SERBIA:

NBS records 30.66 bln dinar after-tax profit in 2018
The National Bank of Serbia (NBS) recorded after-tax profit of 30.66 bln dinars (259.4 mln euros) in 2018, the central bank said Thursday. In accordance with Article 77 of the NBS Law, 70 pct, or 9.27 bln dinars (78.4 mln euros) of the operating profit worth 13.24 bln dinars (112.05 mln euros), (not arising from exchange rate differences and revaluation reserves) will be allocated to the budget of the Republic of Serbia, 10 pct to core capital and 20 pct to special reserves of the NBS, said a statement published on the NBS website. Upon final calculation, the NBS will pay to the budget 426,343,000 dinars (3.6 mln euros) worth of profit tax for 2018, it said.
Source: Tanjug

Vucic discusses projects wtih Bechtel-Enka reps
Serbian President Aleksandar Vucic on Thursday received representatives of the Bechtel-Enka consortium and the financial institutions US EXIM Bank, OPIC, the Bank of America and UK Finance to discuss implementation of a Morava Corridor project. Vucic said he was expecting the construction of the corridor to begin as soon as possible - as early as Q3 2019, by which time the project documentation and expropriation must be completed. With the representatives of the financial institutions, Vucic also discussed funding models for the project and said he expected the most favourable loans, an official statement said. Simultaneously with the construction of the Morava Corridor, there are also plans to equip three industrial zones along the Pojate-Preljina MW, which is strategically significant for Serbia as it connects Corridor 10 with Corridor 11, Vucic also said.
Source: Tanjug

REGION:

EIB: Serbia better for investments, reforms must be finished
Dubravka Negre, head of the European Investment Bank (EIB) Regional Representation for the Western Balkans, has told N1 in an interview that Serbia had made progress in the last several years, adding Belgrade must work on legal safety for investors and raising its investment rating. She added that improvement should be seen in the restructuring of public companies and the increase of both public and private investments. Negre said Serbia did well in coping with the consequences of the world economic crisis and that a lot had been done in macroeconomics, fiscal consolidation, stabilisation of finances and in boosting foreign direct investment (FDI). Negre said that more than three billion Euros of the FDI in 2018 proved Serbia had become more attractive for foreign investors and one of the regional leaders in the area, but, she added, “it can be better.”
Izvor: Ekapija

INO:

S&P 500 and Nasdaq snap 3-day winning streak, Facebook shares slide, Europe markets close higher amid Brexit confusion, Lufthansa shares fall 6%
The S&P 500 and Nasdaq Composite closed lower for the first time in four sessions on Thursday after the release of weak U.S. home sales data while Wall Street digested the latest news on the U.S.-China trade front. Declines in the communications services group, led by Facebook, pushed the S&P 500 down 0.1 percent to 2,808.48. Facebook shares also weighed on the Nasdaq, which closed down 0.2 percent at 7,630.91. The Dow Jones Industrial Average, meanwhile, eked out a 7.05-point gain to close at 25,709.94.
Facebook shares slid 1.9 percent after a worldwide outage of its core app, Instagram and WhatsApp. The social media company’s stock was also under pressure after The New York Times reported federal prosecutors are conducting a criminal investigation into data deals the company made with other tech giants.
New home sales fell 6.9 percent in January — which was more than expected and a sign the U.S. government shutdown could have kept buyers on the sidelines.
Elsewhere, General Electric seesawed after the industrial giant issued weaker-than-expected earnings guidance for 2019. The stock initially fell around 4 percent in the premarket before turning around to close 2.8 percent higher.
European markets closed higher on Thursday, as investors monitored the latest flurry of corporate results and reacted to Brexit developments in the U.K. The pan-European Stoxx 600 closed 0.8 percent higher provisionally with most sectors and major bourses finishing in positive territory. Europe’s oil and gas stocks were some of the best performers along with media and insurance.
Lufthansa tumbled to the bottom of the index during morning trade. The country’s biggest airline posted an 11 percent fall in fourth-quarter operating profits on Thursday, saying it would focus on “quality” growth over the coming months. Shares of the firm tumbled almost 6 percent on the news.
Source: CNBC