In Brief
Government advisers to seek OTE partner before end-March The government, which wants to divest itself of its stake in OTE telecom, has given its advisers until the end of March to find a strategic partner for the group, a senior Finance Ministry official said yesterday. «We gave our advisers an extension until the end of the month for OTE,» the official said. «There is interest from Austria.» Athens wants to reduce its current 38.7 percent stake in OTE to raise funds to pay down public debt, one of the highest in the eurozone as a percent of gross domestic product (GDP). It is being advised by UBS, Credit Suisse and EFG Eurobank on the sale of up to 20 percent in OTE. Merrill Lynch is advising OTE. The government has said it prefers a European strategic partner who will also take over management at OTE. Telekom Austria has expressed interest in the Greek telecoms group. (Reuters) Cyprus Q4 GDP grows 3.5 pct y/y, 0.7 pct q/q NICOSIA (Reuters) – Cyprus’s economy expanded 3.5 percent year-on-year in the fourth quarter of 2006, bringing total growth for the whole year to 3.8 percent, the statistics department said yesterday. Quarter-on-quarter growth was 0.7 percent, unchanged from a revised reading of 0.7 percent in the third quarter. The economy grew 3.6 percent year-on-year in the third quarter. Last year’s total growth figures match a flash estimate issued by the statistics department last November. Gross domestic product expanded by 3.9 percent in 2005. Growth in the services-driven economy was spurred by finance and banking where activity grew 28 percent, retail trade which climbed 7.9 percent and telecoms services. Mirroring a stagnant tourism market, holidaymaker arrivals were down 4.9 percent and tourism revenues fell 2.4 percent. There was also a 28 percent drop in the island’s exports. Attica approval Attica Bank got shareholder approval yesterday for a three-for-five, 149-million-euro rights issue, part of the lender’s 2007-2009 business plan. The bank, slated for privatization this year, has said it wants to boost its capital adequacy and fund expansion plans. Attica will issue a total of 49,546,746 new common shares at 3 euros each. Of these, half a million shares will be offered to staff as a bonus. «We want to increase the bank’s free-float to above 20 from a current 19.8 percent to return to the Athens bourse’s large-cap market,» Attica’s CEO Tryfon Kollintzas told reporters. (Reuters) Dromeas deal Listed furniture firm Dromeas announced yesterday its 4-million-euro agreement with Daimler Chrysler (Mercedes Benz) for the production of furniture for the new commercial brand of the German company’s showrooms in EU countries. The project will last until November 2008 with an option for extension, and is being undertaken in association with Corporate Express, which will coordinate and observe the distribution and installation of the furniture. Dromeas won the contract after an international tender by Daimler Chrysler, including firms from Europe and the USA. Romanian FDI Foreign direct investment to new European Union member Romania is estimated at around 7 billion euros this year, against 9.1 billion euros in 2006, the FDI agency head said yesterday. «We will be keeping a good trend this year. I estimate FDI flows somewhere at around 7 billion euros,» Florin Vasilache told Reuters. «Most of it will be greenfield investments.» (Reuters)