Investing in Austria

Austria Flag Austria is an EU member and currently the 12th richest country in the world. It has experienced sustained economic growth and attracts many foreign investors. Austria is home to internationally reputable law firms and banks, and has a vibrant tourism sector.

Austria’s Main Industries

Austria is economically known for its strength in:

  • Services Sector
    • Financial
      • Banking
      • Asset management
      • Law
  • Tourism
  • Industrial and Manufacturing Sector
    • Metals Production
      • Iron
      • Steel
  • Machinery
    • Electric
    • Electronic
    • Equipment
  • Chemicals and Petro-Chemicals
    • Synthetic textile fabrics
    • Pesticides
    • Pharmaceuticals
    • Plastics
  • Textiles
    • Embroidery
    • Spinning
    • Weaving
    • Knitting
    • Forestry Sector
      • Pulp
      • Paper
      • Mining and Minerals Sector
        • Magnesite
        • Lignite
        • Iron Ore

The main stock exchange in Austria is:

  1. 1. Vienna Stock Exchange
    1. Austria’s principal stock exchange
    2. Operated by the company Wiener Börse
    3. Core trading activities are equity and bond markets
    4. Also separately operates the Energy Exchange Austria and the CEGH Gas Exchange
    5. Main Index

i. ATX

 

Glimpse into Austria’s Equity Market

Austrian equities have experienced a strong recovery following the recent recession, with the Market Capitalization of its listed companies increasing by 26% from $53.6 billion in 2009 to $67.7 billion in 2010.

In 2010, the Vienna Stock Exchange had 10 IPOs issued by domestic and foreign enterprises.

Stock Index Performance: ATX

 

Values:

Last

-1 Mo.

-3 Mo.

-6 Mo.

-9 Mo.

-1 Yr.

-3 Yr.

-5 Yr.

-10 Yr.

6/10/2011

5/10/2011

3/10/2011

12/10/2010

9/10/2010

6/10/2010

6/10/2008

6/12/2006

6/11/2001

Price

2,707.50

2,864.00

2,806.83

2,829.99

2,487.27

2,338.71

4,166.44

3,487.03

1,227.00

Performance:

YTD

-1 Mo.

-3 Mo.

-6 Mo.

-9 Mo.

-1 Yr.

-3 Yr.

-5 Yr.

-10 Yr.

Value Change

-24438.00

-156.50

-99.33

-122.49

220.23

368.79

-1,458.94

-779.53

1,480.50

% Change

-5.46%

-3.54%

-4.33%

8.85%

15.77%

-35.02%

-22.55%

118.72%

Source: Datastream

 

Austria’s 10 Most Profitable Companies in 2010

Rank Company Sector Industry Symbol/Ticker Profit ($ mil) Revenue ($ mil)

1

Raiffeisen Bank International AG Banks Financials RBI-VI

1,458.88

12,853.72

2

OMV AG Oil&Gas Energy OMV-VI

1235

31,289.03

3

Erste Group Bank AG Banks Financials EBS-VI

1,172.9

15,954.51

4

Voestalpine AG Metals&Mining Materials VOE-VI

727.57

15,544.3

5

Verbund AG Electric Utilities Utilities VER-VI

537.68

4,437.64

6

Wiener Stadtische Versicherung AG Insurance Financials VIG-VI

509.45

12,533.49

7

EVN AG Electric Utilities Utilities EVN-VI

282.53

3,757.19

8

Telekom Austria AG Diversified Telecommunications Telecommunication Services TKA-VI

262.07

6,239.23

9

Andritz AG Machinery Industrials ANDR-VI

240.92

4,767.5

10

Strabag SE Construction&Engineering Industrial STR-VI

234.58

16,610.17


Ways to Invest in Austria

There are a couple of different ways to invest in Austrian companies:

  • Through established foreign and domestic investment or financial firms with brokerage services
  • Through a regional Austrian bank
    • Investors can access Austrian equities through Austrian banks
      • Bank Austria
      • Ostereichische Postsparkasse (P.S.K)
      • Raiffeisenbanken
      • Austrian ETFs
        • EWO: NYSEArce – tracks the MSCI Austria Investable Market Index
        • Through some international online brokers:
          • MB Trading
          • Interactive Brokers
          • TD Ameritrade
          • E-Trade
          • Questrade
          • optionsXpress
          • optionshouse
          • tradeMONSTER
          • Charles Schwab

 

 

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