, as the prices of both petrol and diesel rose only very slightly higher this year compared to the same month a year ago.

America

U.S. banks contending with tough rules and markets are still stronger than many overseas rivals and will soak up business, Bank of America Corp. Chief Executive Officer Brian Moynihan said. “We went through so much restructuring early” in the wake of the 2008 financial crisis, Moynihan told an audience late Monday at an event in Washington. Now, big U.S. banks are “well capitalized, very liquid, dying for the business,” he said. “And I think other parts of the world are shaking their banking system through the works right now. We are the beneficiary of that.” The remarks by Moynihan, who has spent much of his six years atop the firm resolving legal claims and overhauling its controls and balance sheet, contrast with alarms being raised by peers in Europe. Societe Generale SA CEO Frederic Oudea said last year the region needs to preserve at least five or six global banks. In a speech last month, the head of London-based Barclays Plc, James “Jes” Staley, warned European firms are at risk of ceding control of local capital markets to American firms.

Asia

Iran plans to set up a financial center on the free zone at Qeshm island as it seeks to attract financial institutions to a market of 80 million people. Chinese and Russian banks are seeking to set up representative offices in the area, Farhad Taghizadeh-Hesary, senior adviser to the Qeshm Investment and Development Co., said in an interview. One of Japan’s largest banks is also negotiating with officials on establishing a presence, he said, declining to identify the banks. “The aim for this financial center isn’t to look onto Qeshm, but to be a window onto the mainland.” he said by phone. “There is much interest to enter Iran.” Iran’s economy has traditionally relied on oil revenue and consumption by the internal market. That market provides opportunities for retail banking and project finance as the country vies to overhaul its infrastructure and spend billions of dollars expanding airports, transportation links and its energy sector after the lifting of economic sanctions in January. The International Monetary Fund expects Iran’s economy to expand 4 percent in the 12 months to March 2017.

Delchevo

Delchevo is a village in South Western Bulgaria and is located at 9 kilometers from the town of Gotse Delchev. Large part of the houses in the village is built in the end of XIX and beginning of XX by local masters and has been declared monuments of culture. They are arranged in tiers of steep southeastern slopes of Pirin Mountain. In some places the rock serves as the wall on the ground floor and thus an interesting intertwining of nature in the architectural appearance of the village is observed. Many of the houses have bay gain on the second floor. These, combined with the narrow, winding along the mountain slope with cobblestone streets create at places typical Renaissance atmosphere. The church Assumption is located in the village center. It was built in 1838 and is a three-nave stone building with a gallery of the south dome of the central nave. Painted wooden iconostasis with 10 scenes from Hexameron displayed on the sub-icon panels (XIX c.), old royal gates (end XVI - XVII c.) and icons (66 in number XIX century) have artistic value in the interior of the church. (Photo: bg.guide-bulgaria.com)

On that day:  Durankulak lake Arbanasi monastery the Assumption of Virgin Mary