In Brief
OTE to raise 2.1 billion euros from two-part bond LONDON (Reuters) – Greek telecoms group OTE has set the sizes for both tranches of a planned euro bond that is expected to price later on Tuesday, said an official at one of the banks managing the sale. OTE’s three-year 1.5-billion-euro bond is expected to price at mid-swaps plus 160 basis points, the official said. Initial guidance had been set at mid-swaps plus 160 basis points area. The seven-year 600-million-euro tranche is expected to price at mid-swaps plus 195 basis points, following initial guidance of mid-swaps plus 195 basis points area. Books have closed and orders have exceeded 6 billion euros. Citigroup, Dresdner Kleinwort, Merrill Lynch and Morgan Stanley are managing the sale. OTE is rated Baa1 by Moody’s Investors Service, BBB+ by Standard & Poor’s and BBB by Fitch Ratings. Spyrou gets Syrian government contract Spyrou House of Agriculture, an Athens-listed seed maker, won a contract to help Syria improve its agricultural production. Under the deal, Spyrou will provide Syria’s government with materials and technology to overhaul and boost production of seeds for crops used in animal feed, such as maize and corn, company Chairman Giorgos Spyrou said yesterday in a telephone interview. «The aim is to make Syria self-sufficient by 2012,» Spyrou said. The deal will increase the Greek company’s profit by an estimated 2 million euros ($2.9 million) this year, rising to an annual 30 million euros in 2012, according to Spyrou. (Bloomberg) Jumbo Toy retailer Jumbo will report a gain in profit of up to 22 percent for the second half of last year. «Profitability of the group is expected to increase between 20 and 22 percent, compared with the same period last year,» the company said yesterday in a stock-exchange filing. Sales gained 17 percent in the six months through December, the retailer said, without giving figures. Jumbo stuck to its forecast for gains of 15 percent in profit and sales for the fiscal year through June 2008, according to the filing. (Bloomberg) Turk inflation Turkish inflation is expected to continue falling in the coming months, despite risks related to energy and food prices, Turkey’s central bank said on Tuesday after softer-than-expected January inflation data. In its regular statement on the inflation data, the bank also said that rises in transport service prices limited an improvement in service price inflation. On Monday, the Turkish Statistics Institute said consumer prices rose 0.80 percent in January for an annual rise of 8.17 percent, compared with a median forecast of 1.11 percent month-on-month in a Reuters poll. (Reuters) Romania wages Romanian average net wages jumped 15.2 percent on the year in nominal terms in December to 1,266 lei ($517), boosted by bonuses, wage negotiations and higher industrial output, data showed yesterday. The National Statistics Board said net wages rose by roughly 13 percent on the month. Wages in Romania have risen steadily in recent years but the country is struggling with emigration as more than one in 10 Romanians have left the country seeking better pay. (Reuters)
