Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Prague

  • Skoda sales down by more than 12% in 2021, at 878.200 units sold

    Skoda sales down by more than 12% in 2021, at 878.200 units sold

    Skoda announced on Tuesday that global sales fell 12.6% in 2021 to 878,200 cars delivered last year.

    According to Reuters, the decline is due to a shortage of semiconductors and the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    The largest decrease was recorded in the Chinese market, where sales decreased by 58.8% compared to 2020.

    Most cars were sold in Western Europe, about 409,000 units. It is followed by Central Europe where 164,100 units were sold.

    Eastern Europe remains a weak market for Skoda, after the car maker sold only 35,800 cars in this region in 2021.

    Locally, the Czechs delivered 79,900 units, a decrease of 4%. In December alone, 7,100 Skoda cars were sold in the Czech Republic.

    Which were the best selling models

    The Octavia remains Skoda’s best-selling model, with 200,800 units delivered last year. Next is Kamiq, a model sold in 120,700 units.

    Another SUV, the Karoq, finished in the top 3 of the best-selling Skoda models, with 119,200 units sold last year.

    The lowest-selling model is the Citigo (4,400 units), noting that it is only available for purchase in Europe.

  • Unemployment rate in Czechia at 3.4% in May 2021

    Unemployment rate in Czechia at 3.4% in May 2021

    The general unemployment rate of the aged 15–64 years in Czechia reached 3.4% in May 2021 and increased by 0.8%, year-on-year.

    The male unemployment rate, seasonally adjusted, attained 2.8%; the female unemployment rate reached 4.0%.

    The employment rate of the aged 15–64 years reached 74.0% in May 2021 and decreased by 0.1 percentage point compared to that in May 2020.

    The male employment rate was 80.8%; the female employment rate was 67.0%, both seasonally adjusted.

    The employment rate of persons aged 15–29 years, seasonally adjusted, was 45.9%, in the age group 30–49 years it attained 87.1%, and in the age group 50–64 years it got to 75.8%.

  • Bonami has a new sales target for 2021, EUR 96 million

    Bonami has a new sales target for 2021, EUR 96 million

    Bonami had set a target of EUR 77 million in sales for 2021, but after an increase in sales, it changed this threshold to EUR 96 million.

    Pavel Vopařil, CEO of Bonami, explained: After the first three months of 2021, we had to re-evaluate the forecast. We are growing significantly faster

    Some categories stood out, such as sofas, mattresses or pillows, which indicates that people still want to invest to make their home more comfortable.

    Also, garden accessories and furniture have grown in importance, and due to the fact that Bonami has introduced its own brand.

    For the near future, the company focuses on several projects that will be implemented in the coming months, sunch as optimizing the website and delivery methods.

    Depending on the evolution of the pandemic and the restrictions imposed, Bonami will evaluate the opportunity to open stores in new locations.

  • Czech PropTech in 2020: acquisitions, investments and skyscrapers in NYC

    Czech PropTech in 2020: acquisitions, investments and skyscrapers in NYC

    Despite the difficulties caused by COVID-19, 2020 was a turning point, in a positive sense, for most Czech PropTech companies.

    Thus, many companies have expanded to foreign markets, where Czech solutions for residential and commercial development are receiving positive responses.

    It was the epidemiological situation that created strong pressure to automate and digitize processes using modern technologies.

    These technologies include machine reading, artificial intelligence, or the Internet of Things.

    The Czech-Slovak Association of PropTech Companies made a top of the most 5 progressive companies in this field.

    Sharry

    The company has more than doubled its turnover in 2020, even though many of its projects have slowed down due to the pandemic.

    Sharry also won a contract to implement software and mobile applications in 23 skyscrapers in New York (including the iconic One Vanderbilt).

    “We are registering an enormous demand from our customers for contactless solutions, such as mobile access or our product innovation – the ability to call an elevator directly from a smartphone avoiding the need to touch shared surfaces. More and more clients are also in demand for our data analysis tools to help them strengthen the tenant’s confidence in office comeback,” says Vlad Mašinský, Strategic Partnership & Business Development Lead.

