May 6, 2010
Morgan Stanley Hungary has been selected as one of the top 30 most attractive employers in the country to start a career, as ranked in a survey of more than 200 companies by Hewitt Associates. The Hewitt results are based on a survey completed by 36,000 graduates and job-seekers. These results were combined with a survey of the companies' services, values and offers to new graduates.Survey participants viewed the Morgan Stanley brand positively and said the firm provided excellent learning and development programs, career opportunities and talent management systemsThe firm also ranked in the top three for the SSC sector, which is notable because Morgan Stanley has only set up operations in Hungary recently, when many of the other companies in the top 30 have had a much longer presence in the country.Morgan Stanley established its presence in Hungary when in 2005 it set up the Mathematical Modeling Center in Budapest to provide quantitative analysis to support the firm's global fixed income trading business. The decision to locate the Center in Budapest was based on Hungary's outstanding mathematical traditions and the availability of high-quality talent.
May 10, 2010
In March, the trade balance showed a surplus of EUR 653 million (HUF 172 billion); the balance improved by EUR 167 million (HUF 25 billion) compared to the same month of 2009. In March 2010, according to first estimates, exports amounted to EUR 6,141 million (HUF 1,638 billion), while the value of imports reached EUR 5,488 million (HUF 1,467 billion). The EUR value of exports increased by 18pct; that of imports increased 16pct over the equivalent month of the preceding year.The share of the European Union Member States was 77pct in exports and 69pct in imports.Over the course of January-March 2010, the value of exports was EUR 16,175 million (HUF 4,352 billion), while that of imports totaled up to EUR 14,859 million (HUF 4,002 billion) according to preliminary results. In Euro terms, the exports increased by 17pct and the imports grew by 12pct. The trade balance showed a surplus of (HUF 350 billion) EUR 1317 million, which meant an improvement of EUR 735 million (HUF 163 billion) compared to the surplus of EUR 582 million (HUF 187 billion) from the previous year.
The assistance contracts of a further three applications awarded funding to be implemented in the Hungarian-Croatian border region within the framework of the Cross-Border Co-operation Program have just been signed in the settlement of Zalacsány in Zala County. Over the 2007-2013 period, applicants from these two countries have the opportunity to invest a total of EUR 46 million within the framework of the Hungary-Croatia IPA Cross-border Co-operation Program to strengthen intensive social and economic ties and develop cross-border cooperation.
The local government of Balatonfüred has been awarded non-reimbursable EU funding amounting to HUF 1.5 billion. This was carried out in order to promote tourism, and announced within the framework of the Central Transdanubian Operational Program. The priority project "Gem of the Shores of Lake Balaton II" has been completed, which Mr Béla Pál, president of the Central Transdanubian Regional Development Council, and Dr István Bóka, mayor of Balatonfüred, handed over to mark the debut of the Jókai Days festival.
May 7, 2010
In January-March 2010, in public accommodation establishments, the number of both guests and arrivals were 4 and 5pct higher respectively than those recorded a year earlier. Accommodation establishments showed a half percent decrease in revenue at current pricesDespite a year-on-year increase in arrivals and a performance better than in 2006, there was an 8pct fall compared with 2008.There has been a downturn in the accommodation market since the end of 2008. However, in the first quarter of 2010, 499,000 foreign guests spent 1,333,000 nights in public accommodation establishments and both the numbers of arrivals as well as of tourism nights increased (by 7 and 6pct respectively).
Austrian logistics company Gebruder Weiss wants to establish a new base in the Hungarian city of Mosonmagyarovar in 2011, board member Heinz Senger-Weiss said at a press conference on May 7.Establishing the base would create 26 jobs, Mr Senger-Weiss said. Currently, Gebruder Weiss's unit employs 218 people, he added.Gebruder Weiss's Hungarian unit had revenue of HUF 8.7 billion in 2009, down 15pct from 2008. This year, the unit's revenue is expected to grow, he said.Regional director for Eastern Europe Jurgen Bauer said an important goal in 2010 was to bring the time for deliveries from Hungary to any destination in Germany to under 48 hours.
Richter Group's sales amounted to HUF 63,451 million (EUR 236.4 million) in the three months leading to March 2010, a 3.4pct increase (14.4pct in EUR terms) when compared with same period of 2009. The Group's positive performance in the CIS countries and in most of the EU member states was partly offset by the reported sales decline in the USA.In Hungary, sales totalled HUF 8,722 million (EUR 32.5 million) in the first quarter of 2010, which represented a 2.1pct year-on-year sales increase compared to the level recorded in the same period of last year..Profit from operations in the three months to March 2010 at HUF 10,530 million (EUR 39.2 million) was HUF 1,907 million (15.3pct) lower than in the same period in 2009. Profit after taxation declined by 46.3pct in HUF and by 40.6pct in EUR terms during the reported period to a total of HUF 11,557 million (EUR 43.1 million) principally due to significantly lower levels of net financial income.
