In Brief
Aegean stays on course for Athens stock market Aegean Airlines confirmed in a statement that it intends to be listed on the Athens Exchange, despite reports suggesting that foreign investment funds are interested in acquiring the successful Greek private airline. One of them, Texas Pacific Group (TPG) – the former owner of Greek cellular telephony network TIM – was said to be planning a respectable bid for a controlling stake in Aegean, which shareholders took into account before deciding to proceed with the listing. The airline stated that its orientation remains the stock market, from which it wishes to draw 100-150 million euros in order to renew and expand its fleet. Greek government bond trade volume drops in May The volume of Greek government debt traded on the central bank’s electronic system (HDAT) fell to 56.56 billion euros in May from 58.98 billion in April, the Bank of Greece said yesterday. Daily average turnover was 2.69 billion euros versus 3.1 billion the previous month. The central bank said investor interest mainly focused on bonds with remaining maturities of between seven and 15 years, which absorbed 57 percent of overall volume. The most actively traded bond was the 10-year benchmark which recorded 20 billion euros’ worth of transactions. Greek government bond yields rose and prices fell in May, in line with the performance in the rest of the eurozone. The 10-year benchmark bond yield rose 16 basis points to 4.6 percent, with that on 30-year paper up 12 basis points to 4.84 percent. As a result the yield curve flattened. The yield difference between 30- and three-year bonds narrowed to 40 basis points from 48 in April. (Reuters) New HOL identity Hellas On Line presented yesterday its new corporate identity and, with it, its logo, in the company’s efforts to become the second-largest telecommunications provider in Greece after OTE. HOL also announced its new product line, featuring double-play (telephony and Internet) services, fixed telephony and other high-standard corporate services. Cyprus Air Loss-making Cypriot national carrier Cyprus Airways said yesterday its forecast financial results for the year were «not encouraging,» deteriorating further from earlier estimates at the troubled airline. CEO Kikis Lazaridis said steeper fees at refurbished airport terminals, aircraft leasing costs and cheaper competition had led it to revise initial estimates of a «small marginal loss» for 2007. (Reuters) Harvard event The Kokkalis Foundation, which will be celebrating its tenth anniversary, is promising the biggest Harvard University reunion in Southeastern Europe, with the participation of government officials and politicians from the region next Monday, June 18. Keynote speakers at the event in Athens will be Foreign Minister of Serbia Vuk Jeremic and the internationally renowned journalist Dr Fareed Zakaria.
