In Brief
Ordinary budget revenues rose 8 percent in September in relation to the same month last year, bringing them within target and maintaining the 75-billion-drachma surplus for the first three quarters, the Finance Ministry said yesterday. Senior officials said revenue growth in the general budget as a whole, which includes the public investment program, will reach the 7.9-percent annual target, meeting the goal for a 200-billion-drachma surplus (0.5 percent of GDP). They added that the repercussions of the international crisis will become apparent in 2002, but will be within the government’s projections. Attica Enterprises launches bond issue Alpha Bank and subsidiary Alpha Finance will advise and manage a 45-million-euro, three-year convertible bond to be issued by ferry operator Attica Enterprises. The bond is the first corporate issue in dematerialized form to be listed on the Athens Stock Exchange and traded on its OASIS system, Alpha Bank said. The bond, which will be issued on October 11 with an annual coupon of 3.25 percent, is callable. With a nominal value of 10,000 euros, each bond can be converted into 1,908 common shares of Attica Enterprises. Attica Enterprises runs a fleet of eight SuperFast ferries servicing routes in the Adriatic and Baltic seas. Alpha Bank said it expects more companies to turn to corporate bond issues as a way of raising capital. (Reuters) Shipyard deal in the making. ETBA Bank, the majority holders in Hellenic Shipyards (HS), shipyard workers, who hold the minority 49-percent interest, and Germany’s HDW/FS shipyard which has been recommended as the suitable buyer in the HS privatization scheme, yesterday reached an initial agreement on the sale but postponed signing until tomorrow morning to give lawyers time to iron out certain legal details. According to sources, HDW/FS lifted its previous reservations concerning HS’s existing contracts. New connection. OTE Telecoms said yesterday it had signed an agreement with Grapes Hellas SA which would provide it with access to its network in Athens and Thessaloniki. OTE has recently signed similar agreements with another eight companies: Vivodi Telecom, Cosmoline, Starcom, Teledome, Forthnet, Europrom, Lannet Communications and Quest Wireless. (Reuters) Bourse deal off. Attempts to create a regional index linking the bourses of Greece, Israel and Cyprus have been put on hold after the September 11 attacks on the United States, the Chairman of the Cyprus Stock Exchange said yesterday. With the situation being what it is at the moment, (the issue) has been sidelined…it has been left dormant, Nicosia bourse chairman Paris Lenas said. Executives of the three bourses met index designer FTSE International in Nicosia last August with plans for an index to attract investment to the region. A follow-up meeting scheduled in Athens for late September or early October has not been convened, Lenas added. (Reuters) The market is basically awaiting developments. Capers are still on a downward trend, with their index down by four points.
