voestalpine: Austrian steel company voestalpine completed the general renovation of Blast Furnace A. After a 111-day period for repairs, the furnace, in which two-thirds of the entire annual pig iron volume of five million tons is produced, successfully restarted operations. At a total cost of around Euro 180 mn, the so-called relining project involved completely replacing the extremely wear-resistant interior lining of the blast furnace, as well as modernizing all other facilities used in operating the blast furnace. At around the same time, interim repairs were carried out on one of the two blast furnaces in Leoben-Donawitz.
voestalpine: weekly performance: 1.42%

Valneva: The Austrian/French biotech company Valneva has raised Euro 50 mn  in a private placement. The transaction, led by blue-chip US healthcare investors and supported by the Company’sexisting major shareholders, was heavily oversubscribed.  Thomas Lingelbach, Valneva’s Chief Executive Officer, commented: “We are delighted that several leading US healthcare funds have invested in Valneva. This investment supports our capital access strategy and future growth, including the acceleration of our key development programs. We are grateful for the continued support of our main existing shareholders”. Approximately 81% of the shares were allocated to US investors. Two of the Company’s majorshareholders, Groupe Grimaud and MVM Life Science Partners, also participated in the placement. The issue price of the new shares has been set at Euro 3.75 per share, representing a 2.6% discount tothe volume weighted average price of the Company’s shares on the regulated market of EuronextParis over the 3 last trading days before pricing (i.e. from September 24th, 2018 to September 26th,2018 inclusive), which was Euro 3.85. The offering proceeds raised will be used to pursue the clinical development of the Company’spipeline candidates, notably its vaccine candidates against Lyme and Chikungunya, as well as for working capital and general corporate purposes.
Valneva: weekly performance: -3.23%

Statistics Austria: In 2017, public finances in Austria showed a deficit of 0.8% of GDP (Euro 2.9 bn), compared to 1.6% (Euro 5.6 bn) in 2016. According to Statistics Austria, government revenue increased by 3.1% or Euro 5.4 bn, while government expenditure rose by 1.5% or Euro 2.7 bn. Government debt decreased in relative terms from 83.0% of GDP in 2016 to 78.3% of GDP in 2017 and in absolute terms from Euro 295.8 bn in 2016 to Euro 289.7 bn in 2017.