Fitch Ratings has today affirmed Alpha Bank's ratings at Long-term Issuer Default (IDR) 'A-' (A minus) with a Stable Outlook, Short-term IDR 'F2', Individual 'B/C' and Support '2'. The Support Rating Floor is affirmed at 'BBB'. The Long- and Short-term IDR and Individual rating reflect Alpha Bank's strengthened position in the Greek banking system, good, resilient operating profitability and cost efficiency, satisfactory capital and improved asset quality. They also consider potential pressure on asset quality from rapid lending growth in the relatively untested Greek retail market and risks associated with rapid expansion in south-east Europe (SEE).

The Stable Outlook reflects Fitch's expectations that Alpha Bank's sound fundamentals will enable it to continue to perform well and expand its business despite the current difficult global capital market conditions. The preservation of Alpha's sound profitability, asset quality and good management of its rapid expansion in SEE could influence its ratings positively. Downside rating risk could be triggered by asset quality problems arising from rapid loan growth in Greece and SEE, notably Romania, or a marked deterioration in its financial ratios or capital due to the bank's aggressive branch expansion plan.

Alpha Bank's 2007-2010 business plan aims to strengthen its retail banking business in Greece and expand its presence in SEE to take advantage of an under-banked region with still high growth potential. It plans to have 1,010 branches in SEE by 2010 and increase the region's contribution to group profits to 25% (16.4% at end-H108) which, in Fitch's view, is ambitious.

Alpha Bank continues to benefit from resilient GDP growth and credit demand in Greece and the parts of the SEE region where the bank operates. In H108, Alpha Bank was able to maintain its good operating profitability, with an operating average return on equity of 30.5%, thanks to increased contribution to profitability of its banking operations in SEE, a strong and stable cost/income ratio in Greece, and improving cost efficiency in SEE. At end-H108, Alpha Bank's credit risk was satisfactory, with a gross impaired loans/total gross loans ratio of 3.59%, almost in line with top domestic peers.

The considerable improvement of its asset quality since 2006 relates to the bank's strong loan growth, which Fitch sees as a major risk - and increased efforts on collection and significant write-offs. The agency views positively the bank's efforts to centralise and improve credit risk management. Alpha Bank's market risk appetite is moderate, with limited interest rate risk. Liquidity is sound, supported by growing customer deposits, relatively diversified funding sources and improved liquidity risk management. Capital is satisfactory and maintaining it at the current level is a prerequisite, given strong and rapid lending growth in Greece and SEE and the risk of a downturn in the credit cycle.

Source: Interactive Investor

Cyprus’ Commerce Minister Antonis Paschalidis announced there have been informal Greek business interests towards participation in the second run for licenses concerning the exploration of crude oil and natural gas reserves in the coastal area of Cyprus.

The Cypriot government has also confirmed its plans for partnerships with countries willing to supply natural gas to the country.

Source: FOCUS Information Agency

Imports from Greece have reached 1.1 billion euros, marking a 16% increase, said Commerce, Industry and Tourism Minister Antonis Paschalides.

Speaking at a press conference on Thursday on the sidelines of the 73rd Thessaloniki International Fair (TIF), Paschalides said that the balance of trade between Cyprus and Greece leans against Cyprus since in 2007, the total commercial transactions rose to 1.3 billion euros, marking an increase of 18%, compared to 2006 when it was 1.1 billion euros.

Cyprus exports reached 214.8 m. euros while exports to Greece amounted to 58.2 m. euros, registering a 16.0% increase compared to 50.1 m. in 2006.

Despite the imbalance, said Paschalides, numbers indicate that the Cyprus market prefers Greek products, putting Greece at the top on imports to Cyprus, while Cypriot products rank second in exports to Greece. “We can say that these figures are at a very good level with good prospects for the immediate future”, the Minister added.

Source: Cyprus News Agency

Cyprus is finally growing closer to unification. For 34 years it has been divided, following a Turkish military invasion in 1974, which split the country in two. But on Wednesday morning, Cyprus President Demetris Christofias arrived at a compound in Nicosia to meet Turkist Cypriot leader Mehmet Ali Talat, in the hope of finding a resolution to the island’s division.

