Business Industry Capital
Bulgaria
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BNB Exchange Rates
(11.07.2019) |
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EUR |
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1.95583 |
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GBP |
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2.17488 |
USD |
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1.74316 |
CHF |
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1.75679 |
EUR/USD |
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1.1220* |
ECB exchange rate |
Basic Interest Rate |
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as of 01.07 |
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0 % |
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Financial news |
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The European Commission has affirmed its May forecasts for Bulgaria's economic growth in 2019 and 2020 at 3.3% and 3.4%, respectively. In May, the EU's executive body lowered its forecast for Bulgaria's 2019 economic growth to 3.3% from 3.6% predicted in February. Sound profits, accommodative financing conditions and optimistic expectations about the domestic economy are set to stimulate investment activity. The Commission sees rapid growth of Bulgarian exports to several countries outside the EU in the first four months of 2019, suggesting potentially high capacity for export reorientation. Bulgaria's inflation rate is set to ease to 2.4% in 2019, after it gained pace in January-May, and then further slow down to 1.7% in 2020.
Bulgaria will be able to comply with the provisions of the Stability and Growth Pact in 2019 and 2020 and is projected to fulfill its Convergence Program targets, the ECOFIN said in its latest country-specific recommendations about EU’s member states’ economic, employment and fiscal policies. Bulgaria will be able to reach a structural budget surplus of 0.7% of GDP in 2019 and 0.6% of GDP in 2020, according to the EC’s estimates, the report said. Nevertheless, the ECOFIN came up with several recommendations for Bulgaria for 2019 and 2020, including the improving of tax collection, banking sector supervision, infrastructure and labor force qualification. While tax revenues continue to rise, the Council noted that tax collections is not improving everywhere at the same pace, in particular in the labor-related taxes and social security contributions, as well as in some categories of excise taxes. The Council therefore recommended Bulgaria to implement targeted measures to tackle undeclared work and illicit trade in fuel, as well as to improve the still weak state-owned enterprises’ governance. Source: economic.bg
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Companies |
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Bulgaria's Allterco expects to wrap up its EUR 7.9 million deal for the sale of five of its telecommunications subsidiaries to Norway's LINK Mobility Group on July 29. The deal concerns Allterco's units in Bulgaria - Teravoice, Tera Communications and Allterpay, as well as its Romania-based subsidiary Teracomm RO and Macedonia-based Tera Communications DOOEL. With the deal, Allterco is divesting its entire telecommunications portfolio and will focus on its IoT subsidiaries. The final price will be determined on a cash-free/debt-free basis after correction of the companies' preliminary financial statements. Upon completion of the transaction, Allterco will get 60% of the price in cash. A further 20% will be paid on a deferred basis within two years, while the remaining 20% will be paid by transferring rights for purchase of shares in Victory Partners VIII Norway Holding - the sole owner of LINK Mobility Group. The deal was initially expected to be completed by the end of April 2018, but the negotiations between the contracting parties were temporarily suspended as Victory Partners VII Norway launched a takeover bid for LINK Mobility Group last year.
Bulgarian consumer electronics retailer Ozone Entertainment is seeking anti-trust approval to acquire local peer Pulsar, the Commission for Protection of Competition said. Interested parties have until July 10 to submit their statements regarding the transaction, a notice published on the regulator's website reads. Ozone Entertainment is the operator of the ozone.bg online shop, which offers consumer electronics, computer games, books, etc.
The current candidate for the CEZ assets in Bulgaria, public holding Eurohold, was willing to enter the deal at the previous stage when Gnerka Varbakova's Inerkom was selected as a buyer. This is clear from a shorthand from a meeting of politicians from the Czech Pirate Party with the management of the state power company. The party, which won the most votes in the local elections in Prague last year, are opposing the deal and periodically publish worrying details. According to the document, Tomas Plesac, CEZ Deputy Chairman, has again invited the previous participants to make new offers after the failure of the deal with Inerkom and the blocking from the CPC. Eurohold has been on the list precisely because it has previously supported Inerkom. Source: Capital
Bulgarian insurer Euroins, part of local Euroins Insurance Group (EIG), is planning to offer legal expenses insurance in Malta, according to a statement by Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). The FSC has asked Euroins to provide further information and documents regarding its plans, the regulator said in a statement. The regulator did not provide further details.
Hungary's OTP Bank said that, together with its Bulgarian unit Expressbank, it has agreed to sell 100% of insurer Express Life Bulgaria to Groupama Zhivotozastrahovane, a unit of the Groupama Group. OTP did not provide further details. Expressbank was renamed from Societe Generale Expressbank earlier this year, after DSK Bank - a unit of OTP, completed its acquisition from France's Societe Generale Group. Besides Expressbank, DSK Bank also acquired indirect control over its units Societe Generale Factoring, Sogelease Bulgaria and Regional Urban Development Fund, as well as direct control over insurer Sogelife Bulgaria. OTP Bank has been present in Bulgaria since 2003. Source: Banker
Bulgaria's Generali Insurance, part of Italian insurance group Assicurazioni Generali, said that its net profit fell to BGN 6.5 million in 2018 from BGN 6.9 million the year before. Generali Insurance generated gross written premiums of BGN 169.7 million last year, up from BGN 150.9 million in 2017. Net claims increased to BGN 61.6 million in 2018 from BGN 57.9 million in 2017. The company's assets rose to BGN 364.9 million at the end of 2018 from BGN 332.3 million a year earlier.
