In Brief
NBG 9-month net up 66 percent, beats forecasts National Bank, Greece’s largest lender, said yesterday nine-month net profit grew 66 percent, above forecasts, boosted by the consolidation of Turkish Finansbank and growing retail credit. NBG said net group earnings after minorities reached 1.31 billion euros. On average, analysts polled by Reuters were expecting nine-month profit to rise to 1.27 billion euros with forecasts ranging from 1.24 to 1.29 billion. The group’s net interest income rose 53 percent to 2.22 billion euros. The net interest margin improved by 81 basis points year-on-year to 4.24 percent. Finansbank contributed 349 million euros or 26.6 percent of group nine month profit. (Reuters) Louis Group expects lower gains for 2007 NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cypriot tourism operator Louis Group posted pretax profits of 19.63 million Cyprus pounds ($49.07 million) in the first nine months of 2007 and said it expected full-year results to be lower than last year. The operator posted pretax profits of 20.17 million pounds in the first nine months of 2006. Earnings per share fell to 4.21 cents from 4.55 cents a year ago. Louis said the loss of the Sea Diamond cruise boat off the Aegean island of Santorini earlier this year had an impact on operations, costing the company an estimated 8.0 million pounds in related expenses. The vessel was fully insured. Nine-month results incorporated an exceptional income of 13.1 million pounds from Louis’s sale of its stake in the Cyprus Hilton Hotel. Geniki trims loss Geniki Bank, majority-owned by France’s Societe Generale, remained in the red in the first nine months of the year but trimmed its group loss to 32.2 million euros ($47.4 million), it said yesterday. Geniki said loan-loss provisions in the nine months were 28.3 million euros, down from 48.7 million in the same period a year earlier, as the bank adopted stricter credit risk assessment criteria on retail loans. The provisioning is part of a year-long restructuring effort by the bank. Geniki said retail credit – consumer loans and mortgages – grew 13.5 percent to 3.2 billion euros. The lender’s customer base grew 11 percent, the bank said. (Reuters) Hellenic Tech profit doubles Hellenic Technodomiki TEV, Greece’s biggest builder, said nine-month net income more than doubled after it sales gained. Net income rose to 105.8 million euros ($156.3 million) from 45.7 million euros a year earlier, according to an e-mailed statement today from the Athens-based company. Sales increased 35 percent to 631.1 million euros from 472.6 million euros. (Bloomberg) Goldenport Goldenport Holdings Inc, a Greek shipping company, confirmed a $151 million order for four commodity carriers. Goldenport paid a deposit of $30.2 million from cash reserves and a credit line, the Marshall Islands-based shipping line said in a statement. (Bloomberg) AEGEK in Albania project Construction firm AEGEK said it was declared lowest bidder in the tender for the project Saranda-Konispol (Sagiada) road project in Albania, budgeted at 28.8 million euros.