    Also, last year, Sharry became the global technology partner of HID Origo.

    Realpad

    The software provider for residential developers operating in 12 European markets after it entered Romania, Lithuania, and Estonia in 2020.

    Despite the covid-19 pandemic, Realpad expects year-on-year sales growth of 80%.

    They are working on the first coliving project and have information on the development of real estate prices.

    According to Realpad, the share of buyers increased to 40% for investment reasons.

    ”During this year, in cooperation with the development company Corwin, we managed to implement a pilot project to digitize the handover of apartments. It was the onset of the digitization of the covid-19 pandemic that accelerated significantly, and we are registering increased demand for the product from foreign and local developers,” says Marián Škvarek on behalf of Realpad.

    Spaceflow

    Integrating data, technology, and people, Spaceflow helps landlords to go through digital transformation to finally connect buildings with their occupiers.

    Spaceflow delivers an operating system that integrates both physical and digital aspects, and community engagement to create an elevated experience for occupants in residential and commercial buildings in 17 markets.

    ”We are monitoring the increased interest in technologies enabling contactless access, whether it is building entrance and contactless door opening, cashless payments, monitoring energy consumption, air quality, occupancy or contactless reservations – all with connection to the building from one mobile application we provide,” says Petr Bořuta, who is responsible for marketing at Spaceflow.

    Flatio

    Flatio provides medium-term housing rentals in 17 markets. This year, they bought NOMADX’s activities in the Portuguese market, where it now offers 2,000 housing opportunities.

    Due to Covid-19, it faced a spring income halt, yet it is growing at a double-digit rate compared to last year.

    But, it appears that a large number of residential property owners are abandoning the format of short-term leases and looking for medium-term ones.

    Upvest

    In the midst of an ongoing pandemic, Upvest managed to achieve two significant milestones in 2020, gradually strengthening its position within the Czech market.

    With an increase of 98 %, the company has doubled the volume of invested projects on its platform, exceeding a total of 3 574 investments secured.

    Secondly, Upvest partnered with Komerční bank through its subsidiary KB Smart Solutions in July 2020. KB Smart Solutions entered the company by acquiring an 18,9 % share. B

    The capital is now being implemented so as to further advance growth and improve the services offered.

  • Skoda wants to cut 2% of administrative jobs in Czechia this year

    Skoda wants to cut 2% of administrative jobs in Czechia this year

    Skoda wants to cut 2% of administrative jobs in Czechia this year, not through redundancies, but by not replacing retiring employees, Reuters reports.

    Skoda has 42,000 employees worldwide. Although most of them work in the Czech Republic, the company has not released details on the exact number of local employees and how many positions are administrative.

    Czech news agency CTK estimates Skoda’s number of Czech employees at 34,000.

    Employees unions announced on Thursday that the company wants to reduce ”indirect staff”, those who are not involved in production, by 5% by 2023.

  • EBRD becomes shareholder in Czech online food retailer Velka Pecka

    EBRD becomes shareholder in Czech online food retailer Velka Pecka

    The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is becoming a shareholder in the Czech online retailer Velka Pecka.

    Velka Pecka was established in 2014 and became the leading online grocery retailer in the Czech Republic, operating under the brand name Rohlik.

    During public health restrictions and lockdowns, online food retail has become a lifeline for many customers.

    Velka Pecka is now seeking to expand its operations in Hungary, and to enter the Romanian market and other countries where the EBRD invests.

    The company will introduce training for more than 600 young women and men in Hungary and Romania.

    Velka Pecka will also promote female talent in science, technology, engineering, mathematics and management, by targeting gender parity in these roles as well as in training.

  • Czech government to impose mandatory Covid-19 antigen tests for employees

    Czech government to impose mandatory Covid-19 antigen tests for employees

    Czech government has ordered that all staff of all medium and large companies in the country to be tested for the new coronavirus. DPA reports.

    Thus, 2.1 million employees will have to be tested at least once in the next two weeks, after which test intervals of one week will apply.

    The decision does not apply to companies with 50 employees or less.

