Olympic contains losses, but revenues decline
Olympic Air, the successor to Greece’s flag carrier Olympic Airways, posted a drop in revenues last year, although it managed to contain its losses to a considerable extent, official figures published yesterday showed. The carrier owned by listed Marfin Investment Group saw revenues fall by 10 percent in 2012 from the year before, to 216.32 million euros. On the other hand its losses fell 77.1 percent, dropping from 37.6 million euros in 2011 to just 8.61 million euros last year, after the company reduced staff numbers by 22 percent within just one year, from 939 in 2011 to 733 in 2012.
Olive production in the northern prefecture of Halkidiki, just south of Thessaloniki, is expected to be considerably lower this year, by as much as 70 percent, due to the adverse weather conditions experienced in the area during the spring and a reduction in blossoms – a clear sign of smaller crop yields.
Greece has by far the highest rate of self-employed people in its labor force, with almost one in three Greeks working for themselves, according to Eurostat figures published yesterday. The European Union’s statistical agency said that 31.9 percent of Greeks are self-employed against an EU average of 15 percent. A total of 32.8 million people were self-employed in the EU last year, Eurostat said. It added that in Greece, as well as in Portugal, Poland and Romania, the high rate of self-employment is a result of the high numbers working for themselves in the agriculture sector.
Turkish turmoil.
Turkish stocks yesterday extended their worst weekly slide since 2008 as Prime Minister Recep Tayyip Erdogan rejected compromise with protesters, setting the scene for bigger demonstrations on the weekend. “Over the week- end we will probably see more confrontation between police and demonstrators as no conciliatory comments were received from Prime Minister Erdogan,” Bugra Bilgi, a hedge fund manager at Garanti Asset Management in Istanbul, said in an emailed note. Turkey’s main equity gauge, the Borsa Istanbul Stock Exchange National 100 Index, fell 0.5 percent to a six-month low of 75,532.80, extending this week’s slide to 12 percent, the most since November 2008. Yields on benchmark two-year government lira notes climbed three basis points to a seven-month high of 6.81 percent while 10-year yields fell 11 basis points to 7.57 percent.
CCHBC delisting.
Coca-Cola HBC AG, the company whose stock has the biggest capitalization in the Greek bourse, is to hold a general shareholders meeting on June 28 to decide on its delisting from the Athens Exchange.