The Total Producer Price Index increased by 3.7% in September 2019 compared with the same month of 2018, NSI reported. Prices rose in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 11.7%, in the mining and quarrying industry by 6.2% and in manufacturing by 1.2%. In the manufacturing a more considerable increase in prices was reported in the manufacture of basic metals by 7.6%, in the manufacture of leather and related products by 4.6% and in the repair and installation of machinery and equipment by 4.5%. A decrease was reported in the manufacture of paper and paper products by 2.3%, in the manufacture of wood and of products of wood and cork, except for furniture and manufacture of articles of straw and plaiting materials by 1.3% and in the printing and reproduction of recorded media by 0.6%. In September the Total Producer Price Index in Industry rose by 0.5% month-on-month. Higher prices were registered in the mining and quarrying industry, in manufacturing - both by 0.5%, and in the electricity, gas, steam and air conditioning supply by 0.4%.

The smaller of the last two obstacles on Bulgaria's path to ERM II and the European banking union has been overcome. This transpires from a letter of the European Insurance and Occupational Pensions Authority (EIOPA) to the European Commission. Bulgaria receives a positive assessment for the implementation of its commitments in the non-bank financial sector; still, concerns remain about the level of stability of Bulgaria's insurance sector. The remaining obstacle to Bulgaria's entry in the euro zone is the approval of the European Central Bank (ECB), which needs to assess the implementation of the measures taken after the ECB's comprehensive assessment of the Bulgarian banking sector.

Switzerland-based ICT solutions and services provider Also Holding said that it has completed the acquisition of 100% of IT solutions distributor Solytron Bulgaria after receiving anti-trust approval earlier this month. "The acquisition is another important step in the implementation of ALSO’s strategy to strengthen its position in the Eastern European markets," Also Holding said. Also Holding wants to achieve an overall market share of 20% in the entire region, the company said. Solytron Bulgaria posted revenue of BGN 215 million last year, up from BGN 172.3 million in 2017. The company employs 120 people in the country. In the past year, Also Holding acquired value added distributor DISS in Slovenia, IT distributor RECRO in Croatia, and Poland-based ABC Data Group, which has operations in Hungary, Romania, Czech Republic and Slovakia. Also Holding bundles logistics services, financial services, supply services, solution services, digital services, and IT services together into individual service packages. Solytron Bulgaria, founded in Sofia in 1991, trebled its sales revenue between 2011 and 2018 and sells solutions and products of over 50 vendors.

The Chepelare ski factory Amer Sports Bulgaria, which produces Atomic and Salomon brands, is now wholly Chinese-owned. Earlier this year, the Mascot Bidco consortium acquired a majority stake in the former Finnish owner of Amer Sports Bulgaria. As Amer Sports remains the direct owner of the Bulgarian company, it retains its name. At the end of last year, Mascot Bidco offered EUR 40 per share of the sports goods maker Amer Sports, which estimated the company at EUR 4.6 billion. The offer was accepted by the owners of 98.73% of the shares in the company, and subsequently Mascot also bought additional single shares. According to Finnish law, the consortium has recently acquired ownership of the remaining unacquired securities, which allowed it to write off Amer Sports from Nasdaq Helsinki. Leading the consortium is Anta Sports Products, which owns the brands Anta, Fila, Descente, Sprandi, Kingkow and Kolon Sport. With the acquisition of the Finnish company that holds brands such as Salomon, Arc'teryx, Peak Performance, Atomic, Suunto, Wilson and Precor, the Chinese group is taking a step toward international markets, targeting both mass and high-end customers class.

BTC has withdrawn its request to the Competition Commission (CPC) to investigate global giant Apple for abuse of a stronger bargaining position. This became clear from the regulator's website, as the reason is that the two companies - BTC and Apple, have already started negotiations on the problem related to the sale of smartphones by the US company iPhone. The case could have allowed the CPC to fine Apple with 10% of the company's revenue in the respective business over the past year - over USD 100 billion in 2018. BTC is the only operator in Bulgaria to sell iPhone models through its network. At this point, the situation has not changed, although the two companies have already started negotiations. It is Apple's practice to negotiate directly with operators in a country and to sell the company's products only to companies with exclusive rights. In the case of Bulgaria, the operators are A1 Bulgaria and Telenor.

