Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-08-04

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

CONTENTS

[01] Soccer-AEK-Tournament

[02] Falcon Jet- Inquiry

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Monday

[04] Lamia Cooperative Bank-findings

[05] Weather Forecast-Saturday

[06] ASE-close

[07] Greece-Capital Markets' Committee

[08] Greece-inflation-figures

[01] Soccer-AEK-Tournament

A four-team international football tournament, hosted by AEK Athens and organised by Greeces only subscriber sports channel, began in the Greek capital on Friday evening.

In the first matchup, Brescia crushed Werder Bremen 4-0, whereas host team AEK beat Rapid Wien 4-2 in the second game of the evening.

The final between AEK and Brescia and the consolation game between Rapid Wien and Werder Bremen will be played on Saturday.

AEKs home pitch in the Nea Philadelphia district of west Athens is the tournaments venue.

[02] Falcon Jet- Inquiry

Technical and human error led to the sudden loss of altitude of a Greek state executive Falcon jet last September in which seven people died, including Alternate Foreign Minister Yiannos Kranidiots, according to a report which the Romanian Transport Ministry submitted to Greece on Friday.

Four causes are given for the accident, a problem with the automatic pilot, which was badly handled by the pilots, non-use of seat belts, excessive speed and the fact that pilots ignored standard operating procedures.

[03] Foreign Exchange Rates-Monday

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

Mondays rates (buying)

Euro 334.383

U.S. dollar 369.579

German mark 170.967

[04] Lamia Cooperative Bank-findings

The Bank of Greece, the country's central bank, on Friday published its auditors' report on the Lamia Cooperative Bank, and said it would start proceedings with Lamia's prosecutor against the bank.

The central bank's report said that Lamia Cooperative Bank's assets fell by 11 percent last year along with a decline in the bank's cashflow and bond holdings.

The report also revealed stagnant lending, an increase in overdue loans and a decline in the bank's deposits. "The bank's liquidity is worryingly low," the report said.

Bank of Greece's auditors said Lamia Cooperative Bank's board members and their relatives have taken loans, worth several hundred million drachmas, and urged the bank's new administration to urgently take measures and close their accounts.

The auditing report also revealed several virtual credit accounts and non-signed loan contracts to customers.

"Lamia Cooperative Bank's credibility rate exceeds 27 percent, sharply up from a minimum rate of 7.0 percent", the report said.

The bank's new board said a programme for the liquidation of assets and a arrangement of overdue loans was progressing rapidly and expressed the hope that the bank's members would support the institution in its effort to recover.

Lamia's prosecutor has already ordered an investigation on felony charges in the case.

[05] Weather Forecast-Saturday

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

[06] ASE-close

Equity prices fell sharply on the last trading session of a subdued week on the Athens Stock Exchange pushing the general index to its lowest close since June 23, 1999.

The general index fell below the 3,900 support level to show a 3.28 percent loss in the week.

Traders said heavy pressures in Hellenic Telecoms' and National Bank's shares pushed the market lower.

The general index ended 1.31 percent lower at 3,866.95 points with turnover a low 63 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.33 percent down at 2,147.14 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index ended at 542.10 points, off 1.48 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks plunged 3.14 percent to 752.51 points.

[07] Greece-Capital Markets' Committee

Greece's Capital Markets' Committee on Friday approved the listing of Bank of Cyprus on the Athens Stock Exchange, the foreign listed company to enter the Greek bourse.

The listing plans envisages a share capital increase and a public offering of Bank of Cyprus' shares.

The committee also approved the listing in the main market of Greek Stock Markets SA, operator of the Athens Stock Exchange.

It also approved a share capital increase and a public offering for the listing of CPI's shares in the parallel market for smaller capitalisation stocks.

[08] Greece-inflation-figures

Greece's consumer price inflation accelerated to 2.7 percent in July year-on-year, from 2.5 percent in June, officials figures showed on Friday.

The National Statistics Service said that the consumer price index fell 1.7 percent in July from the previous month. The CPI index was 1.9 percent lower in July 1999.

The inflation rate was 2.1 percent year-on-year in July 1999.

The year-on-year rise in the CPI figure was the result of a 2.2 percent increase in food and non-alcoholic beverages' prices, an 1.4 percent in tobacco and alcoholic drinks, an 1.1 percent rise in clothing and footwear, an 1.2 increase in durable goods' prices, a 4.1 percent jump in hotel-restaurants' prices and a 3.3 percent increase in health services' prices.

Prices also jumped in the housing and transport sectors, up 4.6 percent and 5.2 percent, respectively.

On the other hand, the communications price index fell 11.2 percent in July.

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