събота, 30 април 2011 г.

German chart comments - Issue date - 29.04.2011

It's once again Lambada time on top of the German singles chart as Jennifer Lopez stays there for a third consecutive week. There are also no changes at #2 and #3, where David Guetta/Snoop Dogg and Rihanna, respectively, spend yet another week.

Not much going on down the top 10 with only Katy Perry making a new peak at #9, up from #10, and Usher's amazing "More" jumping five positions to #10 and thus being among the first ten for the first time since its release. 
Video- Usher

In the top 20 there are also new peaks for "Loving You Is Killing Me", Aloe Blacc's "I Need A Dollar" follow-up, which rises to #16 from #33 and Jupiter Jones' "Still", up three to #20. 

The highest new entry can be found as low as #25, seeing the return of hip-hop legend Dr Dre in the countdown. The great "I Need A Doctor" is the first single of Dr Dre as a lead artist since 2001 to enter the charts, while only "Keep Their Heads Ringin" has been more successful by reaching #23 in 1995. 

Two positions behind Dr Dre, Britney Spears comes back in the charts after the misfire of her last single "Hold It Against Me". However, the latter still managed to peaked at #23 despite plummeting quickly in the next weeks, while "Till The World Ends" is already Britney's lowest charting single in Germany apart from "If You Seek Amy". She definitely needs to do something to win again the big German market...

At #44 the Top 100 sees a new entry by Selena Gomez, whose "Who Says" is her fourth single to chart in Germany. The song becomes her second most successful albeit no nowhere near the #14 peak of "Naturally".

A few more peak positions worth mentioning are at #43 by Mads Langer's "You're Not Alone" and at #49 by Big Time Rush's "Boyfriend". Oh, and once again let not forget Adele, whose "Set Fire To The Rain" is already in the top 30 at #29.

And the remaining new entries with videos:

51 Scooter - Friends Turbo - I guess it is going to soar in the forthcoming weeks
55 Michael Jackson - Hollywood Tonight - a follow-up to the #7 peak of "Hold My Hand" and a real grower
78 Depeche Mode - Personal Jesus 2011
100 The Baseballs - Hello - based on the current top hit of Martin Solveig (this week at #11)

The Album Chart

It's Herbert Groenemeyer who has reclaimed his lost #1 in Germany and spends a second week atop the LP charts. The highest new entry belongs to the guys from The Baseballs, who enter the chart at #6 with their sophomore album "Strings'N'Stripes". Their 2009 album "Strike" also came in at #6 and since then the cover specialists have become one of the best exports from Germany. In addition, Big Time Rush's "BTR" debuts this week at #16, while Frida Gold's "Juwel" comes new at #18. 


петък, 29 април 2011 г.

In BG Cinemas from April 29

Тор: Богът на гръмотевиците / Thor - The 2011 summer blockbuster season is officially kicked off with the latest Marvel creation hitting our screens. With a relative unknown in the title role and a director more famous for its Shakespeare flics, Thor has a lot to prove and thankfully more or less has turned into a satisfactory and thrilling experience. Apart from the brilliant turn from Chris Hemsworth in the lead, the movie has to congratulate itself with one of the most intriguing villains lately (who will return in the Avengers!!!), which clearly shows the ability of Branagh to invest in his characters. In addition, the visuals, especially in Thor's world, are splendid and the effects are meticulously done, while the irony and humour are more than welcome. On the negative side perhaps, a greater attention to Thor's sidekicks should have been of a plus for the film, while Natalie Portman doesn't have to stretch much her acting abilities. The biggest flaw for me however was Anthony Hopkins, whose acting lately has become a burden for me. Nevertheless, Thor succeeds in continuing the Avengers mythology (there are many hints, a great introduction of one of the lesser Avengers and a splendid Stark-related line) and also does a terrific job of introducing the God of thunder. And despite not a flawless movie, at the end you will really want more, either via The Avengers in 2012 or the inevitable part 2 in the near future. (Forum Film) ***1/2

Kонцертът/Le Concert (Limited) - A late edition to the cinema programme, this French jewel finally has its premiere in Bulgaria. The goers to the two arthouse cinemas in Sofia will adore it, the others will probably never hear of it. Nevertheless, this is a charming movie that is quite worth checking out. (Radivision - probably) ***1/2

Trailer


MISSED OPPORTUNITY - As for the time being there are no more major BG distribution cancellation announcements, apart from Arthur ( Prom, Hannah & Water for Elephants - you'll be next!), I have to check in the more limited release schedule in the USA to find something worth mentioning in this section. So, welcome Dylan Dog: Dead of Night, a story of the first investigator of the crimes of the dead played by former Superman Brandon Routh. It is more than certain that the tiny budget has resulted in "so so" effects but the trailer at least shows that the movie will be injected with a significant dose of humour and would have been a good addition to the already quite empty May release schedule in Bulgaria. (Responsible - Every distributor you can think of)

The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away

четвъртък, 28 април 2011 г.

No Arthur in Bulgaria!

It's official, there will be no Arthur in Bulgaria! Expect my comments in the Missed Opportunity section of my film reviews every Friday. For now I can only say that there will be a mere SEVEN movies debuting in Bulgaria in May, of which at least one is not certain...

Just wondering what big companies such as Alexandra and Forum Film are doing all day long when obviously they do not distribute films....

вторник, 26 април 2011 г.

BG Boxoffice Update

Matthew was fined with "only" 21,000 leva
As expected by many, Rio sticks to the number one slot in the Bulgarian boxoffice for a third consecutive week. Its results were boosted by the Easter holidays, when many children were out of school, and of course by the good word-of-mouth. Even, the arrival of another kid-friendly 3D movie couldn't manage to hurt its results and Rio slips by a mere 30% and earns 242,000 leva over the weekend, bringing its cumulative boxoffice to a hefty 645,000 leva.

No changes also at #2 and #3, where Bulgarian hit Love.net and De Niro-flick Limitless stand for a second week. Love.net is already approaching the 1m leva threshold and will probably cross it in the next few days, while with a decrease of just 14% Limitless proved one of the biggest successes of the spring with almost 350,000 leva so far. 

The highest new entry comes in at #4. Despite adored by critics, Lincoln's Lawyer managed to collect the not-so-impressive 21,000 leva over the weekend. Of course, the subject matter has put off most of the "clever" BG audience who certainly was afraid that the film might turn to be a serious court drama, unable to be digested by their sun-soaked minds... And in addition, the few (12) screens did not help either.

The Lawyer distributor took another blow this weekend as its other premiere film - Sammy's Adventures managed to earn only 14,000 leva. Yes, as I warned no-one was going to watch a relatively old Belgian turtle movie when the shiny Hollywood parrot title is flying all over the screens. Kudos for the good promotion though. 

Last week I didn't manage to write about the flop of Scream 4 in Bulgaria but with a fall of 45% in the second week and 38,000 leva so far it doesn't seem that the situation has changed for the better. It may have been a world premiere, but when the last three were flops here what did you expect? And Bulgarians are not into the horror genre really...

In the top 10 it's Adam Sandler who once again shows a great staying power, with his Just Go With It easing only 13% and bringing its result to a total of 184,000 leva. 

