Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-05-30

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

CONTENTS

[01] Minoan Lines-Results-First Quarter

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

[03] Intracom-Results-First Quarter

[04] Secondary Bond Market-Close

[05] InfoQuest-AremisSoft

[06] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

[01] Minoan Lines-Results-First Quarter

Minoan Lines, an Athens-quoted passenger shipper, on Tuesday reported revenue of 7.1 billion drachmas in the first quarter of the year, flat against the same period of 2000.

Revenue held steady despite a reduction in sailings to the Adriatic due to withdrawal of the Phedra ferry from the Venice line, Minoan said in a statement.

Earnings before amortisation totalled 900 million drachmas.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Wednesday

Buying rates for Wednesday

U.S. dollar 395.255

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 560.388

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 45.326

Swedish kroner 37.412

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 328.560

Swiss franc 221.510

Norwegian kroner 42.861

Cyprus pound 585.934

Canadian dollar 256.724

Australian dollar 203.530

[03] Intracom-Results-First Quarter

Intracom, an Athens-quoted telecommunications and information technology manufacturer, on Tuesday reported pre-tax profits of 9.7 billion drachmas in the first quarter of the year from 7.5 billion drachmas in the same period of 2000.

Sales in the first quarter rose by 61 percent to 57.9 billion drachmas from 36 billion drachmas in the same period a year earlier, Intracom said in a statement.

Exports totalled 22.5 billion drachmas in the first quarter of this year, up 53 percent.

The Intracom Group's consolidated pre-tax profits rose to 11.4 billion drachmas from 8.2 billion drachmas in the first quarter of 2000, marking a 38 percent increase, the statement said.

Consolidated sales totalled 74.8 billion drachmas, up 87 percent from 40 billion drachmas in the first quarter of 2000, it added.

Intracom is a blue chip quoted on the Athens Stock Exchange.

[04] Secondary Bond Market-Close

Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Tuesday finished higher in light trade with players focusing on 10-year paper.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.60 percent from 5.63 percent a day earlier.

The yield spread over German bunds was 44 basis points from 45 basis points in the session before.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totalled 580 million euros (197.6 billion drachmas) from 225 million euros (76.5 billion euros) a trading day earlier.

Buy orders accounted for about half of turnover.

[05] InfoQuest-AremisSoft

Infoquest, a listed information technology company, is to effect a staggered sale by the end of 2002 of 6.5 million shares it owns in AremisSoft, a US sofware manufacturer, the Greek firm said in a statement on Tuesday.

The seller believed that AremisSoft's results would finally put to rest adverse media reports that have put pressure on the stock, which is listed on Nasdaq, and confidence in management had been retained, the statement said.

ArtemisSoft was involved in developing software solutions in which InfoQuest had few operations, while Info Quest was expanding into systems integration in which the US firm's activities were few, the statement added.

[06] Weather Forecast-Wednesday

Sunshine is forecast throughout the country on Wednesday. Winds north-northwesterly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 15C to 32C; on the rest of the mainland from 17C to 34C; and in the islands from 18C to 29C. Sunny in Athens, with temperatures between 18C and 32C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 17C to 31C.

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