Greek economic sentiment deteriorated in October, according to the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE), which said yesterday its index fell to 107.9 points after a two-year high in September. “In October, the Greek economic sentiment index dropped after a long upward trend. Based on seasonally adjusted data, the fall to 107.9 points was due mainly to lower business expectations in construction,” IOBE said. By contrast, upbeat business expectations in the services sector and an improved consumer confidence reading had an overall positive contribution, it said. IOBE said less negative projections for economic conditions and household finances were behind the improvement in October’s consumer confidence, although consumers’ outlook on unemployment did not improve. “In construction, the rise of the index of the last five months was halted. The drop was due to more contained business expectations on the pace of employment in the coming months. A high percentage (21 percent) saw low demand as the biggest obstacle,” IOBE said. (Reuters)

The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) can evolve into a regional hub through a joint platform that would include neighboring countries’ markets which have a strong growth potential, Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) Chairman Akis Kleanthous said yesterday. He noted that the CSE was undergoing a radical change under the joint platform launched with ASE recently, adding that the benefits would accrue gradually over time. Greek investors’ placements on CSE total an average daily of about 4 million euros, while the reverse flow onto the ASE amounts to about 1 million euros. Kleanthous said the CSE was not indifferent to the Bulgarian Stock Exchange’s planned privatization. “It would be a lie to say (the Bulgarian bourse privatization) leaves us indifferent,” Kleanthous told reporters in Athens, “although we are not examining something at this moment.”

Romania has postponed a planned initial public offer for telecoms company Romtelecom, majority owned by Greece’s OTE, due to poor market conditions, OTE said in a statement yesterday. “After reviewing the conditions of the market, it was mutually agreed that the IPO should be postponed, without setting any new date or time schedule,” the statement said. The flotation, from which the government had expected to raise about 1 billion euros, was to be the biggest share offering ever planned by the state. (Reuters)

Hellenic Petroleum expects to see revenues for the year rise about 20 percent compared to 2005, its CEO Panos Cavoulacos said yesterday. “In 2006, we will have sales of about 8 billion euros,” Cavoulacos told an economic conference. “About 12 percent of those sales will be from abroad.” Hellenic Petroleum reported sales of 6.65 billion euros for 2005, while sales in the first nine months of the year came to 6.12 billion euros. (Reuters)