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Bulgarian Industrial Association
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World
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Europe |
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The Russian government has approved construction plans for a toll highway that will dramatically cut cargo shipping times between Europe and China, the Vedomosti business daily reported. Russia is pursuing an ambitious infrastructure plan in President Vladimir Putin’s current presidential term, including developing its portion of the strategic China-Western Europe transport corridor. Russia has reportedly began construction of the first section of the corridor this year: a toll road linking China’s western neighbor Kazakhstan with Belarus called the Meridian highway. Prime Minister Dmitry Medvedev approved the Meridian toll highway last month, Vedomosti reported on Sunday. Medvedev has reportedly ordered cabinet officials to consult the project’s initiator on attracting investment for the project, including from China, and giving it the necessary support. The initiator, the former deputy chairman of gas giant Gazprom Alexander Ryazanov, has estimated the project’s initial cost at 594 billion rubles ($9.3 billion), with a timeline of 12-14 years to break even. He said his company, called Russian Holding, already owns roughly 80 percent of the land the road would run through.
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America |
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Cisco Systems Inc. agreed to buy Acacia Communications Inc. for about $2.6 billion, the technology giant’s latest acquisition as it seeks technologies to meet customer demand for more robust networks. The San Jose-based company will pay $70 a share, a 46% premium to Acacia’s closing price on Monday, the companies said in a statement Tuesday. The purchase price is about $2.6 billion on a fully diluted basis net of cash and marketable securities, and the deal is expected to close in the second half of Cisco’s fiscal 2020 year. Cisco, whose equipment makes up the backbone of the internet and corporate networks, has recently rekindled growth by revamping existing products and adding new software and services under a corporate makeover by Chief Executive Officer Chuck Robbins. In May, the company gave a bullish sales and profit forecast for the current period, a sign that corporations continue to spend on computer networks despite the trade dispute between China and the U.S. Acacia’s stock surged 35% to $64.91 Tuesday in New York, while Cisco shares were little changed at $56.34. Cisco’s stock had climbed 30% this year through Monday’s close and has doubled in the past three years. Acacia went public in May 2016 at $23 a share and its stock surged that year to more than $120. Cisco’s latest acquisition makes chips and machines that help translate optical signals into electronic data. Acacia’s products are used to speed the flow of information around data centers and telecommunication networks.
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Asia |
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HCL TechnologiesNSE -0.18 % said the company last month closed acquisition of 7 IBM products last month for security, marketing, commerce, and digital solutions. In December, the company announced its plans to acquire IP assets of technology major IBM including its email Lotus notes for $1.8 billion. As part of the closure of this deal, HCL tech takes full ownership of the research and development, sales, marketing, delivery, and support for AppScan, BigFix, Commerce, Connections, Digital Experience (Portal and Content Manager), Notes Domino, and Unica, said the company in a press release. HCL Tech has also spun out a separate business unit to focus on products. A part of the “Products and Platforms” (Mode 3), HCL Software has delivered more than 340 partner releases and more than 90 HCL releases. Analysts widely said the impact of IBM products on HCL Tech’s revenue would be seen later this .. Analysts widely said the impact of IBM products on HCL Tech’s revenue would be seen later this fiscal. The $8.63 billion IT services major guided a 14-16% revenue growth in FY20 with a cautious operating margin projection. As the third largest Indian IT services reinforces its focus on IP-led business with IBM products C Vijayakumar, President & CEO, HCL Tech, said it has “a tremendous potential for creating compelling ‘as-a-service’ offerings by combining these products with traditional IT and next generation services”.
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Indexes of Stock Exchanges 10.07.2019 |
Dow Jones Industrial |
26 860.20 |
(76.71) |
Nasdaq Composite |
8 202.53 |
(60.80) |
Commodity exchanges 10.07.2019 |
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Commodity |
Price |
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Light crude ($US/bbl.) | 60.70 |
Heating oil ($US/gal.) | 2.0000 |
Natural gas ($US/mmbtu) | 2.4400 |
Unleaded gas ($US/gal.) | 2.0300 |
Gold ($US/Troy Oz.) | 1 426.40 |
Silver ($US/Troy Oz.) | 15.32 |
Platinum ($US/Troy Oz.) | 831.50 |
Hogs (cents/lb.) | 81.72 |
Live cattle (cents/lb.) | 107.62 |
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