In Brief
Investor relations at Nireus awarded Nireus Aquaculture, Greece’s largest fish-farming company, took second place in an award recognizing «investor relations excellence» for 2009, it said yesterday. In a ceremony held at the Investment Money Conference in Athens earlier this week, Nireus took second place out of a total of 270 companies listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, Pharmaceutical company Alapis came first with third place going to construction company Michaniki. The winners were decided in a dual process involving online voting by readers and a direct poll from 100 CEOs active in the wider financial sector, the company added in a statement. Estonia seen meeting euro goal in 2011 Estonia is set to meet its goal of adopting the euro in 2011 because of the Baltic country’s work on fulfilling fiscal requirements, European Union Economic Affairs Commissioner Joaquin Almunia said late on Tuesday. «It is quite possible that Estonia will be in the euro by 2011,» Almunia told the European Parliament in Strasbourg. The data so far «seem to indicate that this would be possible. Obviously, we can’t take any decision» until an assessment next year on whether the terms are met, he said. Estonia seeks to become the third East European nation to adopt the euro after Slovenia and Slovakia to spur investment and trade by reducing currency risk for companies. The minority government of Prime Minister Andrus Ansip sacrificed domestic demand to narrow the budget gap and meet euro-adoption terms on time, exacerbating the second-deepest recession in the EU. (Bloomberg) Shipping finance Shipping company Goldenport Holdings Inc said it secured a $37 million loan facility with a Greek bank and plans to use part of the amount to fund the acquisition of a dry bulk career. The company said this new facility, combined with an existing credit line and its strong cash position, gave it the flexibility to continue to seek acquisitions. The container and dry-bulk vessels operator said it would use $15.1 million of the facility to finance up to 80 percent of the acquisition costs of a dry-bulk carrier. It would use $11.9 million of the facility to refinance an existing credit facility and the remaining $10 million as working capital, the Greece-based company said. (Reuters) Telecoms in Turkey Vodafone Group Plc’s Turkish unit expects revenue to increase next year as third generation services boost data usage and attract more customers, chief executive Serpil Timuray said. The 3G services will help Vodafone increase its sales in the fiscal year starting April 1 from a projected 2.7 billion liras ($1.8 billion) in the current fiscal year, Timuray told reporters late Tuesday in Istanbul. Vodafone was the only operator in Turkey to expand its market share in the third quarter with a gain of 1.1 percentage points to 24.5 percent, Timuray said. The company added 660,000 subscribers in the period, net of losses to other networks, she said. Vodafone entered the Turkish market in 2006 after acquiring the No 2 mobile-phone operator Telsim for $4.5 billion.(Bloomberg)
