AUSTRIA: Ankerbrot still labouring under debts, creditor banks hold talks

Austrian baked goods chain Ankerbrot remains heavily in debt despite reporting annual turnover up from €158.6m to €161.3m (US$158.4m) in 2001. The beleaguered company managed to reduce its debt marginally from €65.6m to €61.5m during the year under review. Major creditors at Bank Austria/Creditanstalt, Erste Bank, Raiffeisen ZentralBank, Oberbank and Bawag, which are together responsible for €34.5m of this debt, are planning to hold talks about the present state of the company and to discuss what measures should be taken about the financial situation, reports local paper Die Presse.

Austrian baked goods chain Ankerbrot remains heavily in debt despite reporting annual turnover up from €158.6m to €161.3m (US$158.4m) in 2001.

The beleaguered company managed to reduce its debt marginally from €65.6m to €61.5m during the year under review. Major creditors at Bank Austria/Creditanstalt, Erste Bank, Raiffeisen ZentralBank, Oberbank and Bawag, which are together responsible for €34.5m of this debt, are planning to hold talks about the present state of the company and to discuss what measures should be taken about the financial situation, reports local paper Die Presse.

Staff at Müller subsidiary Ankerbrot have taken salary cuts and foregone their holiday entitlements in a company-wide effort to help the company back into the black.