Money Buzz! Europa

Tag: coronavirus

  • Trento to receive €300 million for sustainable projects and post-COVID-19 reconstruction

    Trento to receive €300 million for sustainable projects and post-COVID-19 reconstruction

    The EU bank is backing the Autonomous Province of Trento for all sustainable public sector projects and the economic recovery from the impact of the COVID-19 pandemic.

    This is the goal of the agreement signed yesterday by the European Investment Bank (EIB), which will provide €300 million to the northern Italian province, with an initial tranche of €160 million already finalised. 

    Cassa del Trentino – the institution for supporting economic development and infrastructure construction and management within the autonomous province – will be responsible for channelling the resources to municipalities and public entities.

    In concrete terms, projects in the public infrastructure, energy efficiency and renewable energy sources, sustainable transport, urban development and renewal sectors together with investments in tackling and mitigating climate change will be eligible for financing.

    These will be joined by any projects of municipalities and public entities in Trentino that aim to alleviate the effects of the economic and social crisis caused by the pandemic and lay the groundwork for an economic recovery.

    The maturity of the loans can be up to 20 years, with a four-year grace period.

  • 90% of tenants paid their obligations on time to the office buildings owners

    90% of tenants paid their obligations on time to the office buildings owners

    Most tenants complied on time with their contractual obligations to owners of the office buildings managed by Colliers International in the first half of this year, even though in some cases the rented spaces remained unoccupied for some time, due to the state of emergency.

    Thus, the share of tenants who paid their debts on time remained constant, on average, compared to the same period from 2019, of almost 90%, despite the effects of the pandemic on their activity, according to data from the property management division of Colliers International.

    There are signals in the office market that contractual obligations, which include rent, utilities and service charge, will continue to be met and paid on time by tenants in the future, even though there are uncertainties about this sector and expectations that it will undergo major changes in the coming years, at least from the perspective of the balance between office work and home work.

    Tenants of industrial spaces managed by Colliers International have also mostly tried to pay their obligations on time, although there are slight differences in the number of companies that were able to meet all contractual obligations in the first half of this year compared to the same period from 2019.

    If, in the case of some projects, there were tenants more affected by the current context, being forced to delay payment obligations (production facilities), in others there was an even higher rate of companies that paid on time (storage facilities) compared to last year, or even projects in which this happened for all tenants.

    Tenants of retail spaces located on ground floors of class A office buildings were, explicably, the most affected in the last period. This has resulted in a decrease in the number of retailers that have been able to comply with their contractual obligations towards owners of office buildings managed by Colliers International.

    However, owners of office spaces have been open to find solutions, together with the retail tenants on the ground floor of the buildings, so that the recovery would be as fast as possible. These included, in the first phase, deferrals to rent payments, and other concrete measures could be established in the next period, once the evolution of the market becomes clearer.

    Colliers International manages a total portfolio of over 550.000 square meters of industrial and office spaces

    Colliers International manages a total portfolio of over 550.000 square meters of industrial and office spaces, including the office projects Equilibrium, Business Garden Bucharest, The Office in Cluj-Napoca, The Bridge, Hermes Business Campus, Stefan cel Mare Building, Art Business Center, the office portfolio owned by Adam America, the office portfolio owned by Smartown Group, Allianz Office Building Brasov and Vox Technology Park in Timisoara, as well as three industrial parks in Timisoara, Brasov and Arad and the ELI Park 1 industrial park developed by Element Industrial in the north of the Capital.

  • New landing bans force Austrian Airlines to cancel flights

    New landing bans force Austrian Airlines to cancel flights

    The Austrian Federal Ministry of Social Affairs, Health, Care and Consumer Protection has massively expanded the list of landing bans for aircraft.

    Starting Thursday, 16 July 2020, no regular flights from the following countries, among others, will be permitted to land in Austria: Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Bulgaria, Egypt, Kosovo, Montenegro, North Macedonia, Romania and Serbia.

    The landing bans for aircraft from Great Britain, Sweden and the Ukraine have been extended. The decree is valid until 31 July 2020.

    Due to the official prohibition, Austrian Airlines is forced to cancel all flights between Vienna and the following destinations during the period 16-31 July 2020: Belgrade, Bucharest, Cairo, Kyiv, London, Podgorica, Pristina, Sarajevo, Sibiu, Skopje, Sofia, Stockholm, Tirana and Varna.

    The landing bans will also have an impact on the remaining route network of Austrian Airlines, due to the fact that the affected routes are frequented by many transfer passengers. These passengers will be missing, for example on flights to the USA.

    Passengers whose flights were cancelled and who do not want to make use of the rebooking options can apply for a refund using the online form on the Austrian Airlines website.