This week's top 10 has been left by Sucker Punch, which with only 110,000 leva so far can be described as a big flop having in mind all the hype before its release. The Adventure of Adele Blanc-Sac is also out in its second week of release and, though unspectacular, its almost 20,000 leva can be considered a success here. 

Next weekend's projections:

Thor - 150,000 leva, including previews

(1 BG lev = USD 0.75 = EUR 0.51)

неделя, 24 април 2011 г.

Only the latest

Playlist 1
Playlist 2

The latest music from UK, Germany and USA.

Austria's Top Economic News - Week 18-24 April

(New, possibly improved and soon with an added German edition)

As I was on a holiday in the last few days, let's sum up what has happened in the Austrian economic/corporate world in the days before Easter.

Apart from the changes in the government, which seem to have drawn the attention of every media in the country, Statistik Austria said that the number of used vehicle registrations grew by 6.2% in annual terms in the first quarter of 2011. Maybe among the statistics released this week, it was more important that the country's Industrial Producer Price Index rose 5.3% in February 2011 (not in January as the Statistik Austria site wanted us to believe in).

On the corporate level, which let's face it is far more interesting than the dry statistical numbers, the week started with the shocking news that pharmaceuticals producer Sanochemia managed to earn only EUR 4.48m from its latest capital increase. And the company had earmarked EUR 16.25m from the move... Who was to blame then? Sanochemia said it was investor Suntura, which decided not to take part in the transaction but perhaps it was the tough capital market situation recently which even caused a local PV company (don't let me remember its name) to call off its IPO. Furthermore, there are market observers who said that Sanochemia has disappointed investors for years. So better be careful with this one.

On a more positive note, Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) said it had ended 2010 with a profit of EUR 90.8m after two years of heavy losses. The bank will also start returning its state aid. Perhaps the clouds have cleared for this one...

On Tuesday morning all eyes were set on Update Software, which reported a narrowed LBIT of EUR0.6m for the first quarter of the year from EUR1.2m a year earlier. The revenue however continued to decline, so still no time for celebration at the software company. However, the troubles at Update are nothing compared to those at IT services provider S&T System Integration & Technology Distribution AG which said that the equity has fallen under the value of half of the share capital. Not quite a clear statement, but definitely the situation is not good there.

Wednesday began with the 2010 results of Rosenbauer. The fire fighting vehicle maker reported a 10% increase in sales and 6% growth in EBIT.  Its net profit even more than doubled. The market however was not surprised as the same preliminary results were already released in February. All company's shareholders are going to enjoy an increase in dividend to EUR 1.2 per share. Later in the afternoon AUA, the country's flag carrier, said it is relaunching its services to Baghdad, while real estate player Warimpex announced plans for convertible bonds in Warsaw. 

Just before the Easter holidays to start, the guys at console game maker JoWooD had to face the terrible truth that the restructuring procedures at the company have collapsed. So as no agreement with an investor for the company has been reached, the future ahead will be extremely tough as a liquidation may be around the corner. No good news also at ATB Austria Antriebstechnik, the engine maker part of the corporate empire of Mirko Kovats which collapsed last year. The company announced that its annual net loss may have eaten half of its stock capital. Someone unfortunately has gotten the rotten egg this Easter...

събота, 23 април 2011 г.

German chart comments - Issue date - 22.04.2011

No changes atop the German singles chart where Jennifer Lopez' great "On The Floor" spends a second week. At the same time, Rihanna, J. Lo.'s biggest competitor last week, retreats a position to #3 due to the strong leap of Snoop Dogg and David Guetta's collaboration - the extremely catchy "Sweat", which reminds of the forthcoming summer whichever way you look at it. By reaching #2 "Sweat" not only becomes one of the most successful singles of David Guetta but also quite easily beats the #3 peak of "Signs" - Snoop's best performing song in Germany. 
Further down in the top 10 Caro Emerald can congratulate herself with her first ever top 5 single in the country as driven by a performance on Deutschland sucht den Superstar (DSDS) her "A Night Like This" shoots from #18 to #5.
Video 

Not more of a great importance in the top 20 with the highest new entry coming in at #21. It belongs to Menowin, who lost last year's DSDS to Mehrzad Marashi in a battle which spread not only on RTL but also on all media in Germany. "If You Stayed" is the pilot single of the notorious singer, who was even in jail several years ago, and by entering at #21 it has all chances to fade quickly away.
This week also sees the return of one of the finest German bands in the last decade - Söhne Mannheims, whose "Ist es wahr (Aim high)" bears all the trademarks of Xavier and co and should have entered considerably higher than the #27 position.
There are also two re-entries worth noting in the top 50 (fuelled of course by performances on DSDS) as Kings of Leon's biggest single in Germany "Use Somebody" comes back at #30 and Michael Andrews & Gary Jules' smash "Mad World" re-enters at #49. 
Before "Mad World" however we have Taio Cruz's latest single "Telling The World" coming new at #35. The single, maybe somewhat overshadowed by the continuing strong performance of "Higher", Taio's team-up with Kylie Minogue (this week at #14), is taken from the soundtrack of current hit movie "Rio".
Video 

Two positions behind Taio Cruz, "Set Fire To The Rain", Adele's follow-up to "Rolling In The Deep" soars 16 places and peaks at #37 in its third week in the countdown. Can't wait for the video for the great song!
Oh, let's pay also attention to the #33 peak of Aloe Blacc's "Loving You Is Killing Me", perhaps the man will not be a one-hit wonder as I've expected.   
And the remaining new entries with videos:
(three of them strongly supported now by VIVA and one supported by the "music" channel back in the great old pre-MTV days)

51  Big Time Rush - Boyfriend
Video 
61  Emma6 - Paradiso
Video 
70  Laith Al-Deen - Sicher sein
Audio 
82  Beatsteaks - Cheap Comments  
The Album Chart

Despite many expecting Herbert Gronemeyer to return this week at the top in Germany, its Foo Fighters who claim their first ever number one in the country's album chart with "Wasting Light". German rapper Fler brings yet another new album in the top ten as "Airmax Muzik 2" enters at #6. The rapper can now boast his sixth top ten LP out of six released - a great achievement.



In BG Cinemas from April 22

(Note: Expect the BG boxoffice update and the movie reviews back in full force next week)

Приключенията на Сами / Sammy's Adventures: The Secret Passage - This cute Europe-made animation will be adored by all under ten, the others will possible prefer Rio but nevertheless Sammy offers an interesting 3D look into the undersea world and has an accessible for all environmental message.Oh, but Rio has exactly the same ingredients. Bad timing guys... (A+) ** 1/2


Адвокатът с линкълна / The Lincoln Lawyer - All critics abroad praise it but the problem is I was also abroad when it was screened... Nevertheless, I'm sure if you decide to look for something interesting this week, this is the one to search for (A+)  **** (just shooting in the dark)



MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Hop - (Again, yes!) Happy Easter to all!

The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away

четвъртък, 21 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news

Expect the all new Austrian top economic news on a weekly basis and now in both English and German! It's time for a spring change...