According to preliminary data in March 2010, industrial gross output increased by 2.8pct compared to March 2009; the index adjusted by working days was equal to the non-adjusted one. The volume of the production was by 4.5pct higher in the first three months of 2010 than in the same period of the previous year. The volume of industrial production in March - according to seasonally and by working-day adjusted indices - was below the level of the previous month by 0.4pct.
The former 'exclusive magnate quarter' in the center of Budapest, namely the Palace District in the 8th District known as Józsefváros will be renewed by the summer 2011 with the help of EU funding amounting to nearly HUF 900 million within the framework of an investment costing over a total of HUF 1.6 billion to complete.This investment not only paves the way to the renewal of the eclectic Art Nouveau buildings and public spaces in this district, but will also fill the heart of Józsefváros with new life. Urban rehabilitation programs are prioritized as regards making use of resources granted by the European Union. A total of HUF 24.5 billion was allocated for urban rehabilitation programmes over the 2004-2006 period within the framework of the National Development Plan, whilst, within the framework of the New Hungary Development Plan, a total of HUF 270 billion has been made available for implementing urban rehabilitation projects over the 2007-2013 period.
Raleigh Studios of the US, and Europe's Origo Film Group on Thursday showed their new HUF 17billion studio in Rakospalota, on the edge of Budapest, which was completed about seven months ago. There are already two Hollywood-like studios in Etyek and Pomáz in Hungary. About 85pct of the cost of the Raleigh investment was covered by an unsubsidised loan from the Hungarian Development Bank (MFB) that is without state guarantee. The government awarded the project a HUF 178 million subsidy based on a case-by-case review.The 40,000 square meter studio, constructed on around 18 hectares, will create about a hundred jobs, but several thousand new jobs could be created at film industry companies that use the studios, said Raleigh Studios chairman Michael Moore.Raleigh Studios picked Hungary as the site for the new facility because of tax breaks for filmmakers, the potential shooting locations in and around the capital and the pool of skilled film professionals.Zsolt Lakatos, MFB's chief loan officer, said the investment at the studio was expected to be recouped in 12 years. Currently, they are already shooting the movie Monte Carlo there starring Katie Cassidy and Andie Macdowell with Nicole Kidman as the producer, to be released in 2011.
May 5, 2010
German automotive industry supplier Bosch is building a production hall at its base in Miskolc (NE Hungary) that will create more than a thousand jobs, Klaus Leopold, managing director of Bosch's Hungarian unit, said at a press conference in Budapest on Wednesday. Among the new positions will be 80 engineers, said Leopold. Currently, the unit, called Robert Bosch Energy and Body Systems, employs more than 1,400 people to make starters, drive shafts and windshield washer systems.Construction of the plant will start in May and is expected to be finished in the spring of 2011.Bosch will create a further, more than 400 jobs as its moves capacity from Wales to its bases in Miskolc and the Hungarian city of Hatvan. Production of generators for luxury cars will be moved from Bosch's plant in Cardiff. Bosch employed some 6,000 people at its bases in Miskolc, Budapest, Eger and Hatvan at the end of 2009, down from 7,250 a year earlier. Because of developments, headcount could rise again to 7,000 by the end of 2010.Bosch spent HUF 14 billion on investments in Hungary last year with HUF 10 billion on R&D.
Proactive investor Ascent Resources successfully completes PEN-101 sidetrack well " Ascent Resources PLC (AIM: AST) announced the successful completion of the PEN-101 sidetrack well, part of the Penészlek project in the Nyírség exploration permits of eastern Hungary, through its subsidiary PetroHungaria kft." Click here to read Bloomberg Hungarian Industrial Output Rises for Third Month "Hungary's industrial output rose in March from a year earlier, the third consecutive month with an annual gain, as a pickup in exports signals a recovery from the worst recession since 1991." Click here to read indiewire Cannes Finalizes Lineup; Xiaoshuai, Mundruczó Join Competition" The Cannes Film Festival has announced the remaining films set for the Croisette this year, including two additional titles for competition. Taking the Competition to a total of 18 titles, Hungarian director Kornél Mondruczó's Tender Son: The Frankenstein Project and Wang Xiaoshuai's Chongqing Blues have both been added." Click here to read
Successfully Doing Business/Marketing In Eastern Europe (Routledge Studies in International Business and the World EconomySuccessfully Doing Business/Marketing in Eastern Europe is a unique collection of instructive and detailed essays that will help readers to understand and navigate the complexities of the business world and marketplace of Eastern Europe. The respected authors in this collection seamlessly blend sophisticated analysis and practical advice to enlighten the reader to the peculiarities of consumer behavior, industry policy, and the economic and social demographics in the region. Click here to read