A wooden post stands in the middle of the ski slope adorned with signs pointing in every direction surrounded by a group of skiers pointing left and right. Eventually one of them says "we have to go this way", and they make their way to various parts of the ski resort in Wilden Kaiser in Brixental in Austria.

Austria on Monday nationalized a troubled bank for the first time since the global financial crisis hit, paying a token 2 euros (2.55 dollars) to rescue the nation's eighth-largest lender.

Austrian marathon runner Susanne Pumper has been banned from competition for two years after testing positive for the blood-booster EPO, by the legal commission for Austria's National Anti-Doping Agency (NADA).

Austrian printed circuit board maker AT&S, Europe's market leader, said Tuesday it might lower production capacity, even as its second-quarter net profit rose by 9.3 per cent to a record 13.6 million euros (18.2 million dollars).

In the three-month period ending in September, earnings before interest and taxes (EBIT) increased by 4 per cent, to 14.9 million euros.

The price for crude oil produced by the Organization of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (OPEC) continued to rise Monday, as the cartel is expected to cut production at its meeting on Friday.

One barrel (159 litres) of OPEC crude stood at 64.63 dollars Monday, 1.71 dollars higher compared with 62.92 dollars last Friday.

The Austrian ski areas of Kal and Matrei have merged into the largest ski resort in East Tyrol, the resort's operators announced.

Called the Grossglockner Resort Kals/Matrei, it is scheduled to open on December 12 and has 110 kilometres of pistes, 90 per cent of which can be covered with artificial snow.

As Austria's parliament passed bail-out measures for banks Monday, some of the country's financials institutions said they would make use of the government's capital injections and guarantees for inter-bank credits.

All five parties in parliament unanimously approved the package worth 100 billion euros (134 billion dollars).

Austria's Social Democratic Party (SPOe) and the mainstream conservative People's Party (OeVP) agreed Monday in Vienna to a schedule for coalition talks, after their previous joint cabinet had broken apart in July.