Christofias and Talat will want to concentrate on the larger economic picture in continued discussions over the coming weeks. Unification of the island would likely give rise to a flood of foreign investment, and also provide a big boost to Turkey’s hopes of joining the European Union. It may even reignite last year’s oil and gas study by the Greek Cypriot Government of untapped resources in the Eastern Mediterranean. A 70,000 square kilometer sea area south and south-west of the island could contain reserves of between 6 and 8 billion barrels of crude.

This is the fifth time the two leaders have met in 2008, and the outcome is looking positive for peace. The two moderate figureheads are backed by a pro-unification consensus from all the key international organizations and governments. "All the stars: the United Nations, EU, United States, Turkey, Cyprus and the United Kingdom, are aligned for the first time," said David Lee of specialist risk consultancy, Control Risks.

But challenges will lie ahead as discussions, continuing on Sept 11, turn to the economy. Economic issues caused the termination of talks in 2004, with the Greek-Cypriots unable to see the benefits of unification at that time; many of the Greeks who lost their homes in the North at the time of the division, would not have got them back. Businesses in Cyprus are struggling too--a report in the Cypriot Financial Mirror’s showed this week that profits for companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange tumbled 47.0% year-on-year, to 465.5 million ($669.4 million) in the first six months of 2008.

And the two sides of the island are still economically unmatched. The Greek-Cypriot South is a prosperous, popular holiday destination, which sees over three million tourists per year, and has been on the International Monetary Fund list of the 32 "Advanced Economies of the World" since 2001. The Turkish-Cypriot North, by contrast, is heavily dependent on agriculture and government service, and has a gross domestic product approximately a third the size of the South. The North has suffered from an international trade embargo and little foreign investment as many have been wary of its de facto administration that is recognized by just one country, Turkey.

Lee says that the most important issue for unification is not the economic disparity between the two sides at present, but the "technical issues" central to the country’s reform, the most pressing of which is how a unified government would run on a day-to-day basis. The potentially explosive issue of housing rights also remains. Many families, especially Greeks who lived in the North, are still not convinced they will reclaim their lost homes.

Source: Forbes.com

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation (CTO) has announced the opening of a new air connection between Larnaca airport and the Birmingham International Airport by the “Monarch Airlines”, next spring.

According to an announcement, issued here today by the CTO, from March 29, the “Monarch Airlines” will begin operating the new connection twice a week, on Wednesday and Sunday.

The CTO pointed out that the new air connection consists a significant development to improve the Cyprus accessibility.

So far, the “Monarch airlines” operate flights to Larnaca from the airports of Gatwick, Luton and Manchester.

The Cyprus Tourism Organisation also noted that a number of airlines, like Easyjet, Sky-Europe, Flyglobespan, Jazeera, Lufthansa and Emirates, have either initiated air connections with Cyprus, or expanded their routes to Cyprus.

“The CTO will soon announce a strategic plan for developing new air connections between Cyprus and other international airports”, added in the announcement.

Source: Financial Mirror

Passenger traffic at Larnaca airport has reached a new high for the year but not an all-time record, as a total 529 flights over the next three days will carry 76,000 travelers to and from Cyprus.

In all, 35,000 passengers were expected to travel on Wednesday, 16,000 on Thursday and 25,000 on Friday, the most popular public holiday after Easter, the operator Hermes Airports announced.
Thassos Katsourides, General Secretary of the Asdsociation of Cyprus Travel Agents (ACTA) said that more Cypriots are traveling this year than ever before, probably because the public holiday falls on a Friday and many people are combining their vacations over a long weekend or have opted to take the whole week off.

“Cypriots are traveling to Greece, which accounts for more than half going by air or sea, while Britain remains the second choice, primarily due to the expatriate community there,” Katsourides told CyBC recently.

