In Brief
Turkey may extend Inteltek license for one year Turkey may allow Turkish-Greek joint venture Inteltek to keep its sports betting license for another year while the gaming authority prepares to hold a tender. Draft legislation being discussed in parliamentary commissions in Ankara would allow the current license-holder to continue operating for a year or until a new tender is held, according to a text obtained by Bloomberg. Turkcell Iletisim Hizmetleri, Turkey’s biggest mobile phone company, owns 55 percent of Inteltek, and Athens-based Intralot holds the remainder, according to the company’s website. Turkish betting accounts for nearly a quarter of Intralot’s profits. (Bloomberg) EasyJet says revenue to increase; GB loads over 85 pct EasyJet Plc, Europe’s second-biggest discount carrier, said average revenue per seat should rise 3 percent to 5 percent this month and that bookings for the Easter holiday period are «encouraging.» The airline’s load factor, or the proportion of seats filled, is «broadly» unchanged from a year ago, EasyJet said yesterday in a statement. The load factor at GB Airways, the UK carrier EasyJet bought to expand at London’s Gatwick Airport, is expected to be higher than 85 percent in February and March. (Bloomberg) Heating fuel The possibility of a strike by fuel distributors seemed to recede yesterday after representatives said the government had met its pledge to reimburse them with tax rebates due 24 hours ahead of the deadline. On Sunday, the Gasoline Station Owners’ Federation voted to shun the new system of heating fuel distribution, which was launched on Friday and is designed to fight illegal fuel trading, if the Finance Ministry failed to meet the three-day deadline. A number of distributors, however, still oppose the new system. Turkish markets Turkish assets traded sideways yesterday as investors awaited new market-moving data from the United States today and the publication of minutes from the US Federal Reserve’s last rate-setting meeting. The lira was trading at 1.1900 against the dollar at 1300 GMT, firmer than its interbank close of 1.1945 on Monday, while the main stock index gained 0.8 percent to 46,096 points. Bonds firmed on Monday as the yield on the benchmark October 7, 2009, bond fell to 16.73 percent from the previous day’s close of 16.83 percent. (Reuters) Bulgaria joint venture Federal Development LLC, a Washington, DC-based real estate investment company, will set up a joint venture with Petrol Holding AD, majority owner of Bulgaria’s biggest fuel retailer. The two companies signed an agreement in Washington yesterday to create Federal Bulgaria Management AD. The project may invest as much as $3 billion over the next decade, according to the statement. (Bloomberg)