    Passengers who wish to take their flight at a later date have various rebooking options and can start their rebooked journey up until the end of 2021.

  • EIB approves € 16.6 billion for COVID-19 health response

    EIB approves € 16.6 billion for COVID-19 health response

    • € 10.2 billion for COVID-19 public health and business financing;
    • € 5.2 billion for new private sector financing schemes;
    • € 2 billon for energy and energy efficiency investment around the world;
    • Millions of commuters to benefit from € 1.9 billion urban transport funding in Europe, Asia and Africa.

    The European Investment Bank (EIB) approved € 16.6 billion of new financing for projects across Europe and around the world.

    This includes more than € 10 billion of COVID-19-related investment to improve public health, strengthen public services and back investment by companies in sectors hit by the pandemic.

    € 10.2 billion to help businesses and the public sector cope with the pandemic

    This includes € 2 billion to support COVID-19 public health and healthcare investment across Italy and € 1.5 billion to help local authorities in France to better respond to the pandemic.

    An additional € 1 billion was approved to strengthen the public sector response to COVID-19 in the Czech Republic, Hungary, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Romania and Slovakia, € 900 million for public and private investment related to COVID-19 challenges across the Western Balkans and € 800 million for COVID-19 related business investment in Egypt.

    Companies in Estonia, Greece, Italy, Latvia, Lithuania, Portugal and Slovakia most impacted by the pandemic will also be supported through new targeted credit lines.

    Outside Europe the EIB will also enable companies in North and sub-Saharan Africa, the Eastern Neighbourhood and southern Caucasus to access financing under a dedicated regional COVID-19 financing programme.

    € 1.9 billion to improve energy efficiency, cut emissions and increase energy access

    Energy bills and emissions will be significantly reduced following new district heating investment in France and the Netherlands approved by the EIB today.

    The EIB agreed € 900 million of new green energy investment in Italy and Spain and backed a new cross border energy link between Greece and North Macedonia to reduce carbon emissions and phase out the use of lignite.

    The EIB also approved financing to two new electricity interconnectors in Mali and Madagascar to reduce dependency on fossil fuels, increase energy access and increase the use of cheaper energy sources. In Mali the capital Bamako will be connected to the West Africa power pool and new sources of renewable energy from across the region.

    Sustainable power generation in Colombia, Ecuador and Mexico will be strengthened under a new financing programme approved by the EIB.

    Urban transport and green shipping

    Commuters and residents of Krakow will benefit from cleaner and better public transport following EIB support for new investment in the city.

    The EIB also agreed € 1.1 billion of new support that will transform public transport in cities across Egypt and € 650 million for construction of two new metro lines with 30 stations in the Indian city of Kanpur.

    River, rail and road logistics in Europe will be enhanced and emissions reduced by upgrading the Duisburg inland port, another project backed by the EIB.

    Urban development and social housing

    Thousands of families will benefit from new energy efficient social housing investment in Germany and energy efficient housing across Kenya.

    A new project to accelerate investment in sustainable projects in Barcelona will contribute to achieving the goal to cut per capita carbon emissions by half in the Catalan capital.

  • Business leaders are optimistic about recovery in Europe

    Business leaders are optimistic about recovery in Europe

    Two-thirds (66%) of business leaders globally are optimistic that the European market will make a relatively fast recovery from the economic downturn caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, according to a new report from Accenture.

    The report, entitled “Bold Moves in Tough Times” and based on a survey of nearly 500 C-level executives in Europe, North America and Asia-Pacific across 15 industries, found that approximately three in 10 respondents (29%) expect the recovery in Europe to be fairly rapid (“V-shaped”), while 37% anticipate a slower, but steady, “U-shaped” recovery in the next 12 months.

    The most optimistic sector is pharmaceuticals/biotech/life sciences, with 34% of business leaders in that sector expecting an increased demand in Europe as a result of the pandemic. The second-most-optimistic sector is communications, media & entertainment, with 52% of those respondents expecting a V-shaped recovery in their European markets, followed by insurance, at 47%.

    At the other end of the spectrum are the automotive and airlines/travel/transportation sectors, with only 7% and 12% of respondents, respectively, expecting a rapid recovery.

    The report also reveals that executives expect the German, Nordic and U.K. economies to rebound the fastest from the downturn, followed by France, Spain and Italy.

    In addition, European business leaders are optimistic regarding Europe’s competitiveness, as four in 10 respondents (39%) believe that European companies will be more competitive vis-a-vis their U.S. peers than they were before the crisis, and even more (43%) believe that European companies will be more competitive compared with Chinese businesses.

    Accenture’s research indicates that there is a risk that executives in Europe are overly cautious regarding how they prepare for the rebound, compared with those in North America and Asia-Pacific.

