"More than 1,300 percent growth in value in just under five years is a remarkable achievement. BUWOG's announced spin-off is benefiting the entire Austrian capital market quite well" – according to one of the jury's appraisals for selecting IMMOFINANZ CEO Eduard Zehetner as "CEO of 2013". The country's best CEOs and CFOs were selected in Vienna by Deloitte and Börse Express for the ninth time on Wednesday night.
Zehetner was awarded for the third time already, after being selected "CFO of the Year" in 2010 and 2006 (at that time for RHI) – this also makes him the first manager to have won in both categories. The jury of these awards is incidentally comprised of CEOs and CFOs themselves, so they basically choose the best in their business.
The other winners of the evening: Hans Tschuden of Telekom Austria is "CFO of the Year 2013" in the category ATX Prime Market. The big winner in the category "mid market" is construction group Porr: Karl-Heinz Strauss can call himself "CEO of the Year 2013"; his colleague Christian Maier won for the CFOs. Among bond issuers (category "bond market") Franz Wohlfahrt of gaming group Novomatic is now "CEO of the Year". Thomas Leissing of Egger Holz is "CFO of the Year" again.
The event at the Vienna MuseumsQuartier (MQ) was not centred entirely on the award ceremony, however – Deloitte took the opportunity to ask the prize-winners about how they view Austria's competitive capacity and location politics – a frequently discussed issue these days. And then even at MQ a sense of sobriety and criticism took centre stage. The tenor was that Austria needs big and bold steps.
Eduard Zehetner in response to the question of where he sees the most important leverage: "We need a tax reform for service providers whose incomes are located around the maximum assessment basis". Here the tax rate (including employer contributions) is over 50% – this is "obscenely high". Next point: "An administrative reform". In this regard Zehetner referred to the proposals developed years ago by the Court of Auditors. "I'm afraid the government leaders have still failed to look at it". He also hopes for a greater sense of self-confidence for Europe. "Europe has to stop chasing subserviently after the USA".
You can find some pictures of the event below. The press release from Deloitte and further photographs can also be found here (German only):
http://www.be24.at/blog/entry/692265/fullstory
Photos: Börse Express / Martina Draper