Greeks with more than one job (either simultaneously or in two different work environments within the same year) amount to about 20 percent of the country’s work force; that is, about 1 million people, a survey by the Labor Institute of the General Confederation of Greek Labor (GSEE) has found. “This mainly refers to the 30-55 age group,” Yiannis Kouzis, head of the institute’s industrial relations department and an assistant professor at Panteion University, told Kathimerini. A Greek has to work 92 percent more time than a German to obtain the same goods, while the minimum wage level in Greece equals just 50 percent of the average minimum wage in the old 15 EU member states.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling (CCHBC) is in exclusive talks to acquire Serbian fruit-juice maker Fresh & Co jointly with Coca-Cola Co, it said yesterday. The potential acquisition includes Fresh & Co’s production facility and its Next and Su-Voce juice brands, Hellenic, the world’s second-largest bottler of Coca-Cola products by sales, said in a statement. Hellenic, which is 24 percent-owned by Coca-Cola Co, did not disclose financial details. The deal would be CCHBC’s second acquisition in Serbia this year. It teamed up with Coca-Cola to buy Serbian water bottler Vlasinka for 21.5 million euros in February. (Reuters)

Electrical goods retailer Fourlis posted a 52.2 percent rise in first-half net profit, thanks to strong growth at its furnishing retail IKEA outlets, the company said late yesterday. Net profit stood at 5.8 million euros ($7.21 million) versus 3.8 million euros in the same period last year. Fourlis operates two IKEA stores in Athens and Thessaloniki and a sporting goods chain. (Reuters)

Turkey’s visitors last month rose by 14.72 percent from August 2004, reaching 2.8 million according to the country’s Tourism Ministry. The Germans led in numbers, followed by the Russians and the British, repeating the pattern of the year to date. In the year’s first eight months, arrivals rose by a hefty 23.58 percent compared to the same period last year, reaching 14.5 million.

Turkish Airlines’ consolidated net profits rose 58.1 percent year-on-year in the first six months of 2005 to 13.31 million lira ($9.99 million), Istanbul Stock Exchange data showed yesterday. The national carrier’s net sale revenues rose 12.2 percent to 1.227 billion lira in the same period. While the company earned 26.18-million-lira net operating profits in the first half of 2004, it incurred 5.03-million-lira net losses this year. (Reuters)

EFG Eurobank Ergasias has won the Greek Bank of the Year 2005 award from The Banker magazine, of the Financial Times group.