Cyprus Mail: Press Review in English, 99-08-05

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From: The Cyprus Mail at <http://www.cynews.com/>

Thursday, August 05, 1999

Louis listing sparks share euphoria

THE FIRST day of trading of Louis Cruise Lines (LCL) shares, during which their price rose from 40 cents to about three pounds, was given great prominence.

_Alithia

_ said that the LCL share was responsible for a record performance and a record number of transactions in its maiden voyage in the stock exchange. The price rose by a staggering 729 per cent on the first day of trading and there was a record number of transactions for a single share (3.7 million bought and sold). The price closed at £3.05 although at one stage it had reached £3.80.

The euphoria generated by the LCL share's meteoric rise affected the other share prices as well, with the share-index increasing by 4.45 per cent to 276.93.

_Simerini

_ reported that big and small investors crowded the stock exchange floor in order to monitor the performance of the LCL share which they had bought for a mere 40 cents. Optimistic stockbrokers expected the share to reach £5 in the not too distant future.

The company's managing director Costakis Loizou said that the next move would be for the share to be listed on the Athens stock exchange. The Louis group was also considering floating some other of its subsidiaries on the stock exchange.

Politis, under the headline "Golden Cruise", said that many investors had woken up rich. The 3.7 million LCL shares sold on Tuesday generated profits worth £9.8 million.

Elsewhere, the paper reported that UN Secretary General Kofi Annan did not favour the holding of a new round of Cyprus talks because, given the Turkish stance, this would be doomed to failure. However, western diplomats believe that Annan is obliged to call a new round of talks because he has been instructed to do so by the UN Security Council.

_Haravghi

_ claimed that the workers had united to fight against the government's plan to modify the way in which the Cost of Living Allowance (CoLA) is calculated. Representatives of all the big unions, except the Sek unions federation, would meet on Friday to decide what action to take in order to "safeguard on of the greatest conquests of the working class".

According to the paper, the government does not want to include rises in consumer taxes in the calculation of CoLA, which is incorporated into wages. According to a study by the unions federation Peo, if the government excludes taxes from the calculation of CoLA, while introducing its proposed tax hikes next month, losses to wages would be six per cent.

_Machi

_ named the individuals whom, it claimed, would be appointed ministers when President Clerides reshuffles his cabinet next month. These were United Democrats deputy Androulla Vassiliou, Disy deputy Prodromos Prodromou and former government spokesman Christos Stylianides.

Stylianides is tipped to be appointed Minister of Defence, a post that could also go to Disy deputy Antonis Karas. Mrs Vassiliou could be given the Health Ministry, while efforts were under way to persuade Prodromou to become government spokesman. Prodromou was the ideal person for the post of spokesman, but had so far declined the offer of the post.

_Phileleftheros

_ said that the official visit of Bosnia's Minister of Education and Culture, Erizvan Bekovic, to the occupied north constituted indirect recognition of the pseudo-state. Bosnia was following the latest decision of the Islamic Conference which had called for the upgrading and strengthening of the pseudo-state.

This was the first time that a foreign official of ministerial rank had visited the north, the paper said. It added that the Cyprus government was concerned about the visit and considering what measures to take to prevent similar occurrences in the future.

© Copyright Cyprus Mail 1999

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