петък, 15 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 15

Austrian regional bank Oberbank plans to boost its network in Bavaria to 30 branches from 20 currently. The company started its expansion in Germany 20 years ago. Currently it employs 180 in Bavaria.
*
Bank Austria boosted its GDP forecast for Austria to 2.8% for 2011 from 2.3% projected before. However, the analysts reduced their projection for 2012 to 1.8% from 2%. The economy rose 0.9% in the first quarter of 2011.
*
Shareholders of Lufthansa want to launch an examination of the buy of Austrian Airlines (AUA) and the latter's corporate value, Format wrote. The necessary application for the review will be filed at the Lufthansa's shareholders meeting on May 3.
*
BDI - BioEnergy International said today its founders CEO Wilhelm Hammer and CTO Helmut Gössler will leave the company as of June 30, 2011 due to personal reasons. The managers will remain shareholders in the company. Markus Dielacher and Edgar Ahn will join the management as of the start of July.
*
The construction cost index in Austria grew 3.3% year-on-year to 102.1 points in March 2011, Statistik Austria said. The index remained stable compared to February.
*
Austria's annual inflation rate grew to 3.1% in March from 3.0% in February. The EU harmonised index stood at 3.3%. These are the highest rates since the autumn of 2008 and were attributed to growth in mineral oil and food products, Statistik Austria said.
*
OMV's electricity trading subsidiary OMV Trading GmbH has closed its first deal, OMV said. No further details were given.
*
Österreichische Volksbanken AG (ÖVAG) will get a capital injection of EUR 300m from its core shareholders, the 62 Austrian cooperative banks. The proceeds will be used for offsetting EUR 300m from the bank's state aid of a total of EUR 1bn. Furthermore, OeVAG plans to transfer its banking activities to its subsidiary Investkredit Bank via de-merger and to operate under the name of Österreichische Volksbanken-AG in the future.

German chart comments - Issue date - 15.04.2011

It has been 12 years since Jennifer Lopez made her astonishing music debut with "If You Had My Love" and 12 years since her pilot single reached #5 in Germany - a peak she was unable to defeat for more than a decade. Now, however, this all changes as "On The Floor", one of the most energizing songs this spring, shoots from #6 to #1 to not only beat the performance of  "If You Had My Love" but also to become the first number one of the diva in Germany. 

Congratulations also should go to Rihanna, whose excellent "S&M", the third single from the artist's newest album, rises three positions and peaks at #2. It thus matches the peak reached by "Only Girl", the first offer from the album, and eclipses by far the #12 success of "What's My Name". As "S&M" is the superior and more European-friendly song, no regrets here.

This leaves us to Bruno Mars, who has to fall from the top for a second and maybe the last time and this week occupies the third position. 

In the top 10 we should also pay attention to how the Snoop Dogg and David Guetta collaboration soars 13 positions to reach #6 in its second week on the countdown. Now it becomes the second most successful single of the US rapper after the #3 peak of "Signs". "Don't You Want Me", the Felix dance classic from the 90s on which the "Sweat" remix is based, reached #2 in Germany.

In its third week in the top 100, the amazing "E.T." from Katy Perry rises seven places to enter the top 10 and thus to make all four of the singles from her second album top-ten hits in Germany.

Before jumping to the highest new entry, let's pay attention to new peaks by Caro Emerald's "A Night Like This" at #18, Jupiter Jones' "Still" at #23 and Beth Ditto's "I Wrote The Book" at #24.

The honour for the highest new entry goes to Cassandra Steen, whose "Stadt" was one of the biggest hits in Germany in 2009. "Gebt alles" marks the release of Steen's third solo album but by entering at #31 it seems that giving everything was not enough even for the top 30.

Fuelled by the #1 success of their latest album (see below) Guano Apes' "Oh What A Night" soars #55-#37, two positions above the second new entry this week. Frida Gold's "Wovon sollen wir träumen" comes on the back of the band's enormous support by VIVA but for now this is not enough to even beat the #38 peak of their debut single "Zeig mir wie du tanzt". It's a catchy song though, so check it out.

At #53 Adele's powerful "Set Fire To The Rain" skyrockets from #89 where it entered last week.

The last new entry of the week can be found at #65, where Austrian volksmusician Andreas Gabalier brings his "I sing a Liad für di". (Pass the beer please)
The Album Chart

Despite thinking that Herbert Grönemeyer was unmovable from the top spot in the LP countdown, Guano Apes do the impossible and bring their fourth album direct at #1. Having in mind that the two previous studio albums of Sandra and the guys also reached the summit, perhaps this was not so huge feat after all. And of course, expect Herbert to reclaim once again the crown soon.
At #3 Norwegian legends A-Ha end their career (which was extremely successful especially in Germany), with their live album "Ending On A High Note - The Final Concert - Live At Oslo Spektrum", while Milow follows the success of his single "You and Me (In My Pocket)" by placing his second album at #4.
And finally let's pay a tribute to the one and only, the greatest, the strongest and the biggest of them all as The Hoff returns to the music scene. His newest album "A Real Good Feeling" follows his recent tour and enters at #26. Enjoy!

Austria's top economic news - April 14

Sport items maker Head plans to seek an extension of the authorisation for buyback of up to 50% of the share capital. The company's annual shareholders meeting will be held on May 26.
*
BAWAG P.S.K. Versicherung AG, 74.99%-owned by Generali Austria, said its 2010 premium income grew 22.5% to EUR 266.5m. The company booked a net profit of EUR 1.4m, compared to a loss of EUR 8.9m a year earlier.
*
The managers of brick maker Wienerberger will not get bonuses for 2010 as the company did not reach the set by the supervisory board EBITDA target. For 2009 the managers got EUR 1m as bonuses.
*
The shares of fibre producer Lenzing will move to the Vienna Stock Exchange prime market as of April 18, 2011. Now the company trades on the standard market continuous segment.
*
Photovoltaics supplier Isovoltaic has cancelled its IPO plans due to the recent unfavourable developments on the European IPO markets. The listing was planned for Friday.

In BG Cinemas from April 15

Писък 4 / Scream 4 - The few of you who are regular visitors to my humble blog know that I'm not among the biggest admirers of the slasher genre. So, you should not be surprised that deliberately I skipped the screening of Scream 4. As a good blogger though I sent a spy in the cinema hall who said that the movie is worth it. It has surprised him, and believe me he is a seasoned movie fan, and even the script and the dialogue were great. Of course, the film was never going to surpass the quality of the first movie but at least it builds on #2 and #3. Some critics abroad seem to disagree but nevertheless I'm gonna recommend it to all horror fans out there - go and scream for more! (Forum Film) *** 1/2

Адел и проклятието на пирамидите / The Extraordinary Adventures of Adele Blanc-Sac - France - More than five years after his last proper movie, Luc Besson has, at least for now, ceased pouring over the innocent viewers his awful Arthur movies and has returned to what he does best. And surprisingly Adele is a real return to form. The film, based on a popular French comic, is fresh and funny and for a change has a true heroine in its heart. Yes, Adele is not Lara Croft but she has the wit of Indiana Jones and the spirit of a young girl. And she rides a pterodactyl! Eat this Mr. Ford! Seek it, but don't take it too seriously. (A+) *** 

