In Brief
Greek bourse promotes ties with regional organizations Thessaloniki Stock Market Center (TSMC), an affiliate of the Athens Stock Exchange (ASE), has trained more than 700 staff of financial and stock market organizations from seven countries in SE Europe and the Black Sea region and plans to train 450 more from another five countries in 2004 under Greece’s technical assistance program to developing countries, ASE Chairman Panayiotis Alexakis said yesterday. TSMC officials recently discussed in Cairo a plan for the presentation of the city’s bourse in Athens in late May. Amalthea Publishers joins up with global business news operator Amalthea Publishers, which operates the business information site www.euro2day.gr, has signed a strategic cooperation agreement with the agency AFX News and, through it, with World Business News (WBN), providing for the exchange of news content. AFX News, a subsidiary of Agence France-Presse, is a joint founding member of London-based WBN with CBS MarketWatch.com and China’s Xinhua Financial Network. Amalthea launched the weekly paper Metohos (Shareholder) in 1998 and www.euro2day.gr in April 2002. Stet Mobile telephony firm Stet Hellas, which operates under the TIM service mark, reported a net income rise of 19.9 percent to 91.6 million euros on sales growth of 17.1 percent to 808.5 million euros in 2003. Stet said growth was propelled by a 14.3 percent rise in traffic, a 21.7 percent rise in roaming revenues and a doubling of phone sales. Alpha Leasing Alpha Bank is offering 6.50 euros for each share of its subsidiary Alpha Leasing it does not hold, representing in total 22.59 percent of its share capital. The move is based on Alpha’s «intention to concentrate its core financial activities under the full control of the group,» said a statement. Ownership of more than 95 percent of Alpha Leasing shares will enable the bank to delist its subsidiary from the Athens bourse. Karaiskaki Barco, which makes outdoor video screens, said yesterday it had won five contracts worth 15 million euros ($18.7 million) to provide video displays in stadiums, including the Karaiskaki Stadium in Athens to be used during the 2004 Olympics. (Reuters) Copelouzos-AIA Energy group Copelouzos said it bought a 5.0 percent stake in Athens International Airport (AIA) without disclosing the price of the acquisition. The Copelouzos group said it bought 1.5 million shares of AIA, a 55-45 joint venture between the Greek State and a consortium led by German construction group Hochtief. (Reuters) Laiki Bank Cyprus-based Laiki Bank-Greece said it has signed a deal with American Express Bank to start offering the US group’s mutual funds in Greece. Laiki has a network of 42 branches in Greece and plans to expand it to 50. AB National Bank of Greece (NBG) will issue a credit card, AB Visa, for supermarket chain AB Vassilopoulos, which will offer holders refunds and gift vouchers.
