Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-08-02

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

[02] Weather Forecast-Thursday

[03] Electra Import-share capital increase

[04] Greece-mutual funds report

[05] ASE-close

[06] Greece-economic policy

[07] Greece-privatisation

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

Following are indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Thursdays rates (buying)

Euro 334.522

U.S. dollar 365.502

German mark 171.039

[02] Weather Forecast-Thursday

Sunny weather is expected throughout Greece on Thursday. Winds will be northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in the Aegean.

[03] Electra Import-share capital increase

Electra Import's shareholders on Wednesday approved a share capital increase plan, worth 10.16 billion drachmas.

The company will issue 4,065,600 new shares at 2,500 drachmas each to be offered to shareholders at a ratio of seven-for-10.

Mihalis Saridis, Electra's chairman, said the new capital would be used to finance the company's expansion plans into the real estate business through the participation in the businesses of the Bank of Piraeus, Shelman and Marfin.

Elektra's new owners also unveiled the company's new strategy which envisaged issuing of a bond loan and improving its financial figures.

Andreas Vgenopoulos, a representative of the Bank of Piraeus, said that the new administration would be strengthened with the hiring of experienced executives.

Electra Import reported a 21.47 percent rise in sales and a 35 percent increase in profits in the first half of 2000, to 292 million and 216 million drachmas, respectively.

[04] Greece-mutual funds report

Greece's mutual funds' assets totalled 11.57 trillion drachmas in July, up 0.79 percent from the same month last year, but off 362 billion or 3.0 percent from the start of the year, officials figures showed on Wednesday.

A Union of Institutional Investors's report said that domestic money market mutual funds' assets rose 3.48 percent in July, domestic equity funds' assets fell by 2.66 percent, international equity funds' assets rose 2.54 percent, while domestic and foreign bond funds' assets eased slightly in the month.

Money market mutual funds increased their share in the total market to 46.53 percent in July , from 45.31 pct in the previous month, while equity funds' share fell to 30.68 percent from 31.69 pct, over the same period.

Domestic equity mutual funds' average return was -26.2 percent at the end of July (from the start of the year), and the combined domestic funds' average return was -13.8 pct.

[05] ASE-close

It was another session of subdued trade on Wednesday on the Athens Stock Exchange with equity prices drifting lower and the general index remaining stuck in very tight ranges.

Dealers said buying interest focused on smaller capitalisation stocks with their index ending 3.91 percent higher, but off the day's highs of 6.0 percent.

The general index, however, ended 0.40 percent lower at 3,981.61 points with turnover at 76 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 2,218.12 points, off 0.60 percent and the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 0.12 percent to 557.46 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 793.23 points, up 3.91 percent.

[06] Greece-economic policy

The Greek economy is expected to grow by 5.0 percent next year, National Economy and Finance Minister Yiannos Papantoniou said on Wednesday.

Speaking to reporters after a meeting with Prime Minister Costas Simitis to review the course of the economy, Papantoniou said that next year's budget "will be a difficult budget".

He said that a plan for the privasisation of Skaramanga Shipyards did not include lay-offs.

Simitis and Papantoniou discussed the basic figures of next year's budget and structural changes in the economy.

[07] Greece-privatisation

Privatisation revenues totalled 130 billion drachmas so far this year, national economy ministry officials told ANA on Wednesday.

The ministry officials said that the privatisation programme would be pursued as planned following three successful privatisations in 2000. The signing of a strategic alliance between Commercial Bank of Greece and Credit Agricole, a partial privatisation of Hellenic Vehicle Industry and the listing of the Athens Stock Exchange's shares in the Greek bourse.

The government's privatisation programme this year envisages the flotation of COSMOTE, the country's No.2 mobile operator, of the Football and Pools Organisation and of the Agricultural Bank of Greece.

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