In Brief
PMI rises to 52.3, manufacturing expands Greece’s purchasing managers index (PMI) rose to 52.3 in February from 51.0 in January, showing that manufacturing continued to grow, NTC Research and the Hellenic Purchasing Institute said yesterday. NTC Research said the rise was the result of increased production, new orders, procurements and hirings, combined with a sharp drop in inventories. The survey of about 300 purchasing managers indicated that manufacturing output rose for the 34th consecutive month, picking up speed from January. New orders from foreign and domestic buyers also increased, showing the strongest pickup in exports since April 2001. Manufacturing continued to increase employment levels during February but at a faster rate than in the previous month. In the wider eurozone, the Reuters Eurozone Purchasing Managers’ Index rose for the fourth month running toward the critical 50 line that divides shrinkage from growth. It reached 48.6 in February from a revised 46.3 in January.(Reuters) Commercial Bank says net profit down 26 pct y/y Commercial Bank said yesterday consolidated net profit after minorities fell 26.5 percent year-on-year to 146.2 million euros. The bank also said that group revenues from commissions fell 19 percent year-on-year to 158.7 million euros. Commercial Bank had said earlier this week that parent bank pretax profit rose 10.2 percent year-on-year to 373.9 million euros. Commercial shares lost 1.81 percent to 30.32 euros yesterday. (Reuters) Alfa-Alfa Holdings Listed Alfa-Alfa Holdings yesterday announced pretax profits of 50 million euros in 2001 from a turnover of 528 million (276.1 million in 2000). «The improvement in results is substantially due to the performance of construction and industrial subsidiaries,» the group said in a statement. Construction subsidiary Alte reported consolidated pretax profit of 18 million euros from a turnover of 139 million. Alte projects profits of 22 million from a turnover of 220 million euros in 2002, after the recent absorption of four smaller companies. The industrial arm ESHA Hellas posted a pretax profit of 13 million euros from a turnover of 238 million, after recently absorbing the remaining 50 percent of Dutch company ESHA Holding BV. Drachmas The introduction of euro bank notes and the withdrawal of the drachma was fully successful, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. On February 28, the last day of its circulation, the amount of drachmas withdrawn totaled 2.7 trillion, which represented 90 percent of the amount in use at the end of 2001. The Bank of Greece and its 27 branches in the country will continue exchanging, free of charge, drachma bank notes with euros for 10 more years – until March 1, 2012. Coins will be exchanged by the central bank and public tax offices for two more years. Withdrawn bank notes of eurozone countries will be exchanged without commission until March 31. Tsochadzopoulos in the USA Development Minister Akis Tsochadzopoulos arrived in the United States yesterday for a series of contacts and discussions regarding developments in energy, commerce, tourism and technology. The contacts include Secretary of Energy Spencer Abraham in Washington and tour operators in New York on Monday. Tsochadzopoulos today is due to receive the «Man of the Year» distinction from the American Foundation for Greek Language and Culture. Vodafone Vodafone (ex-Panafon) mobile operator yesterday announced a new agreement with Viafon, which will now be its Master Dealer and Master Franchisee in Greece. The agreement will give Vodafone direct access to about 85 percent of its subscriber base, «further strengthening its commercial presence in Greece and achieving substantial synergies,» the company said in a statement. Greek patents Greece submits the second lowest number of applications for patent rights to the Munich-based European Patent Diploma Organization among EU members, Eurostat data released yesterday show. This number in 2000 was 5.2 per million of the economically active population, with Portugal at 3.9 per million. Sweden is in first place with 346.4 applications, followed by Finland with 320.3 and Germany with 296.8. The EU average is 152.7. Greece lags in last place in the number of advanced technology patent applications, most of which originate in Crete. US taxation An official of the US Internal Revenue Service (IRS) will be at the American Embassy in Athens March 19-22, to answer questions from US taxpayers residing in Greece from 8 a.m. to 12 a.m. and 1 p.m. to 3.30 p.m. The embassy’s consular section makes available most US tax forms daily from 8.30 a.m. to 4 p.m. It also has a list of private tax experts.
