Athens News Agency: News in English, 00-11-15

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] Basketball-Euroleague-PAOK-Win

[02] Armenian President-Athens-Visit

[03] Soccer Friendly-Greece-Slovakia-Result

[04] Greece - Yugoslavia - Kustonica

[05] Panafon-six-month results

[06] Greece-passenger shipping

[07] Gener SA-share capital increase

[08] ASE-close

[09] Greece-foreign exchange

[10] Remek SA-Apivita SA

[01] Basketball-Euroleague-PAOK-Win

PAOK Thessaloniki beat London Towers of England 70-58 in a Euroleague basketball group four match played in Thessaloniki on Wednesday night. PAOK has won four out of five games and leads the group.

[02] Armenian President-Athens-Visit

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan will pay an official three-day visit to Greece from November 21-23 at the invitation of his Greek counterpart Kostis Stephanopoulos, it was announced on Wednesday.

[03] Soccer Friendly-Greece-Slovakia-Result

Greece's national soccer team lost 2-0 to Slovakia in an international friendly match played on the island of Rhodes on Wednesday.

Greeces under 21 national soccer team beat Slovakia 2-1 in a game played in Rhodes on Tuesday.

[04] Greece - Yugoslavia - Kustonica

STRASBOURG (ANA) New Yugoslav President Vojislav Kustonica on Wednesday called Greece his countrys ?window to the outside world?, as he spoke here on the sidelines of a press conference at the Europarliament.

?Even when Serbia suffered under the weight of sanctions, relations were friendly ? It (Greece) was one of the countries that had a significant role in the support of democratic changes in Serbia. With the opening of the borders and the lifting of sanctions the possibilities for cooperation are even greater,? Kustonica said in answer to a press question.

[05] Panafon-six-month results

Panafon, Greece's largest mobile telephone operator, on Wednesday reported a 7.3 percent increase in turnover for the six-month period that ended on September 30, 2000, to 148.5 billion drachmas, compared with the same period last year.

Pre-tax, interest and provisions profits totalled 64 billion drachmas in the April-September period, up 7.7 percent from last year, while net profits rose 4.8 percent to 30.6 billion drachmas.

Air-time and data revenues totalled 119.6 billion drachmas, up 21 percent from the 1999, despite a 26 percent decline in contract-based subscription prices and a 33 percent fall in non-contract prices. Air-time and data revenues accounted for 81 percent of total revenues.

Panafon's total customer base reached 2,060,000 on September 30, up 38.4 percent from the same period last year, reflecting a sharp rise in non-contract subscriptions.

The company's market share totalled 38.1 percent, while penetration rate reached 51.4 percent.

[06] Greece-passenger shipping

"The road towards deregulating Greece's passenger shipping sector will open despite any obstacles raised by political or business interests," Merchant Marine Minister Christos Papoutsis said on Wednesday.

He said that Greek passenger shipping must be strengthened and noted that nothing could be achieved overnight. "We remain stable to our positions," Papoutsis told reporters.

He declined to comment on allegations by shipowner Gerasimos Agoudimos of a preferential treatment of Attica Enterprises by the government and urged the ND main opposition party to unveil its proposals on the country's passenger shipping sector.

[07] Gener SA-share capital increase

Gener SA, a Greek listed construction company, on Wednesday announced a successful completion of a share capital increase plan, worth 5.844 billion drachmas.

The capital increase plan was approved by a general shareholders' meeting on June 12, 2000.

[08] ASE-close

Equity prices remained under pressure on Wednesday pushing the general index below the 3,500 support level on the Athens Stock Exchange.

Traders said a cautious cut in interest rates by the Bank of Greece disappointed the market which ignored for one more session an improved climate in international bourses.

Instead, the market reacted negatively to the announcement of Alpha Bank's lower-than-expected profits in the third quarter of the year.

The general index ended 1.71 percent lower at 3,472.41 points, off the day's highs of 3,582.47 points and near the day's lows of 3,467.01.

Turnover was a low 47.162 billion drachmas. The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 2.52 percent lower at 1,984.19 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 1.07 percent to 416.79 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended 2.40 percent lower at 361.03 points.

[09] Greece-foreign exchange

The drachma recovered moderately against the US dollar in the domestic foreign exchange market on Wednesday despite a weak euro/dollar rate in international markets.

The Greek currency rose to 395.760 drachmas per dollar at the day's fixing, from 396.180 drachmas the previous day.

The drachma was stable against the euro currency at 340.130 drachmas per euro.

[10] Remek SA-Apivita SA

Apivita SA bought a remaining 33.5 percent equity stake in Remek Pharmaceuticals SA from Remek Pharmaceuticals-Cosmetics SA for 764.4 million drachmas completing a full takeover of the company.

The sale was completed through a stock transaction on the Athens Stock Exchange.

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