Top Czech Business News - Prague Daily Monitor

The number of private pension insurance clients in the Czech Republic grew to 4.47 million in H1, up by 80,000 against the end of 2009, the Finance Ministry said yesterday.

Penzijní fond České pojištovny, the largest pension fund by client numbers, saw H1 profit soar by 116% on the year to CZK 557 million and assets managed by the fund rose by 12% to CZK 52.2 billion at end-June, the fund told ČTK yesterday.

Fortuna Entertainment Group, the biggest betting operator in central Europe, generated EUR 192 million (CZK 4.76 billion) revenues in H1 this year, up 12% on the year.

Jiří Švorc is new CEO of Roads and Motorways Directorate, replacing Alfred Brunclík who was removed from the post yesterday, Transport Minister Vít Barta announced.

Confidence in the Czech economy decreased by 0.8 point in August on the month, the composite confidence indicator 16.3 points higher compared to a low comparative base in Aug 2009, the Czech Statistical Office (CSU) said yesterday.

Alternative power suppliers acquired tens of thousands of new clients in the Czech Republic in H1, as many people turned away from main players on the market such as ČEZ, Pražská energetika and E.ON.

The Finance Ministry wants to issue state bonds worth CZK 148.2 billion to cover most of last year's state budget deficit, according to a draft bill the ministry submitted for comment procedure last week.

Developer Orco most likely got out of loss in Q2 this year, its net profit reaching about EUR 66.8 million, according to analysts polled by ČTK yesterday.

Analysts polled by ČTK expect the mining firm New World Resources, owner of Czech black-coal miner OKD, to return to profit in Q2.

Fuel prices at Czech gas stations continued to drop in the past week, with the average price of top-selling petrol Natural 95 down by 4 hellers at CZK 31.60 a litre and the price of diesel-oil down by 8 hellers at CZK 30.57 per litre on Sunday, according to data of the CCS company.

The Interior Ministry will cut running costs and investments, lower wages of police officers and firefighters and revise e-Government projects in order to save CZK 8.3 billion within the state's 2011 austerity budget, Interior Minister Radek John said yesterday. The police will reduce their operation abroad and they will no longer provide free services for other ministries.

The police are investigating cases of fraudulent dealings with carbon credits that might deprive the state of almost CZK 1 billion in tax evasion, the daily Hospodářské noviny reported yesterday.

Czech producers of outdoor wear aren't only successful on the domestic but also the European market, the daily Lidové noviny reported yesterday.

Analysts polled by ČTK predicted that miner NWR and media company CME will performer best on the Prague Stock Exchange in the second half of 2010.

The value of the Czech market of technical consumer goods fell by 8% year-on-year to CZK 29.12 billion in the first half of 2010, according to a report by GfK Temax Czech Republic.

Czech civil aircraft manufacturer Aircraft Industries saw its profit and sales increase significantly last year, with sales reaching CZK 785.88 million, a year-on-year rise of 77%, the firm's annual report said.

Transport Minister Vít Bárta will in the coming days meet with representatives of building companies to discuss legal aspects of the halting of transport projects.

The capital's debt fell by 16.5% to CZK 26.8 billion between 2006 and 2009, which corresponds to around CZK 21,451 per capita, according to data of the City Council and the Czech Statistical Office.

The government, in an effort to regulate foreign workforce's stay, wants to partly transfer the payments for jobless foreigners to the agencies that "imported" them to the country, a measure that will probably backfire on foreign workers, daily Hospodářské noviny reports.

Czech coal mining decreased in H1, brown-coal production falling by 6.3% on the year to 21.35 million tonnes and black-coal production down by 0.5% to 5.56 million tonnes, while briquette and coke production increased, the Industry Ministry has said.