Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-09-20

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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] Greece-NovaBank

[04] Greece-Simitis-fuel prices

[05] Greece-TVX Hellas

[06] Technodomi SA-share capital increase

[07] ASE-close

[01] Foreign Exchange Rates-Thursday

Indicative rates released by the central bank for the next working day.

Thursdays rates (buying)

Euro 336.328

U.S. dollar 397.385

German mark 171.961

French franc 051.273

Pound sterling 561.095

Irish punt 427.048

Belgian franc 008.337

Luxembourg franc 008.337

Dutch guilder 152.619

Italian lira (100) 017.370

Austrian schilling 024.442

Danish kroner 045.035

Swedish kroner 040.216

Finnish mark 056.566

Spanish peseta 002.022

Portuguese escudo 001.677

Japanese yen (100) 372.446

Swiss franc 222.649

Norwegian kroner 042.170

Cyprus pound 588.792

Canadian dollar 267.384

Australian dollar 214.619

[02] Weather Forecast-Thursday

Sunny weather is forecast in most parts of the country on Thursday with the northwest likely to see showers. Early morning mist is expected. Winds variable, light to moderate. Temperatures on the mainland will range from 16C to 36C; and in the islands from 21C to 33C. Mostly sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 22C and 36C. Light cloud in Thessaloniki, with temperatures ranging from 18C to 35C.

[03] Greece-NovaBank

NovaBank, a bank created from the cooperation between Portugal's BCP and Greece's Interamerican, officially begins operation on Thursday with an initial capital of 50 billion drachmas and a network of 45 branches in Greece.

Presenting the new bank, the chairmen of BCP and Interamerican, JJ Goncalves and Dimitris Kontominas, said it aimed to become a landmark in the development of the country's banking sector and to offer higher quality services.

Yiannis Pehlivanides, NovaBank's chief executive, said the bank would begin operation with 38 branches in Athens and Piraeus and another seven in Thessaloniki, with a total workforce of 400.

The bank's investment programme envisages expanding its network by 120 in the next three years (80 in Athens, 20 in Thessaloniki and 20 in other large Greek cities), and to expand in the wider Balkan and Middle East regions.

Pehlivanides said the bank would focus on retail banking - with a competitive pricing policy - aiming to attract 350,000 customers in the next three years and to obtain a 5.0 percent market share.

NovaBank will also offer telephone and internet banking services and expects to offer financial services through the wireless telephony by the end of the year.

Dimitris Kontominas said the bank was not planning to expand through acquisitions but that it would seek an autonomous growth.

[04] Greece-Simitis-fuel prices

The Greek government plans to cut fuel oil prices for farmers, a move aimed to compensate Greek farmers from the impact of rising fuel prices.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis, replying to questions on Wednesday, said that a new tax draft bill by the government would envisage the equalising of diesel and heating oil prices along with a larger cut in a special oil tax paid by farmers.

[05] Greece-TVX Hellas

TVX Hellas SA was given the green light to go-ahead with obtaining an operation license following approval by the environment, town planning and public works ministry of an environmental impact study for a gold mining project in Olympiada, northern Greece.

The environmental impact study envisages the terms ensuring the protection of the natural and cultural environment in the area, and production procedure standards overwhelming both Greek and EU legislation.

A TVX Hellas statement hailed the decision by the ministry as "a landmark decision to complete the company's investment project".

The company's visibility study, completed in 1999, envisages that the gold mine will produce 254,000 ounces of gold annually in the first five years, 2.3 million ounces of silver, 21.540 tonnes of zinc and 22,500 tonnes of lead.

[06] Technodomi SA-share capital increase

Technodomi-Travlos Bros, a listed contractors company, on Wednesday announced a share capital increase plan, worth 3.38 billion drachmas, following approval by a general shareholders' meeting.

The plan envisages issuance of 16,941,210 new common shares at a nominal value of 200 drachmas each, and with an offering price of 750 drachmas.

The company reported a loss of 523 million drachmas in the first half of 2000.

[07] ASE-close

Equity prices ended sharply lower on Wednesday hit by a wave of selling in blue chip stocks, like Hellenic Telecoms, and shares in the construction sector.

Traders said news of a further delay in presenting a draft bill by the government on the restructuring of the construction sector, combined with worries over rising oil prices, discouraged sentiment and dramatically reversed an early upward trend on the Athens bourse.

The general index ended at 4,103.01 points, down 1.47 percent, off the day's highs of 4,207.78 points, reflecting a 3.9 percent fall in Hellenic Telecoms' share price.

Turnover was a moderate 95.53 billion drachmas. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.48 percent lower at 2,348.16 points and the FTSE/ASE 40 index fell 1.41 percent to 534.93 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 3.69 percent lower at 630.83 points.

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