The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) said yesterday trading on its mid-cap and small-cap listings will be extended by an hour from June 5 after increased interest from investors. The bourse said it will add one hour of continuous trade from 11.30 local (0830 GMT) to 12.30 local (0930 GMT). Trade in mid-cap and small-cap stocks will then resume at 2 p.m. until 4.30 p.m. local time, as is the case currently. The bourse’s pre-opening or staging session for all stocks, when traders can input orders, will also start 15 minutes earlier at 11 a.m. on June 5 and last for 30 minutes. (Reuters)

Greece plans to issue a 15-year structured note next week and is targeting proceeds of more than 200 million euros, a source close to the situation said yesterday. “The total amount will be small but above 200 million euros,” the source told Reuters, adding the issue is to be done via a private placement. An official at one of the lead managers said the note will pay a coupon of six-month Euribor plus 100 basis points semi-annually every day that the 10-year constant maturity swap is greater than or equal to the two-year constant maturity swap, otherwise it pays zero for that day. Alpha Bank and Morgan Stanley are the underwriters for the issue, said the source. Greece has said it plans to raise about 10.5 billion euros in the second quarter of the year to service its debt. (Reuters)

The board of Bank of Cyprus has decided to go ahead with an issue of subordinated Tier 2 capital worth 200 million euros ($243.1 million), the bank said yesterday. The amount will be taken off the bank’s euro medium-term note (EMTN) program, it said. The bank has an EMTN program worth 1.5 billion euros. The bank said it mandated Barclays Capital, UBS and Alpha Bank as lead managers a new floating rate note (FRN) to be launched. A source familiar with the transaction has said the issue would be structured as a 10-year FRN non-callable for five years. (Reuters)

Omega Navigation Enterprises Inc plans to raise $220 million from a share offering in the US and Singapore. The company, which is seeking a listing in Singapore, said in a prospectus that it plans to sell 12 million new shares — of which at least 2 million will be offered in Singapore — at a price of between $19 and $21 each. Omega said it would use about $188 million from the proceeds to pay for the purchase of several tankers, while the remainder would be used to repay debt. (Reuters)

Nasdaq-listed TOP Tankers Inc said yesterday it will pay out a special dividend of $2.50 per share, effective on April 25, 2006, to shareholders of record as of April 17, 2006. The company also said it decided to discontinue the company’s policy of paying regular quarterly dividends.