“Eastern Europe is still a strong attraction for holidaymakers, while Cypriots are seen going even to the most exotic of destinations, such as the Far East, but in much smaller numbers than any other national group,” he said.

News reports from the airport said that services seemed to be operating calmly, unlike the chaos that existed a month ago with check-ins being delayed or baggage lost and flights losing their departure slots. The two ground handling companies, Louis subsidiary LGS and Swissport-Vassilopoulos, have been fined a total of EUR 112,000 as they were blamed for the problems, while LGS has appealed the decision saying that the government ignored the inefficiencies of the present terminal buildings.

Paphos should move into a totally refurbished terminal building in November, while Larnaca’s new terminal building will be ready in November 2009

Source: Financial Mirror

According to provisional estimates the turnover volume index of retail trade increased by 9.9 or 7.0% to 151.0 in May 2008, compared with141.1 in April 2008.

For the period January-May 2008 the index is provisionally estimated to have increased by 11.6% compared with the corresponding period of 2007.

Final figures for April show that the turnover volume index of retail trade increased by 6.9 or 5.1% to 141.1, compared with 134.2 in March 2008.

For the period January-April 2008 the index recorded an increase of 11.1% compared with the corresponding period of 2007.

Meanwhile, turnover by value rose by a provisional 15.2% compared with the corresponding period of 2007 in January-May 2008.

Final figures show that for the period January-April 2008 the index recorded an increase of 14.5% over the corresponding period of 2007.

Source: Financial Mirror

Speaking at an event organised by the Cyprus Branch of the Institute of Directors, Stavrakis noted that despite international economic challenges, the local economy is a robust economy with satisfactory growth rates, almost full employment, controlled inflation, low interest rates and healthy public finances.

However, Stavrakis admitted that “the rising oil and food prices will eventually affect the economy of Cyprus”.

The inflation rate, said Stavrakis, is expected to range between 4% and 4.5%, compared to 2.5% in 2007, and the unemployment rate for the current year is expected to remain at the same levels as in 2007, when it fell to 3.9% of the economically active population.
The Cypriot Minister also noted that public finances remain at a good level and the fiscal balance is expected to remain in surplus, around 0.5% of the Gross Domestic Product. In addition, public debt is projected to fall to 48% of the GDP in 2008.

Stavrakis pointed out that the decrease in the rate of growth in the construction and banking sectors leads to a smaller increase of the government revenue and puts incremental pressure on the fiscal balance.

“The number of foreign investments in Cyprus continues to grow significantly, according to the data of the Department of the Registrar of Companies and Official Receiver, with Russia becoming the most important economic partner of Cyprus,” Stavrakis noted and added: “Russia is a country with very good economic potential.”

Regarding inflation, Stavrakis stressed that its rising trend needs attention, because any price increase affects Cyprus to a greater extent than other competitive to Cyprus countries. “As a result, Cyprus becomes less competitive”, he added.

Source: Financial Mirror

Experienced investors aren’t fazed by the credit crunch and still intend to buy property, especially in foreign markets, the Jet-to-Let Magazine Annual Conference survey has revealed. 

The Jet-to-Let Magazine 2008 Annual Conference recently took place at The Hilton Metropole in London. The conference was attended by a wide range of experienced investors - some with experience dating back four decades – and delegates were surveyed about their property purchases and views on the current investment outlook. The results, which provide an up-to-date snapshot of investor sentiment, show that 77% of respondents felt the credit crunch has not impacted on their desire to invest in property.

Eighty-five per cent of people viewed overseas jet-to-let properties as currently offering better opportunities than the UK housing market and are planning to invest in 17 different countries in the coming year, including Cyprus (39.7%), Morocco (19.4%), France (13.3%), Germany (5.1%) and Italy (4%).

They already had investments in 27 different countries outside of the UK, including Cyprus, France, Dubai, Brazil, Turkey and Spain. The combined property holdings of the investors totalled many hundreds of millions of pounds.

