Company briefs - 2010-05-19

National airline airBaltic was handed the ‘anna.aero’ award as Europe’s largest flag carrier, reports Nozare.lv. In Europe, CIS and the Middle East, airBaltic is operating 27 routes more in the summer season of 2010, compared to last summer. Chief Commercial Officer Tero Taskila said that “airBaltic has grown to be the biggest airline in Nordic countries by the number of destinations served. We have worked hard to grow our network, and have created the biggest network in Northern Europe with punctual service, low fares and a good product.” The ‘anna.aero’ (Airline Network News & Analysis) award is based on a comparison of scheduled new flights for August 2010 and August 2009.

Estonian construction company Nordecon International posted sales revenue of 176 million kroons (11.2 million euros) in the first quarter of this year, a fall of 70 percent from 590.7 millionn kroons for the same period last year, reports Postimees Online. The company’s loss in the first quarter was 25.1 million kroons. The loss is mainly attributable to the seasonal nature of the construction business, unfavorable weather conditions and stiff competition, the company said. “The past winter was considerably harsher for construction companies than the previous ones. Abundance of snow did not allow continuing work on the majority of active projects. Regardless of the number of projects in progress and suspension of construction activity, companies still incur fixed operating costs,” said the company.

The number of unpaid bills in Estonia is growing abruptly this year, reports LETA. According to a survey by Intrum Justitia, Estonian businesses will this year write off 3.3 percent of bills, while last year this indicator was 2.9 percent. The estimated damage to companies totals 445 million euros a year. Executives of different companies state that lately even the Finnish businesses have been delaying paying bills, although thus far they have been very correct in doing so. The payment discipline in Estonia and in Latvia has deteriorated significantly, forcing firms to tighten their credit policies.