Ако искам да свиря, аз свиря / Eu cand vreau sa fluier, fluier - Romania (Limited) - If you have watched the brilliant 4 Months, 3 Weeks and 2 Days, you'll know what to expect - a small movie but with a huge impact. Once you enter the cinema, you should forget all Hollywood (or even French) glory as the brutality of Romania's real life hits you with a strong punch. The story of a prisoner somewhere near Braila, who is desperate to protect his younger brother from having the same fate as his, is so frustratingly human that you'd only root for the characters. It gives you no easy answers, even no full explanation on the protagonist's past, but you will not care. Fans of European cinema are for a real treat with this one. (Art Fest) ****

MISSED OPPORTUNITY - The Conspirator - A controversial director and a controversial subject - do you expect any of our movie distributors to buy this? Oh, you do! Look closely then, it's after all a period drama and this is not Jason Statham with a wig and beard. No chance to see it here apart from one of the pretentious art festivals. (Responsible - Every distributor you can think of)
Trailer 

The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away

четвъртък, 14 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 13

Verbund, Austria's largest utility, will continue focusing on renewable energy in the future, CEO Wolfgang Anzengruber said at the company's shareholders' meeting. During the meeting, opponents to imports of electricity generated by nuclear power plants demonstrated in front of Austria Center where Verbund's shareholders met. Verbund's power generation activities are mainly concentrated on hydropower. The shareholders voted in favour of a cut in dividend to EUR 0.55 per share for 2010 from EUR 1.25 last year. For 2011 the CEO expects stable results for Verbund, including a slight improvement in net and operating profit. 
*
Builder Strabag said it has fully taken over German hydraulic engineering company Ludwig Voss. The acquired company generates annual revenues of about EUR 20m. The purchase price remained undisclosed.
*
Russian Sberbank said it was in talks for buying stakes in Austrian banks. The bank did not disclose concrete names but it is no secret that it is interested in VBI, the eastern European holding of OeVAG.
*
Aluminium group AMAG, which launched IPO last week, said after the move CP Group 3 B.V. holds 34.1% in it. Raiffeisenlandesbank Oberösterreich controls 11.5% and Oberbank owns 5%. The company's employee foundation holds 11.1% and the remainder is in free float.
*
The executive board of Raiffeisen International Bank (RBI) has received a total payment of EUR 8.2m for 2010, up 178% in annual terms.
*
Real estate company Sparkassen Immobilien AG (s Immo) said its gross revenues grew to EUR 174.9m for 2010, from EUR 153.6m for 2009. s Immo returned to an EBIT of EUR 60.5m, after a loss of EUR 53.1m. The net profit came in at EUR 1.8m, compared to a loss of EUR 78.6m. The company sees a clear recovery in 2011 as well as considerable growth in the results in 2012/13.
*
Abu Dhabi's investment company IPIC may raise its 20% stake in OMV by the end of the year, managing director Khadem Qubaisi told Reuters. The company also does not exclude taking the 36% stake of OMV in plastics maker Borealis. OMV however denied current talks with IPIC on the matter.

сряда, 13 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 12

Vienna Airport served 1.565m passengers in March 2011, up by 4.9% on the year. The results were influenced by the unrest in North Africa and the natural disasters in Japan. The number of passengers towards eastern Europe grew 3.6%. The number of passengers rose 5.5% to 4.106m in the first quarter of the year.
*
Atrium European Real Estate Limited plans to buy back bonds worth up to EUR 30m and issued between 2003 and 2005. The company aims to save costs related to interest rates and also to find more favourable ways of financing.
*
Criminal investigators made on Tuesday further house raids related to the scandal over the Skylink terminal expansion at Vienna Airport and its ever-swelling costs. The raids were related to the buy of a stake of Vienna Airport in Flughafen Friedrichshafen GesmbH.
*
Abu Dhabi's fund IPIC may buy out the stake of OMV in plastics company Borealis, Bloomberg reported. Currently there are no discussions on the matter, an OMV spokesperson, however, said. OMV owns 36% in Borealis, while IPIC controls the remainder.
*
Telekom Austria will have now time until May 3 to improve its offer for 51% in Telekom Srbija. As a sole bidder, the Austrian company is offering up to EUR 950m, while the Serbian government is demanding at least EUR 1.4bn.

вторник, 12 април 2011 г.

BG Boxoffice Update

It's a great view from the top of the BG boxoffice
Surprisingly, or not so, having in mind the success of the Ice Age series here, Rio takes the top spot in the latest Bulgarian boxoffice. Thus last week's champion Love.net retreats to #2. Although the latter did not manage to stay atop for two consecutive weeks as Tilt (the other Bulgarian title released two months ago) did, it still falls by a mere 17%, which shows a potential for great legs in the weeks ahead.

We can also expect a big long-term potential for Rio, which flies at the top with almost 200,000 leva in its cage. This once again shows that Bulgarians love animation, especially when it is in 3D and when it is not called Toy Story. The prospects before the Blue Sky vehicle look more than rosy as strong word-of-mouth and the lack of real competition will keep the cash coming in at least until Pirates 4 arrives (yes, really until then).

The other two new entries of the week come hand in hand at #3 and #4. The two "serious" new proposals, The Rite and Source Code manage to make around 33,000 leva each, with The Rite taking a slight lead (it also has a total of 52,000, including previews).

As just the previous weekend, Limitless and Just Go With It show a great staying power, easing by 31% and 22%, respectively. For a movie with Bob de Niro this is not a surprise, though I do not remember Adam Sandler to be so liked in Bulgaria.

Hit by the parrot, Rango falls this weekend by 45%, while Mars Needs Moms crashes with a decrease of 78%.

Compared to my projections, Rio came in considerably higher than my 130,000 forecast, while Source Code and The Rite were more or less spot-on, with the Hopkins-flick a little undervalued by me. I really should have taken into account that Mr. Lecter is quite a drawing power here, which of course will be once again tested at the end of the month.

Next weekend's projections:
The Extraordinary Adventures of Adelle Blanc-Sac - 15,000 leva
Scream 4 - 40,000 leva
(1 BGN = USD 0.74 = EUR 0.51)

Austria's top economic news - April 11

The shares of vaccines maker Intercell collapsed on Monday by above 30.44% after a news that the enrollment for the clinical trial for an investigational vaccine for the prevention of the Staphylococcus aureus infection should be suspended. According to market observers, investors have reacted too hastily on the news.
*
Erste Bank will take further 56.2% in factoring specialist Intermarket from Polish BRE Bank. Erste currently owns 22.4% in Intermarket. The Polish and Czech units of Intermarket will be transferred to BRE in the future.
*
Volksbank AG (ÖVAG) plans to return only the stipulated by the contract with the state amount of state aid by June 2011. In detail, the troubled bank will pay back some EUR 300m of the EUR 1bn in state support.
*
Boosted by its activities in life insurance, Generali's premium income grew 2.5% to EUR 2.479bn in Austria in 2010. Life insurance rose 3.7%, indemnity - 0.7% and health - 3.7%.
*
Michael Spallart, CEO of Mayr-Melnhof Holz, will target EUR 1bn sales for the company in the next years. However, currently the firm is on a consolidation path, he told WirtschaftsBlatt. The timber specialist sees 10% rise in sales for 2011. Mayr-Melnhof Holz envisages growth both organically and via acquisitions.
*
Austrian Airlines (AUA) said the number of passengers fell 2.4% to 797,500 in March 2011, due to the unrest in North Africa and the natural disasters in Japan. For the first quarter, the Lufthansa subsidiary serviced 2.1m passengers, down 1% on the year. The seat-load factor stood at 70.6% in March.
*
The number of new vehicles registered in Austria rose 15.4% to 109,586 in the first three months of 2011. Passenger cars registrations went up 15.7% to 87,865, Statistik Austria said. The number of new vehicles registered in March rose 6.9% to 48,080.

