Athens News Agency: News in English, 01-05-03

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

CONTENTS

[01] Archbishop Christodoulos-Russia-Official Visit

[02] Alpha Bank-Results-First Quarter

[03] Banks-Strike

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[05] Weather Forecast-Friday

[06] ASE-close

[01] Archbishop Christodoulos-Russia-Official Visit

Archbishop of Athens and All Greece Christodoulos will make an official visit to Russia from May 5-14, at the head of a delegation of Metropolitans.

The delegation will be welcomed at Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport by the Patriarch of All Russia Alexiy and the members of the Holy Synod of the Russian Church.

Archbishop Christodoulos will meet Russian Federation President Vladimir Putin, the President of the State Duma Selezhnev, Moscow Mayor Luzhkov, the Greek ambassador to Moscow and many Metropolitans of the Russian Church.

During his stay, Archbishop Christodoulos will be visiting many holy monasteries and shrines, as well as St Petersburg's Academy of Theology, while he will also be attending receptions and commemorative events.

[02] Alpha Bank-Results-First Quarter

Alpha Bank, a blue chip on the Athens bourse, said on Thursday that its net profit before tax in the first quarter rose by 50 percent to 31.6 billion drachmas from 21.1 billion drachmas in the same period of last year.

Also higher were the Alpha Group's consolidated earnings after tax and minorities, which totalled 21.3 billion drachmas from 20.8 billion drachmas in the first quarter of 2000, the bank said in a statement.

Assets in the first quarter were 10.3 trillion drachmas, up 11.1 percent; loans less provisions at 4.5 trillion drachmas, up 23.9 percent; and deposits with bank-to-customer repos at 6.3 trillion drachmas, up 20.1 percent, the statement said.

Many of the bank's subsidiaries also showed robust profits, including Alpha Bank Romania, up 105 percent; Alpha Bank Ltd Cyprus, up 96 percent; Alpha Leasing, up 39 percent; and Alpha Urban Real Estate, up 36 percent, it added.

[03] Banks-Strike

Bank workers are to stage a 48-hour nationwide strike on May 17-18 following a breakdown in pay talks with employers and uncertainty over the the future of pensions in the sector, their union said in a statement on Thursday.

The OTOE union has rejected an offer of a three-year labour pact that would change bank opening times after talks and allow pay rises of 3.8 percent in 2001, 3.5 percent in 2002 and 3.0 percent in 2003, the statement said.

Bank workers are seeking a two-year agreement with rises of 6.5 percent each year, accompanied by a 35-hour working week and pledges that employers will take action over alleged breaches of labour law, it added.

The last separate strike by bank employees was in March in a call for the creation of a unified social insurance fund for the sector.

[04] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Buying rates for Friday

U.S. dollar 379.665

German mark 172.829

French franc 051.531

Pound sterling 543.270

Irish punt 429.202

Belgian franc 008.379

Luxembourg franc 008.379

Dutch guilder 153.389

Italian lira (100) 017.457

Austrian schilling 024.565

Danish kroner 45.283

Swedish kroner 37.072

Finnish mark 056.852

Spanish peseta 002.032

Portuguese escudo 001.686

Japanese yen (100) 312.299

Swiss franc 219.230

Norwegian kroner 41.736

Cyprus pound 584.336

Canadian dollar 247.530

Australian dollar 197.926

[05] Weather Forecast-Friday

Sunshine is forecast in most parts of the country on Friday, with scattered cloud in the west and south. Winds northerly, light to moderate. Temperatures on the northern mainland will range from 9C to 27C; on the rest of the mainland and in the Ionian from 11C to 29C; and in the Aegean from 15C to 25C. Sunshine in Athens, with temperatures between 15C and 28C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 12C to 27C.

[06] ASE-close

Equity prices lost more ground on Thurday, extending their decline for the third consecutive session this wee, as lack of buying interest kept stock shares under pressure.

Traders said smaller capitalisation stocks were particularly. Analysts predicted that a fall towards the 3,200-point level could lead to a reappearance of buyers in the Greek bourse.

The general index ended 1.19 percent lower at 3,228.30 points, off the day's lows of 3,221.93 points, with turnover a low 144.20 million euros, or 49.4 billion drachmas,

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks ended 1.40 percent lower at 1,880.08 points, and the FTSE/ASE 40 index eased 0.90 percent to 373.22 points.

The parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks ended at 321.05 points, off 1.05 percent.

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