Athens News Agency: News in English, 02-02-28

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

CONTENTS

[01] Grigoris Snacks wins state railway catering tender

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

[03] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

[04] Greek stocks end sharply lower on Thursday

[05] Bush to receive Patriarch at White House next week

[01] Grigoris Snacks wins state railway catering tender

Grigoris Snacks, which is quoted on the Athens bourse, was named the winner of a tender called by state Hellenic Railways Organisation (OSE) to handle catering aboard its trains carrying around 13 million passengers a year.

"The arrangement with OSE will contribute substantially to the group's financial performance, bringing anticipated annual turnover of one billion drachmas," Grigoris Snacks said in a statement.

Among other business, the company has two outlets at Athens international airport and 24 aboard hydrofoils owned by Hellas Flying Dolphins.

The company recently launched a joint venture with Asian restauranteur Golden Phoenix for a chain of Chinese takeaway stores.

[02] Foreign Exchange Rates - Friday

Indicative tourist buying rates per euro

U.S. dollar 0.872

Pound sterling 0.616

Danish kroner 7.491

Swedish kroner 9.135

Japanese yen 117.0

Swiss franc 1.487

Norwegian kroner 7.773

Cyprus pound 0.579

Canadian dollar 1.399

Australian dollar 1.689

[03] Weather Forecast: Sunny on Friday

Sunny weather is forecast in all parts of the country, with scattered cloud in the west and eastern Aegean. Early morning visibility will be limited on the mainland. Winds southwesterly, light to moderate. In the north, temperatures will range from 5C to 21C; on the rest of the mainland from 8C to 23C; and in the islands from 11C to 20C. Sunshine in Athens with temperatures between 10C and 22C. Same in Thessaloniki with temperatures from 6C to 20C.

[04] Greek stocks end sharply lower on Thursday

Equity prices ended sharply lower on Thursday hit by news of a new indictment against businessman Socrates Kokkalis on charges of fraud against shareholders.

Bank shares were particularly hit as investors rushed into massive liquidation of positions in the sector.

The general index ended 1.98 percent lower at 2,332.89 points, with turnover a moderate Dr 48.3 billion, or 141.7 million euros.

The Publication, Banks and IT Solutions sector suffered the heaviest percentage losses (3.35 percent, 3.35 percent and 3.26 percent, respectively), while the parallel market index for smaller capitalisation stocks fell 2.97 percent.

The FTSE/ASE 20 index for blue chip and heavy traded stocks fell 2.43 percent, the FTSE/ASE MID 40 index ended 2.45 percent lower and the FTSE/ASE SmallCap 80 index ended 1.40 percent down.

Piraeus Bank was the biggest loser, ending 7.43 percent lower, followed by Commercial Bank (-7.43 percent), National Bank (-2.12 percent), ETBAbank (-2.5 percent), Eurobank (-2.45 percent) and Alpha Bank (-0.89 percent).

Broadly, decliners led advancers by 300 to 43 with another 17 issues unchanged.

[05] Bush to receive Patriarch at White House next week

ISTANBUL (ANA) Ecumenical Patriarch Vartholomeos will arrive in the United States next week to participate in events commemorating the 80th anniversary of the Greek Orthodox Archdiocese of America, while his week-long stay also includes a meeting with US President George W. Bush at the White House.

Vartholomeos will be received by Bush at the White House on Tuesday, followed by a meeting with US Secretary of State Colin Powell at the State Department.

The White House meeting comes on the heels of the Patriarchs high-profile role in organising a December inter-faiths meeting attended by some 80 international religious leaders representing Christianity, Judaism and Islam. Entitled ?The Peace of God in the World?, the Brussels meeting held under the auspices of the European Commission and its president, Romano Prodi attempted to intensify efforts at curbing conflicts fought in the name of religion.

In New York, Vartholomeos will visit ?Ground Zero? -- the spot where the WTC Towers once stood in Manhattan -- before officiating at a six-month memorial service for the victims of the dastardly Sept. 11 terrorist attacks at the site of the destroyed St. Nicholas (Aghios Nikolaos) Greek Orthodox Church on March 9.

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