Only the latest

The latest music from Germany, UK and USA:
Playlist

понеделник, 11 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 8

Raiffeisen Bank International (RBI) said it booked a net profit of EUR 1.087bn for 2010, compared to EUR 450m on a pro-forma basis for 2009. The bank was established after the merger of RZB and Raiffeisen International Holding last year. RBI also said its risk provisions almost halved to EUR 1.194bn for 2010. The bank will propose a dividend of EUR 1.05 per share. In addition, RBI said the new bank tax in Austria and Hungary will burden it with EUR 130m for 2011. The bank also projects the non-performing loan situation to ease towards the end of the current year. RBI forecasts the recently announced acquisition of 70% in Polish Polbank to be closed at the end of 2011 or at the start of 2012. The management projects annual synergies of EUR 60m from the transaction. CEO Herbert Stepic declined to confirm that the bank will launch a capital increase in 2011, as expected by many market observers. He also praised the current capital situation at the bank. Furthermore, RBI announced that last year only its Hungarian unit booked losses for the year end.
*
Aluminium group AMAG started trading on the Vienna Stock Exchange with a discount of 10.5% to the issue price of EUR 19 apiece. About 500,000 company's shares changed hands in the first hours of the trade. This has been the first IPO on the Vienna Stock Exchange since 2007.
*
Ernst Malleg and Gerhard Brandl, the insolvency administrator of AvW, have disposed of a 15.86% stake in German IT company Realtech for EUR 6.8m. Thus the proceeds from the divestment of AvW's assets grew to EUR 101.5m.
*
Österreichische Volksbanken AG (ÖVAG) will be examined under the current Europe-wide bank stress tests. The bank will be checked together with Austria's major sector players - Raiffeisen International Bank (RBI) and Erste Group.
*
Rudolf Knünz has reduced his stake in holding company UIAG to 4.45% from 5.92% before. His managing partner, Stefan Pierer, currently controls 5.03% in the company.
*
Austria's total imports stood at EUR 9.23bn for January 2011, up 27.3% year-on-year. The company's exports grew 26.3% to EUR 8.67bn. This resulted in a foreign trade deficit of EUR 560m, Statistik Austria said.

неделя, 10 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 7

Zürich Versicherung said it raised its premiums in Austria's indemnity insurance market by 5.4% to EUR 369.1m and in life insurance by 5.2% to EUR 170m in 2010. The company's profit, however, decreased to EUR 15.6m from EUR 21.9m for 2009.
*
Aluminium group AMAG said it's shares will be priced at EUR 19 apiece during the IPO on Friday. The price, as expected by market observers, stands at the lower end of the announced price range of up to EUR 21. The company will list around 19m shares (down from 22.29m initially planned), 14m of which provided by the current shareholders and the remaining coming from a capital increase.
*
Telekom Austria plans to transfer some of its employees, who the company does not need anymore, to other big companies. There, the around 700 people will receive the same salaries and keep their status as civil servants, WirtschaftsBlatt reported, quoting Telekom Austria's workers representatives.
*
The five executive board members of Austrian Post AG earned a total of EUR 3.35m for 2010, including EUR 1.51m as bonuses.
*
US cafe chain Starbucks will open its 11th cafe in Vienna on April 29. It will be located on the Graben, in the city's centre. The company sees a sales increase of 10% for 2011 in Austria, the same as last year.
*
Telekom Austria said it has suspended from work Michael Kolek, a former head of the company's works council. Vienna's prosecutors are currently investigating Kolek in suspicions related to the so-called Hochegger scandal.
*
Binding bids for the eastern European unit of Österreichische Volksbanken AG (ÖVAG) are expected until after Easter, Format reported. Russian Sberbank and French Banque Populaire are considered to be the main interested parties in the acquisition process.

Austria's top economic news - April 6

Car parts supplier Polytec posted a net profit of EUR 25.6m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 51.4m for 2009. The company booked EBIT of EUR 27.2m, up from a loss of EUR 30.2m. Sales went up 27% to EUR 770.1m. Polytec projects a slight organic increase in its sales for 2011. The company will examine further acquisition possibilities.
*
IT services provider S&T will reduce by above 25% the number of its employees in Austria, WirtschaftsBlatt reported. The move, which should be implemented by mid-May, is to affect some 70 employees.
*
Wiener Stadthalle, Vienna's top venue for concerts and sports tournaments, will be called in the future Erste Bank Wiener Stadthalle. The renaming comes after Erste Group signed a sponsoring and cooperation contract with the municipality-owned hall.
*
Austrian Airlines (AUA) said the current turbulences, including the unrest in North Africa, the natural disasters in Japan and the rising oil prices, will lead to a burden of EUR 30m for 2011. This will mean that the already loss-making air carrier will once again have to tighten its cost control in order to achieve its target for an operating profit for 2011.
*
EnerjiSA, the Turkish joint venture of Austria's leading utility Verbund, has taken a loan of EUR 700m for a period of 12 years. The money will be used for boosting the company's power plant potential by 1,000 MW.
*
Moody's reduced its long-term credit rating on Österreichische Volksbanken AG (ÖVAG) to Baa2 from Baa1.
*
Office furniture maker Bene said it expects to report a 5% fall in its sales for fiscal 2010/11. The company however managed to convert the trend in the second half of the year and expects more revenues for the current fiscal period. The 2010/11 operating result was improved but still remained negative.
*
Austria's wholesale prices index rose 0.9% month-on-month in March 2011, Statistik Austria reported. The index grew 12.1% in annual terms.

събота, 9 април 2011 г.

bTV and its campaigns

It's more than clear, bTV, this guardian of the Bulgarian public opinion, likes campaigns. Of course, all of them are useless and have no real results, but who cares when the only aim is to substitute the real issues before Bulgarians with the false ones.

And here comes the latest one - let's clean Bulgaria for a day! Yes, I know the country is burdened with waste but can we expect that the problem will be solved when we all go and clean before our homes and clean our parks only today. And most importantly, why do we, the taxpayers, should feel guilty that Sofia and the entire country are not clean? Why the dear colleagues from bTV instead of wearing gloves and making fools of themselves do not go and actually do their job? A job which involves making real investigation reports and asking the governors the right questions and seeking the right answers. Of course, it's easier to blame the people that the country is littered, but everyone who has been in Germany during the carnivals knows what happens afterwards - tonnes of garbage which are collected by the utilities.
So instead of campaigning all day long before the cameras, why don't you, the bTV journalists, make investigations on the following subjects:

1. What is happening with the plant for waste processing in Sofia? And what will happen with the waste you are now collecting?
2. How are municipal taxes spent?
3. Why the waste, despite the bins for separate collection, is afterwards collected by one and the same truck and goes at the same place? Isn't this an insult to all caring citizens?
4. Why are Sofia streets washed only once a year? 
5. Why there are so many stray dogs, who spend all day in the garbage bins?
And so on...
Yes, I know, you are actually nowhere near real journalism and I know that now I'm gonna be blamed that I'm too lazy to go cleaning outside, but anyway someone had to tell you this.