Bulgarian brokerage Elana Trading is planning to start offering its services in Ireland, the UK, Cyprus and Malta, according to a notice by Bulgaria's Financial Supervision Commission (FSC). Elana Trading intends to offer its services on those markets without setting up local branches, the financial regulator said in a statement. The FSC has notified its peers in the four countries about the company's intentions.

Steel radiator manufacturer Korado Bulgaria, part of Czech Republic-based Korado Group, said that its net profit fell to BGN 4.8 million in the first nine months of 2019 from BGN 5.5 million in the same period of 2018. Korado's revenue fell to BGN 33.2 million in the January-September period of 2019 from BGN 34.1 million in the comparable period of last year. Korado Bulgaria sold 411,274 units in the review period, up from 407,992 units sold in the corresponding period of last year. Most of the company's sales were to its Czech parent. Sales on the domestic market formed just 2% of the company's total sales volume. Sales to EU countries fell to 350,798 units in the first nine months of 2019 from 374,876 units in the same period of 2018, while sales to non-EU countries more than doubled to 53,852 units from 25,468 units. The rise in volume was mostly due to towel rail radiator sales, which increased to 69,772 units in January-September from 64,017 units sold in the prior-year period. Korado Bulgaria's operating expenses edged down to BGN 28.1 million in the first nine months of the year from BGN 28.2 million in the same period of 2018.

Fiat Chrysler and Groupe PSA, the maker of Peugeot and Citroen cars, are in merger talks that could propel them into the top ranks as the world's fourth largest automaker. Italian-US carmaker Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA) confirmed in a statement that "there are ongoing discussions aimed at creating one of the world's leading mobility groups" with France's PSA after reports of the talks began to circulate. The statement and a similar one from PSA offered no additional details. A person with knowledge of the matter told AFP on Tuesday that a merger -- which is not guaranteed -- would create a firm valued at about $50 billion. A merger would bring PSA access to the lucrative US market, while finally fulfilling the long-held goal of ex-FCA head Sergio Marchionne, who died last year, to merge the carmaker with another in order to survive escalating costs and global pressure to roll out electric vehicles.

U.S. gross domestic product grew faster than expected in the third quarter, but slowed slightly as business investment continued to decline. The Commerce Department said Wednesday that economic activity grew at an annualized rate of 1.9% in the third quarter, down slightly from the 2% pace in the second quarter. Economists polled by Dow Jones had expected the first look at third-quarter economic growth to come in at 1.6%. The better-than-expected data was the result of continued consumer spending as well as government expenditures, the department said. Personal consumption expenditures, a gauge of spending by American households, rose at a 2.9% annualized rate while government spending grew at a 2% rate. Growth in gross private domestic investment, however, continued to decline in the three months ended Sept. 30 with a slip of 1.5%, still far better than the 6.3% drop in the second quarter. Business spending in particular weighed on the investment number as spending on structures continued to decline, with a 15.3% fall. The pace of spending on equipment sank 3.8%.

Huawei Technologies captured a record 42% of China’s smartphone market in the third quarter as local consumers rallied behind it after U.S. sanctions, leaving Apple to languish towards the bottom of the pile, market data showed. Apple’s market share in China slipped to 5% from 7% in the year-ago quarter, according to a report that market research firm Canalys released on Wednesday, hours before the Cupertino, California-based company was to report quarterly results. The July-September quarter marked the iPhone’s weakest sales in China in five years, said Nicole Peng, vice president of mobility at Canalys, with shipments likely down more than a quarter. Concerns about slowing iPhone sales in China have dogged Apple for many quarters even as the global smartphone market has slowed and a resurgent Huawei has hit record sales in the country. Huawei, the world’s No. 2 maker of smartphones, was all but banned by the United States in May from doing business with American companies, significantly disrupting its ability to source key parts.