In Brief
Industrial output contracts for fifth month Greece’s industrial output contracted for the fifth consecutive month, falling 3.3 percent year-on-year in September, hurt by weaker manufacturing, the National Statistics Service (NSS) said yesterday. In the year to September, Greece’s industrial output contracted 2.2 percent compared to the same period a year ago, NSS said. Weaker industrial output this year is reflected in slower economic growth. Greece’s economy, about 2.5 percent of the eurozone, decelerated to a 3.5 percent annual expansion clip in the second quarter. Last year it grew 4.0 percent. However, month-on-month, industrial output rose 12.7 percent in September from August, mainly due to seasonal factors. Greece does not seasonally adjust its figures. (Reuters) Superfast to get casino for Greece-Italy route Vivere Entertainment said yesterday it has agreed with ferry company Superfast One to set up a casino on its Greece-Italy route. A source said the casino is expected to start operating soon, giving no financial details. Shares in Vivere jumped 16.67 percent to 1.33 euros on the Athens bourse yesterday. Stanleybet arrests Stanleybet International Ltd., a Liverpool, England-based sports betting company established in 1997, had its second store in Greece shut down this weekend and its Athens and Thessaloniki representatives arrested. Stanleybet’s Alexandros Vasdekis was detained by Greek police in Athens for one night, while its Thessaloniki intermediary and three customers were arrested and held for one night on November 8, charged with violating sports betting legislation, according to an e-mailed statement yesterday. European Commission spokesman Oliver Drewes declined to comment on any arrest when he spoke at the Commission’s daily news conference yesterday in Brussels. «The decision of the prosecutors to release everyone, without conducting formal indictment proceedings, allows the reopening of our outlet,» Adrian Morris, Stanleybet’s deputy managing director, said in the statement. (Bloomberg) Tsakos profits Tsakos Energy Navigation Ltd., Greece’s biggest publicly traded oil tanker company, said profit fell 18 percent in the third quarter as a $31.8 million gain from the year-earlier period wasn’t repeated. Net income dropped to $41 million, or $1.08 a share, from $50 million, or $1.31, a year earlier, Athens-based Tsakos said yesterday in a statement. That was in line with the $1.07-a-share average of nine analyst estimates compiled by Bloomberg. Sales rose 30 percent to $158.8 million. Without the gain, year-ago profit was $18.2 million, or 48 cents. The company’s fleet includes very large crude carriers, or VLCCs, as well as smaller crude carriers and tankers that carry gasoline, diesel and other refined fuels. Tsakos also owns tankers capable of navigating ice-filled waters. (Bloomberg) Bank gains Romania’s second largest bank, BRD, reported a 52 percent increase in nine-month net profit yesterday, a similar result to a preliminary statement published a month ago. The bank, controlled by France’s Societe Generale, posted net profit of 1.039 billion lei ($357.5 million), compared with a preliminary result of 1.038 billion lei reported last month. (Reuters)