    Specifically, European executives appear to be:

    • Focusing on incremental rather than game-changing innovation: More than half (53%) of European respondents said they are slowing investments in innovation and won’t relaunch any initiatives in the next six months, compared with 33% of respondents in North America and 49% in Asia Pacific.
    • Underinvesting in the future of business: In Europe, only about one in seven companies (16%) is already investing in initiatives to prepare for the rebound, compared with one in four (25%) in Asia Pacific and one in three (34%) in North America.
    • Less likely to collaborate to rebound: Business leaders in Europe are slightly less likely than those in North America and Asia-Pacific to collaborate with other companies to mitigate the impact of the crisis and rebound faster (48% of those in Europe, compared with 53% in North America and 55% in Asia-Pacific).
  • United States: Two-speed business bankruptcies

    United States: Two-speed business bankruptcies

    As the COVID-19 epidemic hits the United States very hard, Coface forecasts in its baseline scenario that the country’s GDP will contract by 5.6% in 2020, before rebounding by 3.3% in 2021.

    Nevertheless, this forecast is threatened by the resurgence of the outbreak in several states, which are already pausing or even reversing the resumption of activity after the extensive lockdown of April.

    On the bankruptcy front, the sharpest drop in GDP should be followed by a massive increase in business bankruptcy filings.

    Nonetheless, since the beginning of the crisis, the latter has fallen since February, driven by a significant drop of bankruptcy filings under Chapter 7 of the US bankruptcy law (liquidation).

    At the same time the number of companies seeking Chapter 11 protection (reorganization) is up sharply (+48% year-on-year in May), indicating that bankruptcies related to COVID-19 are already brewing. Coface forecasts bankruptcy to rebound in the second half of 2020, with an expected increase of 43% between the end of 2019 and the end of 2021.

    Furthermore, Coface’s estimates show that the “zombie” companies, which have grown over the last decade to represent more than 6% of companies in 2019, could also be pushed into bankruptcy in the coming months. The number of companies in difficulty is also likely to multiply as a result of the accumulation of debt.

    Falling bankruptcies in recent months: a sham situation

    2019 saw the first annual increase in bankruptcies since 2009 with an increase in proceedings initiated in 2019 by 2.5% compared to 2018. Data released after the first quarter of 2020 shows that after a jump of 21% in January, corporate bankruptcy proceedings began to decline starting in February.

    As in Europe, measures to support corporate liquidity, a wait-and-see attitude of debtor companies and the closure of bankruptcy courts might explain this trend.

    However, given the magnitude of the shock and while the support measures should gradually expire, business failures in the United States are expected to accelerate.

    The health of aggregate company balance sheets highlights that the aerospace, retail, automotive and energy sectors are the most vulnerable to this situation.

    Bankruptcies and “zombification” threaten debt-laden companies

    The “zombie” companies, which continue to operate despite precarious solvency and profitability, could also be pushed into bankruptcy in the coming months.

    More importantly, with more companies forced to leverage debt to cope with revenue losses, the threat of a multiplication of distressed companies is added to the risk of bankruptcy.

  • CureVac, €75 million loan agreement for the development of vaccines

    CureVac, €75 million loan agreement for the development of vaccines

    European Investment Bank and CureVac sign €75 million loan agreement for the development and large-scale production of vaccines, including CureVac’s vaccine candidate against SARS-CoV-2.

    In addition, the loan will support the company’s efforts to expand its existing Good Manufacturing Practice (GMP) certified production capabilities and accelerate the completion of its fourth production site in Tübingen, Germany.

    The EIB financing will be provided in three €25 million tranches upon completion of pre-defined milestones.

    CureVac is a leading clinical stage biotechnology company in the field of messenger RNA (mRNA) technology with 20 years of expertise in developing and optimizing this versatile molecule for medical purposes.

  • How the Austrian labour market performed during the corona crisis

    How the Austrian labour market performed during the corona crisis

    According to Statistics Austria, 434.000 cases of dependent employment ended in March, April and May 2020, and in 358.000 cases new employment was taken up.

    The number of persons in employment according to the international definition was 4.132.700 for May 2020, still 135.800 below May 2019, but already 50.300 higher than in April 2020.

    Actual working hours also grew significantly in May, averaging 28.9 hours, 3.3 hours more than in April 2020.

    However, it was still 3.3 hours per week less than in the same month last year.

    Out of 238.000 persons, who had terminated their employment in the period 15 to 31 March 2020, 43% had found employment again by the end of May 2020 – in six out of ten cases with the same employer with whom they were previously employed.

    Nonetheless, unemployment remained high in May at 264.600 unemployed persons (according to the international definition).

