Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-08-24

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

CONTENTS

[01] Xifias fishery shows slightly higher profit in first half

[02] Wastewater treatment plant launched in Eyio

[03] Derivatives Market Close: Equity futures pick up steam

[04] Petrola shows sharply lower profit in first half

[05] Foreign exchange rates - Monday

[06] Bond Market Close: Prices drop in heavy trade

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Saturday

[08] Euro 2008 - Greece - Turkey

[09] Balkan FMs - Prespes festival

[10] ASE finally surpasses 2,700 level

[01] Xifias fishery shows slightly higher profit in first half

Xifias, an Athens-quoted fish farmer, posted pre-tax profits of 153.4 million drachmas in the first half of 2001 from 151.1 million drachmas in the same period a year earlier, up 1.5 percent, the company said in a statement on Friday.

Turnover totalled 2.4 billion drachmas, marking a 44.9 percent rise on the first half of 2000, the statement said.

[02] Wastewater treatment plant launched in Eyio

A new wastewater treatment plant was launched in Eyio on Friday that will resolve a long-standing disposal problem in the northern Peloponnese town.

The facility, which will initially cover the needs of 40,000 inhabitants, was built with a grant of 676 million drachmas from the national economy and interior ministries.

In the project's second phase, 60,000 inhabitants in the area will be covered.

It was inaugurated by Deputy Environment, Town Planning and Public Works Minister Ilias Efthymiopoulos.

[03] Derivatives Market Close: Equity futures pick up steam

Equity futures traded on the Athens Derivatives Exchange ended higher on Friday, showing premiums of up to 1.0 percent, spurred by a flurry on interest in blue chips.

Changing hands were 5,119 contracts on turnover of 34.6 million euros, traders said.

[04] Petrola shows sharply lower profit in first half

Petrola SA, a newly Athens-quoted oil refinery, posted net pre-tax profits of 1.9 billion drachmas in the first half from 8.4 billion drachmas in the same period a year earlier, down 77 percent, it said in a statement on Friday.

Consolidated turnover totalled 208.5 billion drachmas, marking an 8.0 percent decline on the first half of 2000, the statement said.

Petrola's management attributed the company's weak performance in the first half to external factors lead by low refining margins, which are based on the world price of crude oil prices and its byproducts.

In addition, a warm winter that depressed sales in heating oil, the statement said.

[05] Foreign exchange rates - Monday

Indicative buying rates until Monday

U.S. dollar 371.146

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 535.105

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 45.403

Swedish kroner 36.008

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 308.538

Swiss franc 222.479

Norwegian kroner 041.700

Cyprus pound 589.951

Canadian dollar 240.625

Australian dollar 196.749

[06] Bond Market Close: Prices drop in heavy trade

Bond prices in the domestic secondary market on Friday finished lower in heavy trade.

The Greek benchmark 10-year bond showed a yield of 5.35 percent, and the yield spread over German bunds was 48 basis points.

Turnover through the central bank's electronic system totalled 1.1 billion euros.

Sell orders accounted for the bulk of turnover.

[07] Weather Forecast: Unsettled on Saturday

Changeable weather is forecast in most parts of the country on Saturday, except the southeast, which will mostly see sunshine. The rest of the country can expect scattered cloud intermittently turning to showers or storms, mainly from late afternoon on the mainland. Winds northerly, light to strong, turning very strong in parts of the Aegean. On the northern mainland, temperatures will range from 16C to 30C; on the rest of the mainland from 18C to 32C; and in the islands from 22C to 30C. Unsettled in Athens, with temperatures between 23C and 32C. Same in Thessaloniki, with temperatures from 20C to 30C.

[08] Euro 2008 - Greece - Turkey

Negotiations between the Greek and Turkish football federations over a proposal to jointly host the ?Euro 2008? football championship commence on Monday in Istanbul.

Greeces federation (EPO) will represented by its president, Vassilis Gagatsis.

A joint press conference is planned for Tuesday.

[09] Balkan FMs - Prespes festival

A informal meeting of Balkan foreign ministers is scheduled for Saturday at the Prespes lake region of northern Greece, with Greek Foreign Minister George Papandreou expected to attend.

According to organisers of the event, Albanian FM Paskal Milo and new Bulgarian FM Solomon Pasy will also attend, while one of the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonias (FYROM) three deputy prime ministers will represent that country, without however, attendance by FYROM FM Ilinka Mitreva being ruled out.

No agenda exists for the contacts, as the meeting is strictly unofficial. Conversely, its expected that the recent developments in the area will be discussed, particularly the situation in neighbouring FYROM.

In a related development, several track and field champions from SE Europe countries will gather at the Prespes festival on Saturday to sign a declaration calling for an end to hostilities in the region.

[10] ASE finally surpasses 2,700 level

Equity prices moved higher on the last trading session of a subdued week helped by the announcement of improved results by Coca Cola HBC, a positive climate in international markets and a rising turnover in the market.

The general index managed to surpass the 2,700 resistance level, closing at 2,743.91 points, up 1.74 percent, reflecting gains in the banks and telecoms sectors.

National Bank (+2.26%), Commercial Bank (+3.46%), Alpha Bank (+1.39%), Hellenic Telecoms (+3.29%) and Panafon (+3.20%) led the list of gainers.

Turnover was an improved 150.46 million euros, or 51.27 billion drachmas.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended at 1,522.90 points, up 1.80 percent, the FTSE/ASE 40 index rose 1.08 percent to 315.94 points, and the FTSE/ASE SMALLCAP 80 index ended at 918.13 points, up 1.12 percent.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 270.39 points, up 0.87 percent.

Broadly, advancers led decliners by 268 to 65 with another 30 issues unchanged.

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