Athens Stock Exchange News

Greece's privatizations agency transferred shares corresponding to a 16% stake in Piraeus Port Authority to Chinese port operator COSCO Shipping after an amendment to a previous concession agreement, it said on Thursday.Last month Greek lawmakers amended a deal with COSCO allowing it to raise its stake in Greece's biggest port of Piraeus, paving the way for Greece to secure a major investment.Under a 2016 privatization deal, COSCO Shipping bought a 51% stake in Piraeus Port Authority for 280 million euros ($328 million) and committed to mandatory investments worth about 294 million euros over

China COSCO Shipping, which owns the world's fourth largest container fleet in terms of capacity, is expected to wrap up the purchase of a majority stake in Greece's largest port, Piraeus Port (OLP), next week, sources close to the matter said on Friday. Under a deal signed in April between COSCO and Greece's privatisation agency (HRADF), COSCO will buy 51 percent of Piraeus for 280.5 million euros ($312.5 million). COSCO will acquire a further 16 percent stake for 88 million after five years, and once it completes mandatory investments of 300 million euros. The transfer of the 51 percent stake to COSCO through the Athens Stock Exchange will likely take place on Wednesday, an official close to the process told Reuters.

Dozens of demonstrators blocked the entrance to Greece's privatisation agency offices in central Athens on Friday and planned more protests during the day against the sale of the country's two biggest ports. Privatisations have been a key plank of Greece's succession of bailouts since 2010 but have reaped poor revenues due to political resistance, union protests and bureaucracy. Greece has agreed the sale of a 67 percent stake in Piraeus Port to COSCO for 368.5 million euros. Under its third international bailout, Athens also plans to sell a majority stake in its second largest port in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.

Piraeus Port shareholders approved a new concession agreement with Chinese shipping giant COSCO on Friday, bringing Greece a step closer to concluding the sale of a majority stake in the port. Greece agreed in April to sell a 67 percent stake in the port to COSCO for 368.5 million euros. With the concession agreement approved, the deal now needs the green light from parliament and the competition watchdog to go through. Privatisations have been significant elements in Greece's succession of bailouts since 2010 but have reaped poor revenues due to political resistance, union protests and bureaucracy. Under its third international bailout, Athens also plans to sell a majority stake in its second largest port in the northern Greek city of Thessaloniki later this year.

The Athens stock exchange on Tuesday suspended trading in shares of Piraeus Port Authority before the privatisation agency unseals bids by investors for a majority stake in the country's biggest port later in the day. Greece, which is selling a 51 percent stake in Piraeus Port, expects that China's Cosco Group will be the sole bidder, according to Greek officials close to the procedure. "Following a request by the securities regulator, a temporary trading suspension on shares of Piraeus Port Authority is in place until the company informs the investment public on the board meeting of (privatisation agency) HDRAF regarding the opening of financial offers," the Athens bourse said.   Reporting by George Georgiopoulos

Shares of ferry operator Minoan Lines fell around 11 percent in late session trade on the Athens stock exchange on Wednesday, near the bourse's 12 percent limit down, after one of its ferries sank late on Tuesday, killing 48 passengers. Traded volume was 979,939 shares. The shares were trading at 2,995 drachmas ($7.78), up slightly from its day low of 2,935 drachmas, representing a fall of more than 11 percent. But brokers said the share price loss was likely to be temporary. "Today's drop in the stock price is logical after such an incident. The slide may continue tomorrow but in the medium term things will change," said an analyst.

Shares in Greek ferry operator Minoan Lines slipped again on the Athens Stock Exchange on Thursday following the sinking of the Express Samina ferry belonging to its subsidiary Minoan Flying Dolphins. Minoan was down 3.4 percent at 2,845 drachmas ($7.38) a share. It closed down 11.56 percent on Wednesday.

A senior executive at the shipping company which owned a Greek ferry that sank in September killing 80 people, plunged to his death from the sixth floor of his office building on Wednesday, Reuters reported. Police said Pantelis Sfinias, vice president of the board of directors of Minoan Flying Dolphins, a subsidiary of Minoan Lines, was seen by passers-by and employees stepping off the building in the port of Piraeus. The Express Samina sank off the island of Paros with 500 people aboard in Greece's worst maritime tragedy in decades. Police said they believed Sfinias's death was a suicide. "When the ambulance arrived to take him to hospital he was already dead," a police official said. News of Sfinias's death shocked the company and the Athens Stock Exchange.

Ocean Tankers Holdings PCL aims to raise about $13.38m from the initial public offering (IPO) that starts in the first such issue of a new company to list on the Cyprus Stock Exchange in two years. The company, presently privately owned by the Michael Ioannides Group and its affiliates, has a fleet of three double-hull tankers under the Cypriot and Maltese flags and the proceeds of the issue, that will reduce the principal shareholder’s stake to just below 70%, will help the company buy three or even four more ships. Ocean Tankers has applied to list in the Maritime Sector of the stock market and will take advantage of the merging of the Cyprus exchange with the Athens Stock Exchange in a unified trading platform within the next month or so in order to attract new investors.

Prime Minister Costas Simitis inaugurated National Bank of Greece's Shipping Trade Center in the port city of Piraeus, near Athens, and called for more investment and a better attitude from all. Simitis said the center will help promote quality shipping in the country's key sector. He noted that Greek shipping needs Greek officers and seamen, adding that the government will also offer solutions to the country's shipbuilding industry. The prime minister also said that upgraded, reputable shipping companies would find it easier to list on the Athens Stock Exchange, effectively providing them with an alternative source of capital.