петък, 8 април 2011 г.

In BG Cinemas from April 8

Рио / Rio - The first perfect kid friendly pic for quite a while (Rango doesn't count, while Mars Needs Moms may be considered a notch too scary), Rio comes also with a message. Whether the little ones, or the majority of the (love.net) crowds in Bulgaria, will care that some species are on the brink of extinction is another matter. Certainly they will enjoy the colourful animation (only Gnomeo & Juliet can compare in terms of cuteness lately) and the gags come thick enough. Still, despite slightly better than the overrated (at least in Bulgaria) Ice Age series, the filmmakes from Blue Sky, the animated division of Fox, are still to create a true masterpiece such as the movies of Pixar or even like some of those of Dreamworks. Oh, Rio at least can boast the voice of chalga singer Desi Slava, isn't this cute? (Alexandra) ***1/2
Trailer

Ритуалът / The Rite - The movies of Mikael Hafstroem (1408, Derailed...) have a big problem - though watchable, they can never surpass mediocrity. Unfortunately the latest from the director, despite the presence of Anthony Hopkins (which let's face it is not a quality (Alexander) guarantee), suffers the same fate. Any comparison with The Exorcist will be of no point, and while The Rite has one or two good moments, perhaps a real exorcism (yes, it is a common practice in the catholic world) would be more thrilling. (Alexandra) **1/2
Trailer 

Първичен код / The Source Code - To begin as every other critic in the world, the mentioning of Moon, the excellent debut of director Duncan Jones (son of David Bowie - fact), is inevitable. His follow-up, although bearing the code of Hollywood, all over it, still remains a deeply human and most importantly a personal story. Jake Gyllenhaal is once again superb, while Michelle Monaghan is lovable and Vera Farmiga is among this author's favourites after watching her in Up in The Air. The effects, albeit the tiny budget, are excellent and while the movie may need a little more attention from behalf of the audience, or at least multiple viewings, it is by far the best from the newest movies in our cinemas currently. (A+) ****
Trailer 

MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Hereafter - Although the movie hit the US cinemas last year, it was delayed for our screens for April, which of course meant that the title had no chances to ever arrive here. A note to Clint Eastwood then - don't make movies with Matt Damon - not only they are hated by critics but they never appear in Bulgaria. (Responsible - Alexandra)
Trailer

MISSED OPPORTUNITY 2 - Insidious - The critics across the ocean say it is one of the best horror movies this spring and the audiences also like it. What do we get instead? Chain Mail... (Responsible - Every distributor you can think of)
Trailer 

The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away

German chart comments - Issue date - 08.04.2011

No changes atop the German singles chart as Bruno Mars' "Grenade" stands there for a sixth non-consecutive week. Lady Gaga is still the runner-up, while Sunrise Avenue bounce back a position to once again claim the bronze medal.
Video Sunrise Avenue

Down in the top 20, new peaks at #12 by Usher's "More", at #14 by Die Atzen & Nena's "Strobo Pop" and at #17 by Katy Perry's "E.T.".
Video Katy Perry
The highest new entry of the week can be found at #19, where David Guetta brings yet another star collaboration, this time in the face of Snoop Dogg. Never having a considerable chart success in Germany, Snoop Dogg's only top ten singles in the country are "Drop It Like It's Hot" (peak #8) and "Signs" (peak #3). In fact, in comparison to "Sweat", there is only one other song that fared better - "Sensual Seduction" that reached #15. And to be honest, if it wasn't the German chart friendly dance remix of David Guetta, "Sweat" would have been a complete flop in the country.
Video
Despite that the performance of "Kidz", the second single released after Take That's line-up includes Robbie Williams once again, was a complete disaster in their native UK, the song enters at #20 in Germany. Previous single "The Flood" had a respectful run although it reached only #12. Perhaps "Kids" relatively good performance was boosted by the band's appearance at the Echo awards and why not also to its qualities as an excellent pop song. And the video is shot in Bulgaria, believe it or not...
Video
Further two new entries in the top 50 - at #43 Linkin Park bring another single in the charts as "Burning In The Skies" comes after the #29 peak of "Waiting For The End". Two positions behind the US rockers, Aloe Black follows his impressively successful "I Need A Dollar" (peak #4) with his second single - "Loving You Is Killing Me".
Video Linkin Park
Video Aloe Blacc

And the remaining new entries with videos:
58 Finger & Kadel - Wahnsinn - Based on the #36 hit of Wolfgang Petry from 1983
Video
60 Fler - Minutentakt
Song
63 Adam Lambert - Sleepwalker - A great song, but still a one-hit wonder...
Video
79 Timati feat. Kalenna - Welcome To St. Tropez (DJ Antoine vs. Mad Mark Remix)
Video
89 Adele - Set Fire To The Rain
Live
90 a-ha - Summer Moved On (Live)
Video

The Album Chart
As expected Herbert Grönemeyer remains on top for a second week, while the second and third positions are also occupied by German artists. At #2 Clueso brings his fourth album, which manages to beat the #3 peak of Clueso's third studio LP, and is quite worth checking out. The latter however cannot be said to BAP, one of the longest standing German bands whose appeal has ever astonished me. Thus, their latest offering enters new at "Halv su wild". Also new to the top ten are Finnish rockers Sunrise Avenue with "Out Of Style", which comes hot on the heels of pilot single "Hollywood Hills". New LPs also at #7 and #8 coming respectively from Within Temptation and Amon Amarth. And finally, among the flood of new albums, Britney Spears' latest - "Femme Fatale" has to please itself with the entry at #10. It matches the peak of "Blackout", the star's least successful album (in terms of peaks) in the country.

сряда, 6 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 5

Pay TV company Sky Austria said its 2010 revenues went up 13.9% to EUR 91.8m. The number of subscribers grew by 25,355 to 239,400. Around 60,000 of the clients watch HD currently.
*
Boiling systems producer Austria Email AG fears that the stricter energy regulations in the EU in 2012 will affect some 40% of its sales volumes, executive Walter Persch told Industriemagazin.
*
Hirsch Servo will open a new plant in Oradea, in Romania, BörseExpress reported. The production at the site is expected to start in August 2011.
*
Real estate developer Warimpex said it will seek an approval for a capital increase of up to 10% in the next five years. The move should be green lighted at the general shareholders' meeting on May 3.

NO PAUL IN BULGARIA!!!

Any comments would be useless. It was expected and now it's official - Universal has cancelled the distribution of Paul in Bulgaria. The movie now becomes yet another Peck/Frost collaboration, next to Shaun of The Dead and Hot Fuss, which is not worthy for our precious BG screens. 

And it is high time for Universal to change its name, or Bulgaria to officially declare it's not part of the universe!

Anyway, expect Arthur to join the club soon!
Let's go and see Love.net again then...

вторник, 5 април 2011 г.

BG Boxoffice Update

(full of off-topics)
Hm, where is 127 Hours this week?