    Testing is mandatory for all employees and the cost of antigen tests will be paid from health insurance, but alternatively it will be possible to use self-tests, which will be subsidized.

    Companies face drastic fines if they do not comply with this measure.

  • New state of emergency in The Czech Republic

    New state of emergency in The Czech Republic

    The Czech government has called a new state of emergency. This time for another 30 days, until March 28.

    The lower house of Parliament refused to extend the current state of emergency but did pass a new pandemic law that allowed the government to impose new tougher restrictions.

    The state of emergency has been valid in Czechia since October 5 2020.

    Under the new state of emergency there will be new strict restrictions limiting people’s movement and tightening shop and school closures.

    Czechia has the highest per capita infection rate in the world over the past week.

  • Notino, a 42% increase in turnover in 2020, to 563 million euros

    Notino, a 42% increase in turnover in 2020, to 563 million euros

    Notino reached an annual turnover of 563 million euros in 2020, an increase of almost 194 million euros compared to the previous year.

    The company delivered over 12 million packages in Europe, and during the Black Friday promotion, the busiest period before Christmas, it processed a number of 140,000 packages in one day.

    On average, the number of packages processed daily in 2020 was about 30,000.

    Perfumes increased by 22% year on year, in the case of makeup products the increase was almost 50%, and in terms of hair cosmetics and skin care, turnover increased by 70%.

    Notino is present in 24 markets and has over 16.5 million customers.

    Last year, the company opened a second logistics center in Romania, after the one in the Czech Republic.

  • Czech coffee chain CrossCafe closed all locations in Prague

    Czech coffee chain CrossCafe closed all locations in Prague

    Czech coffee chain CrossCafe announced that it closed all five locations in Prague, as a result of the Government measures related to the coronavirus pandemic.

    ”For almost a year these measures limited the normal functioning of the entire HORECA sector, including CrossCafe cafes”, says the company statement.

    CrossCafe say that the support of the Government of the Czech Republic is far from covering costs.

    CrossCafe Atrium, Kateřinská, Strossmayer Square, Anděl, Komunardu are the closed locations.

    Prague is currently most affected by the outflow of tourists, the absence of office workers, as well as students.

  • P3 Logistic Parks increases total portfolio by 48%. German portfolio tripled

    P3 Logistic Parks increases total portfolio by 48%. German portfolio tripled

    In 2020, P3 concluded 600,000 m2 of new developments for new and returning clients such as Amazon, Mercedes-Benz, TEDi, PepsiCo, DHL and InPost.

    Development project highlights of the year included the hand-over of the 190,000 m2 G+3 warehouse for Amazon in Castelguglielmo, northern Italy, as well as the commenced construction on a 98,000 m2 warehouse in the Echt region of the Netherlands.

    Furthermore, P3 continues to invest in brownfields, having announced the acquisition of a 40-hectare plot of land in central Ostrava, the Czech Republic’s 3rd largest city.

    P3 also concluded last year two major acquisitions, Maximus and Matrix, totalling 1.5 million m2 GLA. During 2020, P3’s portfolio increased by 48%, to 6.5 million m2 GLA.

    Shift toward eCommerce and retail operators

    Following global trends, P3’s portfolio composition continued to see a shift toward eCommerce and retail operators.

    As of December 31st, 2020, ~30% of P3’s portfolio was engaged in retail and eCommerce activity.

    This is directly in line with P3’s strategy to develop warehouse properties in strategic locations near population centres, some of which P3 classifies as Urban Logistics.

  • Skanska to invest EUR 76M in a new office building in Prague

    Skanska to invest EUR 76M in a new office building in Prague

    Skanska invests EUR 76M in the first phase of Port7, a mixed-use project located in Prague. The construction contract is worth about CZK 1.7 billion.

    The ten-story office building will have a total leasable area of around 27,700 square meters, with two underground parking levels.

    The investment also includes underground parking levels for the planned second phase of Port7.

    The full Port7 complex will offer about 35,000 square meters of A-class office and retail premises in three buildings, with retail stores, restaurants, cafés and fitness centers located on the ground floor of the buildings.