OTE bleeds as Greek stocks take a tumble
Greek stocks finished off the week with steep losses yesterday, as blue chip OTE telecom slumped more than 7 percent. Banks also tumbled 4.10 percent on renewed selling pressure in the sector. National Bank gave up 4.33 percent to 10.82 euros and peer Alpha ended at 4.81 euros, off 4.56 percent for the day. The Athens bourse’s benchmark general index fell 3.41 percent to 1,658.29 points but managed to hold onto gains of 1.71 percent for the week. OTE telecom fell 7.22 percent to 7.20 euros, bringing its losses for the week to 8.51 percent. On Wednesday, the phone company, 30 percent-owned by Deutsche Telekom, reported a larger-than-expected drop in first-quarter earnings of 75 percent and warned of a steeper earnings drop expected later in the year. «The guidance it gave for the year ahead seems to have scared investors. Selling in the shares picked up by players trimming exposure to Greece,» said an analyst. The blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index shed 3.41 percent to 805.15 points. Mid-caps on the FTSE/ATHEX 40 retreated 2.07 percent, while small-caps (FTSE/ATHEX 80) eased 1.59 percent. Turnover reached 113.3 million euros versus 85 million euros in the previous session.