    The scale of the decline in employment is more visible in the “labour reserve”, which grew from 128.800 persons in February 2020 to 213.800 in May 2020.

  • Travelers to Greece must complete an electronic declaration

    Travelers to Greece must complete an electronic declaration

    From 1 July, all entrants to Greece, regardless of nationality, must complete, at least 48 hours before travel, an electronic declaration on the following website.

    The declaration contains information about the starting point of the traveler, previous trips and stays in other countries, as well as the address where will stay in Greece.

    After filling in the electronic declaration, a unique identification code (QR code) is automatically generated, which must be submitted, in electronic form or on paper, to the local authorities upon arrival in Greece. 

    Passengers without a QR code will not be allowed to enter Grecce.

    Based on the data from the declaration, it is possible that the passenger will be tested for coronavirus on arrival in Greece, and will need to isolate himself until the result.

  • SPAR supports local communities in Sardinia, Italy

    SPAR supports local communities in Sardinia, Italy

    SPAR Italy is assisting households in Sardinia facing the economic consequences of the coronavirus emergency on the island.

    A large part of Sardinia’s revenue derives from tourism, an industry that is still struggling with huge losses. Since the start of the COVID-19 outbreak, many people in this industry have lost their source of income.

    How SPAR initiative works

    The initiative, called ”Together for Sardinia”, aims to support households in need, by donating products or financial support.

    Customers at retail stores will be able to purchase a basket of local foods at a discounted price.

    The basket comprises staples such as tuna, cheeses, olive oil, pasta, and preserves. In total, 5% of the sales income will be donated to support local households in need.

  • 75% of multinational groups in Romania estimate a decrease of 25% in revenues

    75% of multinational groups in Romania estimate a decrease of 25% in revenues

    About 75% of survey respondents estimate that the total revenues of the companies they represent will decrease by less than 25% in 2020, compared to 2019, as a result of the medical crisis, according to the survey ”Transfer Pricing Challenges during and post Covid-19”, conducted by PwC Romania during April – May 2020.

    At the same time, almost half of the Romanian entities of the multinational groups estimate the decrease of the profit margin from the transactions with the affiliated parties, and 36% of the respondents indicated that the eventual expenses generated by the COVID-19 crisis won’t be reimbursed by the group.

    In terms of liquidity, most respondents indicated that they had enough cash to support their business, and in the event of major problems, 60% indicated renegotiating payment terms, without contracting new funding.

    Only 20% of responses focused on the option of obtaining additional funding from third parties.

    Expenses generated by the COVID-19 crisis

    The main extraordinary expenses generated by the COVID-19 crisis are related to the workforce, being mentioned by 28% of the respondents.

    Other expenses in this category concern safety at work (equipment, disinfectants), according to a percentage of 20% of the surveyed and logistics companies, show 24% of them.

    Almost a third of respondents say they have already made these expenses, 32% say they will make them in the next 3 months, and 28% by the end of 2020.

    Most respondents have the IT tools to record and measure the financial effects of Covid-19 on related party transactions. The other respondents are not sure of the impact or do not have the necessary resources.

    Other findings

    • 15.5% estimate the decrease in revenues between 25 and 50%.
    • 14% anticipate operating losses due to malfunctions in the economy and 14% decrease in demand from affiliates.
    • The expenses generated by COVID-19 will be passed as local losses of 25% of the companies and only 20% say that there is a chance to share the expenses between the affiliates.
  • METRO to invest 1 billion Rubles in support measures for restaurants

    METRO to invest 1 billion Rubles in support measures for restaurants

    METRO Russia is taking the initiative to launch a dedicated support campaign for the hospitality businesses’ crucial restart endeavors.

    The support efforts are focused on drawing customer traffic to Horeca establishments and easing their financial pressure in the wake of the lockdown, two common challenges facing the gastro sector in their reopen.

    The total investment of all support measures running from June to August is estimated to be up to 1 billion Russian Rubles (approx. 13 million EURs).

    Specifically, prices in the categories of “Fresh” and “Ultra-fresh”, typically in high demand of restaurant businesses, are reduced.

    In addition, from May 20 to June 30, the company offers restaurant customers a cashback of 20% for purchases in July and a 30-day payment deferral.

    METRO Partner for restaurants

    To help drive more customer visits to restaurants, METRO Russia is also launching a program called METRO Partner supporting about 3,000 restaurants nationwide who have signed up for the project.

    All METRO Russia customers now get discount coupons after their shopping at METRO, for them to redeem in the restaurant of their choice.

    Those restaurants are able to get reimbursed for the amount of redeemed discounts in their purchasing in METRO stores.

    METRO Russia local store teams check and work with the restaurants and cafes to ensure their complete compliance with the government and industry guidelines.