Expectedly, the latest BG hit Love.net ruled the weekend boxoffice in its first week of release. With almost 190,000 leva over the three days, the title ranks as the second most successful Bulgarian début in recent history, next to the 355,000 leva of Mission London registered last spring. The latter was however released with twice as less screens, which means that Love.net is actually not so huge as its distributors, sponsors and makers have wished for. Guys, let's not undervalue the support of NOVA tv, but it is not btv (and this is not a compliment to btv - one of the worst mistakes in the Bulgarian democracy). Still, the fact that Love.net scored the best début this year in Bulgaria's cinema's, albeit zero (Hop) competition, is quite an achievement.

As regards to the PR stories, which some colleagues have already been quick enough to publish without paying attention, I may say that sentences such as that Love.net has surpassed titles including The Tourist, The King's Speech, The Social Network, the last Harry Potter and Black Swan are more than stupid. You cannot compare a BG title, which is not available on the Internet, has enormous promotion with at least 20 sponsors (including the giant Mtel, which should finally get the bills of its clients in order rather than spending enormous amounts of cash on stupid advertising) and most of all is played on 33! screens with the aforementioned movies. And since when the success of a film in Bulgaria means that it is good? Actually, among the said titles, even the extremely bad The Tourist had Angelina and Depp!

A clear sign that the audiences sought alternatives this week is the minor fall registered by all major releases as compared to last week's results. Previous champion Limitless lost a slight 11%, while Just Go With It decreased 14%. At the same time Mars Needs Moms rose 4%, while Rango fell by only 4%, which means that animated movies were once again on the viewers' agenda. And the fact that the spring school holiday has started only underlines the pointless decision not to release pics such as Hop or Wimpy Kid 2 in Bulgaria. Clearly, in this period they would have been major hits...

And last, the other new release in the chart (there were two more new films, whose distributors do not care to provide boxoffice details) comes in at #19. With a poor 1,047 leva, 127 Hours, one of the best movies last year, crashed at the lower end of the countdown. Yes, it has only one screen, but still its performance is really a complete disaster.

Compared to my last week's projections, Love.net came close to my 200,000 leva forecast, while 127 Hours was nowhere near it (oh, what was I thinking).

Next weekend's projections:
Rio - 130,000 leva
The Rite - 30,000 leva (including previews)
Source Code - 35,000 leva

Austria's top economic news - April 4

The executive board members of Austria's leading utility Verbund received EUR 2.9m in payment for 2010. In comparison the executives of OMV got a total of EUR 10.735m. 
*
Pipelife, in which brick maker Wienerberger owns 50%, has taken over the French plastics pipe activities of Alphacan. The transaction makes the buyer a leader on the local market. No financial details were given.
*
Austria's Greens party has criticized technology group Andritz that it has delivered equipment to a nuclear power plant in Pakistan, local dailies reported. The company has rejected the accusations.

понеделник, 4 април 2011 г.

Austria's top economic news - April 1

Vaccine developer Intercell AG said it has agreed with partner Novartis to advance its investigational Pseudomonas aeruginosa vaccine into a confirmatory clinical efficacy trial in ventilated ICU (Intensive Care Unit) patients.
*
BWT raised its 2010 sales by 15% to EUR 460.7m. EBIT went up 17.4% to EUR 31.5m. Net profit fell slightly to EUR 22.8m from EUR 23.1m. The company projects a net profit of EUR 18m for 2011 due to planned investments in Austria and Germany.
*
Austria's unemployment rate continued to fall in March for a 13th month in a row. The number of unemployed stood at 252,587, down 5.2%. The rate came in at 4.3% under EU calculations.
*
Atrium European Real Estate Limited announced a repurchasing offer for bonds worth EUR 35m and with a coupon of 6.8%, which expire in 2011.
*
The Wifo and IHS economic research institutes have raised their outlook for the country's GDP development. Now they project 2.5% (Wifo) and 2.3% (IHS) real increase for 2011 and 2% (Wifo) and 2.1% (IHS) for 2012. A slight recovery in the labour market is expected. A strong increase inflation rate is forecast due to the high oil prices.
*
Austria's construction sector reported an order backlog of EUR 6bn at the end of December 2010, up 0.3% year-on-year, Statistik Austria said. Orders in civil engineering fell 5.4% to EUR2.8bn.
*
Austria's construction sector booked an output of EUR 14.3bn for 2010, down 4.7% in annual terms, Statistik Austria said. Output fell 2% in building construction and 8.4% in civil engineering.
*
The turnover in Austria's industrial and construction sectors totalled EUR 21.8bn for December 2010, up 15.8%, the country's statistical office said.

петък, 1 април 2011 г.

In BG Cinemas from April 1

Love.net/Love.net (Bulgaria) - After last year's enormous success of Mission London, it was inevitable that many Bulgarian film makers will try to find the next cash cow at the multiplexes. This year's great performance of Tilt and the more-than-respectable results of Footsteps in The Sand showed that the Bulgarian audience is hungry for local productions. And naturally here comes Love.net. Unfortunately, the movie arrives in cinemas not only with its great pretensions and gigantic promotion, but also with its low quality. Yes, all the aforementioned titles are far better than Love.net. As early as the first trailer arrived, it was clear that something has gone wrong. To sum it up, the movie really suffers from a predictable and full of clichés plot, bad editing and worst of all from poor acting. I know it is already a universal truth here, but no-one prepares Bulgarian actors to play before the camera. Yes, they are great in theatre, but in cinemas, they have to learn a lot. And why we have to suffer the attempt of Uriah Heep's ex-vocalist John Lawton (who is now known in Bulgaria only) to be an actor? And last, but not least, it's clear that via product placement the film makers find funds for their movies, but guys, it should have been more subtle! In that respect, a note to all who want to produce a BG movie, just go to the Nedelya sweet shop chain, they will give you the money...(Alexandra) **

127 часа / 127 Hours (limited) - It's more than certain that no-one is gonna watch 127 Hours when the latest "great" BG picture has flooded the cinemas, and the fact that it has only one screening doesn't help either. Still, if you opt to tune down your patriotism and skip the BG movie with the English title, 127 Hours is the film you should check out. You probably already know what to expect - a thrilling study on the human will for survival, portrayed excellently by Danny Boyle and his lead James Franco (at least 127 Hours is a little consolation for all who feel betrayed from cancelling the Your Highness distribution here (and yes, I won't stop despite the film's bad press abroad)). And to join the horde of critics worldwide, yes, the pivotal arm scene is tough to watch, but still bearable. A special referring also to the great soundtrack of A.R. Rahman and the visual work of the movie's cinematographers. And did I mention how great Franco is? (А+) ****1/2

Бютифул / Biutiful (Mexico) (limited) - Perhaps spring time is not the best time to get depressed and many will probably avoid the latest title from director Alejandro González Iñárritu. This however doesn't mean that this extremely tough watch has got no merits. The movie's lead, Javier Bardem, battled with the aforementioned Franco for the Oscar this year (we however all knew that Colin Firth is gonna blow them off). Biutiful is a human story that will touch many who prefer films different from the regular popcorn Hollywood stuff. Just cross your fingers that there will be no teenagers or мутри next to you in the cinema hall... (Van Kris) ****

When You're Strange - Филм за The Doors / When You're Strange (limited) - Unmissable for all fans of documentary film making, When You're Strange will be adored by all admirers of The Doors. For the rest of us, we can only congratulate the distributor for its bold decision to release it. (ProFilms) ***