Despite the bleak picture portrayed recently by the media about UK property, 92% of attendees said they already have investments in the UK and 54% said they’re planning on investing this year. In addition, 72% have confidence in the UK property market bearing fruits over the next five years, whilst this rises to 89% over the next 10 years.

“The results clearly show that educated investors understand the long-term nature of property investment,” commented Dominic Farrell, editor of Jet-to-Let magazine and author of the bestselling property investment book, The Jet to Let Bible. “They realise there are currently better opportunities overseas, but still have medium to long-term confidence in UK property.”

Where reasons for investing are concerned, 98% cited property as being a sound long-term pension plan. Foreign currency mortgages were favoured by 98% of people and 78% said they used a specialist foreign currency broker.

Finally, when asked what the best form of long-term investment was, and with a choice of cash, stocks or property, an overwhelming 100% of people declared it to be property.

Notes for Editors

Jet-to-Let magazine is a free quarterly subscription publication aimed at investors and homebuyers seeking superior returns in domestic and overseas property markets. It’s currently delivered to subscribers located in 61 countries worldwide.

Jet-to-Let magazine is edited by Dominic Farrell, author of the bestselling property investment book, The Jet to Let Bible. The groundbreaking magazine is a must-have source of quality investment advice for both novice and experienced investors alike and brings together the views of respected professional investors, developers, financiers and journalists. For more details, or to set up a free subscription, see www.jet-to-let-magazine.com

For more details or interview requests with Dominic Farrell, contact:   0151 482 5543

The top 10 countries of most interest to foreign property investors in 2008 have been revealed in a survey conducted by property investment magazine, Jet-to-Let.

In order to provide an up-to-date snapshot of investor intentions in 2008, Jet-to-Let magazine surveyed 1000 new readers who recently subscribed to their free quarterly investment magazine. The results, which provide an interesting comparison with a similar survey conducted last year, show that investor interest is continuing to shift away from the UK buy-to-let market and towards foreign investment opportunities.

Over 50% of investors said they wish to invest in foreign property in the next 24 months, with 35.8% keen to invest in the next 12 months. The number one country for investors was found to be Cyprus, which is unchanged from 2007, with France and Spain ranked second and third. There were three new entrants this year – Italy, ranked at seven, the United Arab Emirates at eight and Brazil, which came in at tenth place.

Dominic Farrell, editor of Jet-to-Let magazine and author of the bestselling property investment book, The Jet to Let Bible, says he’s not surprised that Cyprus scored the top slot in the survey. “The adoption of the Euro on 1st January 2008, the interest rate cut, oil and gas finds offshore and low taxes continue to make Cyprus very attractive for investors and homebuyers alike,” he says.

“France and Spain will always be in the top three for UK and Irish buyers, but the relegation of Spain to number three reflects the change in market conditions and an erosion of confidence following the recent property market scandals, principally in Marbella,” Dominic explains.

Bulgaria, Poland and Portugal all notably dropped out of the 2008 top 10 league, after being featured in last year’s ratings. According to Dominic, “This reflects the ongoing changes in their respective property markets and the perception by investors that there are better opportunities elsewhere.”

Overall, the survey highlights the fact that interest in foreign investment opportunities is still going strong, helped in part by the inflated housing market in the UK and the small returns on offer here, compared to good returns in other countries.

Summing up the current choices of property investors, Dominic says, “We have seen a significant increase in investing in overseas property since the beginning of 2008, which reflects an ongoing ‘substitution’ away from UK, Irish and US property, as well as equities and other financial products. A well-selected, cashflow-positive property in a country with a sound legal framework and economy will always beat alternative investments hands down.”

The Jet-to-Let 2008 top 10 survey results are:

1.Cyprus
2.France
3.Spain
4.Germany
5.USA
6.Morocco
7.Italy
8.United Arab Emirates
9.Turkey
10.Brazil

The top 10 in 2007 were:

1.Cyprus
2.Spain
3.France
4.Morocco
5.Portugal
6.Bulgaria
7.USA
8.Germany
9.Turkey
10.Poland