Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-02-13

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

CONTENTS

[01] Aget Heracles-Halkis Cement-Merger

[02] Petrola-Athens Bourse-IPO

[03] Seamen-Shipowners-Pay Talks

[04] AutoHellas Hertz-Results

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

[06] FM - Lebanon trip

[07] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[08] ASE-close

[01] Aget Heracles-Halkis Cement-Merger

The development ministry on Tuesday approved a merger between cement makers Aget Heracles and Halkis Cement through absorption of the latter by the former.

The merger's legal process is due to end by the end of the year, leading to the creation of Greece's biggest cement producer with an annual output of 9.0 million tonnes, of which 40 percent is destined for export.

[02] Petrola-Athens Bourse-IPO

Officials of Petrola Hellas, an oil refining company that belongs to the Latsis energy, banking and shipping group, said on Tuesday that entry into the Athens bourse would allow investments leading to the creation of 1,500 jobs.

The officials were addressing a presentation of Petrola ahead of its initial public offer (IPO) on February 20-23 for entry into the Athens Stock Exchange's main market.

The company wants to sell 21,535,500 common shares, of which 20,510,000 are destined for the IPO and the remaining 1,025,500 for privte placement.

The sale price of stock will be determined in bookbuilding involving institutional investors taking part in the IPO.

The IPO's coordinating lead underwriter is EFG Eurobank Ergasias, also a member of the Latsis Group; and the main underwriters are Alpha Finance and National Bank of Greece. The IPO consultant is EFG Eurobank Ergasias.

[03] Seamen-Shipowners-Pay Talks

The Panhellenic Seamen's Federation (PNO) on Tuesday called on shipowers to begin talks immediately on a collective labour agreement for 2001.

"We stated our demands in plenty of time to all the (shipowners) unions concerned and we are waiting for talks to start on the new collective labour agreements," PNO general secretary Yiannis Halas told reporters.

"Unfortunately, despite our repeated invitations to shipowners unions, much time has passed with not even one meeting taking place," Halas said.

The PNO has set the end of March as the deadline for the conclusion of an agreement.

"If this does not happen, then we will decide on action accordingly in order to protect the interests of Greek seamen," Halas added.

The PNO is seeking pay rises of 7.0 percent in 2001 for passenger shipping workers and 8.0 percent for seamen in cargo shipping.

[04] AutoHellas Hertz-Results

AutoHellas Hertz on Tuesday reported that its pre-tax profits rose to 2.9 billion drachmas in 2000, up 50 percent from a year earlier.

Turnover last year totalled 24 billion drachmas, marking a 22 percent increase from 1999, AutoHellas said in a statement.

In 2000 the company invested 22 billion drachmas, the bulk of which was spent on boosting its fleet by 6,000 cars to total more than 14,000 automobiles, up 25 percent on the previous year, the statement added.

[05] Foreign Exchange Rates-Wednesday

Wednesday's buying rates

U.S. dollar 364.438

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 530.152

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.306

Swedish kroner 37.587

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 311.272

Swiss franc 219.895

Norwegian kroner 41.139

Cyprus pound 583.196

Canadian dollar 238.971

Australian dollar 195.934

[06] FM - Lebanon trip

BEIRUT (ANA - M. Savva) The latest outbreak of violence in the Gaza strip and bilateral relations between Greece and Lebanon were discussed here on Tuesday by Foreign Minister George Papandreou, in a series of meetings with Lebanese officials.

Papandreou had talks with Lebanese President Emile Lahoud, Prime Minister Rafik al-Hariri,Foreign Minister Mahmoud Hammoud and Beirut's Orthodox metropolitan bishop.

In statements to reporters afterward, the Greek foreign minister expressed concern over the violence in the Middle East and said that the political will existed to continue the peace process until a reasonable end to the problem was reached, always in accordance with United Nations resolutions and the Oslo and Madrid process.

Papandreou said that the efforts begun in Taba, Egypt should not be abandoned because otherwise there might be developments with far-reaching consequences for the region.

[07] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Cloud is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday, turning to rain in the north, the Cyclades and the Dodecanese islands and snow on high ground in the north. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in the Aegean. In the north, temperatures will range from -2C to 11C; in the Ionian and the rest of the mainland from 1C to 15C; and in the Aegean islands from 6C to 14C. Cloudy in Athens, with temperatures between 6C and 14C. Showery in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 2C to 11C.

[08] ASE-close

A wave of profit taking during the last hour of trading reversed an initial rally of prices on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday and pushed equity prices off their day's highs.

Traders said the market took a breathe, particularly small and medium capitalisation stocks following a four-day rally which pushed several share prices up by 40 percent and the general index 2.10 percent higher.

The general index ended 0.01 percent higher at 3,196.18 points, off the day's highs of 3,247.87 points, with turnover an improved 176.56 million euros, or 60.16 billion drachmas.

Dealers said market sentiment was encouraged by higher-than-expected results from listed companies.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 0.17 percent higher at 1,853.44 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 0.11 percent to 347.97 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 1.72 percent lower at 260.63 points.

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