MISSED OPPORTUNITY - Beastly - There were vague hopes that after the relative success of I Am Number Four in Bulgaria, the local Sony distributor will release this Alex Pettyfer vehicle, but of course this did not happen. Yes, it is maligned by the critics across the Atlantic, but still this new take on the Beauty and The Beast story would have been a curious watch. (Responsible Alexandra)

The ratings:
***** Perfect
**** Unmissable
*** Fun
** So-so
* Stay away

Austria's top economic news - March 31

Technology group Andritz said it will start on April 6 a share buyback programme. The move, which envisages the acquisition of no more than 10% of the stock capital, will probably run until September 30.
*
BDI BioEnergy International AG reported a net profit of EUR 3.4m for 2010, up from EUR 2.5m for 2009. Sales rose to EUR 39.9m from EUR 33.9m. The company plans further growth in 2011, especially in the field of waste to energy.
*
Vienna Insurance Group (VIG) said its net profit rose 13.6% to EUR 413.3m in 2010 based on final figures. The consolidated premium income grew 7.2% to EUR 8.593bn. The combined ratio worsened to 98.4% but is to fall to 97% in 2011. VIG's pretax profit is expected to grow by 10% this year. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 1 for 2010, up from EUR 0.90 for 2009.
*
Notebook maker Quanmax AG said its 2010 sales grew 30% to EUR 80.7m, while the net profit rose to EUR 4m from EUR 3.3m. The company expects to cross the EUR 100m mark in terms of sales this year.
*
Insurer Uniqa reported a pretax profit of EUR 150m for 2010. The company will propose a dividend of EUR 0.40 per share for 2010.
*
Technology group Binder+Co approved a dividend of EUR 1 per share for 2010.
*
Gerhard Roiss, the newly-appointed CEO of OMV, plans to revamp the company's strategy. The rework of the strategy will focus on three sectors - regional concentration, portfolio development and future challenges. Furthermore, the importance of the Gas & Power (G&P) activities will be raised.
*
Austrian online bookmaker Bwin, set up in 1997, ceased to exist as of March 31. The company will now operate as Bwin.party digital entertainment after the merger with UK PartyGaming. The new entity is listed in London.
*
Oberbank plans to take a stake of 5% plus one share in the forthcoming IPO of aluminium group AMAG. The stake is estimated at around EUR 40m.
*
BKS Bank generated a profit of EUR 3.9m in Slovenia last year, while the results in Croatia stood at a zero profit. As a whole, the bank booked a net profit of EUR 46.4m for 2010.
*
Software company Plaut has confirmed its 2010 preliminary results. Its net profit grew to EUR 4.79m from EUR 4m for 2010.
*
Sanochemia Pharmazeutika AG said it plans to issue above 5m new shares at EUR 3.20 apiece. The capital hike will result in proceeds of EUR 16.25m. The subscription period will run between April 1 and 15.
*
Oberbank closed 2010 with a record-high operating profit of EUR 218.3m, up 19.4%. The net result grew 27.2% to EUR 98.4m. The bank plans to continue its expansion in 2011.
*
Frauenthal booked a net profit of EUR 17.4m for 2010, compared to a loss of EUR 29.4m a year earlier. Sales rose 19% to EUR 539.4m. The company will propose the payment of a dividend of EUR 0.1 per share, plus a bonus of EUR 0.2.
*
Century Casinos said its 2010 net gaming revenue grew 22% to USD60.7m. EBITDA remained stable at USD 7.9m.
*
Austria's Maastricht Deficit stood at 4.6% in 2010, an increase of 0.5% percentage points, Statistik Austria reported. The country's debt came in at 72.3% of the GDP, up 2.7 percentage points.
*
The volume of freight transport on the Austrian section of the Danube rose 18.6% on the year to 11.1m tonnes in 2010, Statistik Austria said.

German chart comments - Issue date - 1.04.2011

Lady Gaga has to retreat from the number one in Germany two weeks after reaching it as Bruno Mars' "Grenade" regains strength and bounces back to the summit. The song, whose sales were boosted by performances on the DSDS show, has now five non-consecutive weeks as the German number one.

The highest and for sure the most surprising new entry comes in at #3. Belgian singer Milow was extremely successful in 2009 with his take on 50 Cent's "Ayo Technology", which reached #2 in Germany. The song was followed by the #15 peak of "You Don't Know" and the #19 of "Out of My Hands". At that time, Milow was destined to be a one-hit wonder but now this all changes as his "You and Me (In My Pocket)", the lead single from his new album, enters directly at #3 in Germany.

Milow even manages to outscore superstar Rihanna, whose "S&M" finally charts in Germany. Strangely, the singles from Rihanna's latest album have a somewhat delayed release schedule in the country, but you'd never know what's going on in the heads of these record companies. So the scandalous song shoots in at #5 this week, and deservingly becomes more successful than her previous "What's My Name" (peak #12). "S&M" is the 13th top 10 single of the singer in Germany. 

Further down the top 10, Jennifer Lopez advances to #6 from #10 and if "On the Floor" doesn't move further up, it would be her third single to peak at #6 in the country. 

In the top 20, new peaks for Usher's "More" at #14 and Die Atzen/Nena's "Strobo Pop" at #15, while Caro Emerald's "A Night Like This" is gaining pace and reaches #24. 

Before Caro, however, we have a third new entry at #18. With only a promo video until yesterday, "E.T." is the fourth single of Katy Perry's latest album and despite for now her least successful, expect it to soar in the upper reaches of the countdown as the song promotion gets a boost. The track is so good that it has to be among her best ones in chart terms. 

New peaks to be observed also at #29 by Beth Ditto's "I Wrote The Book" and at #31 by Bullmeister's "Girls Beautiful". 

And the remaining new entries with videos:

41 Jessie J - Do It Like A Dude - As it is often the case, to be extremely successful in UK doesn't translate directly in a success abroad. Still, follow-up "Price Tag" may have better chances...
43 Medina - Gutter  
46 Guano Apes - Oh What A Night - Despite not so successful, it is always good to see the great German band back in the top 50.
57 Alexis Jordan - Happiness
58 Plastik Funk - Everybody Dance Now! 
82 Andrea Renzullo - Heal - Andrea ranked fourth at the last year Supetalent casting, where his take on "Run" of Leona Lewis triggered the enormous interest in the song observed towards the end of 2010.
94 RLP And Barbara Tucker - R.E.S.P.E.C.T 

The Album Chart

This week's LP chart is flooded by seven new entries in the top 20. The highlights are once again set on Herbert Grönemeyer, whose 13th album "Schiffsverkehr" goes straight at #1. The German legend now has a total of 69! weeks atop of the LP charts and it's certain that this number will go up in the next weeks. Since his fifth album in 1984, Grönemeyer has never missed the number one slot - that's quite a record to be jealous of.
Another German veteran, Udo Jürgens, brings his latest album "Der ganz normale Wahnsinn" at #3, while Green Day's live compilation "Awesome As F**k" is at #5. 
New entries also for Joe Bonamassa's "Dust Bowl" at #10, Die Atzen's "Party Chaos" at #14, The Strokes' "Angles" at #15 and Avantasia's live LP "The Flying Opera - Around The World in 20 Days" at #18.