Egnatia stock market daily report

After several months of attempts, the yield during the 10-year bond auction finally broke below the 6% level, sending a powerful signal that investors are confident that Cyprus will manage to enter the ERM II shortly, which will allow rates to converge with those of the euro-zone. During the 10-year auction held on February 24

Atlantic Insurance (ATL) recorded a satisfactory improvement in its 2004 results, lifting profits to CYP 1.18 mln from CYP 677.000 in 2003 on the back of an increase in premium income. The company announced that total premium income increased to CYP 9.47 mln from CYP 7.99 mln in 2003, helping boost operating profits to CYP

Cyprus spent a miserable 0.33% of of Gross Domestic Product (GDP) on research and development (R&D) in 2002, falling far short of the average 2% for all 25 European Union member states. The European Commission said in Brussels that the figure was an increase compared to previous years but still short of U.S. and Japanese

The Economist Intelligence Unit (EIU), in its February Global Forecast, has revised up its forecast for US real GDP growth in 2005 to 3.3% from 3.1% on the back of stronger consumer demand than expected in the final months of 2004. At the same time, it has slashed the Japan forecast to 0.8% from the

Lanitis Bros. (LB), the local Coke bottler and milk and juices manufacturer reported a highly disappointing set of results for 2004, with net profits nose-diving to CYP 463.832 from CYP 1.25 mln in 2003 as parallel imports of Coke hurt sales and cut into the company’s profit margins. Total turnover was up a miserable 2.6%