Greeks Banks Rise Before Debt Swap Talks Resume: Athens Mover
January 27, 2012, 2:31 AM ESTBy Marcus Bensasson
Jan. 26 (Bloomberg) -- Greek banks rose the most since September, led by EFG Eurobank Ergasias SA and Piraeus Bank SA, as talks on a private-sector exchange of the country’s debt were to resume in Athens today.
The FTSE/Athex Banks Index climbed 17 percent at 3:21 p.m. in Athens, having previously risen as much as 19 percent, while Eurobank and Piraeus, the country’s second and third-largest lenders, each gained 27 percent. National Bank of Greece SA, Greece biggest bank, increased 14 percent, and Alpha Bank SA was up 26 percent. The general Athens index rose 3.5 percent.
Charles Dallara, the managing director of the Washington- based Institute of International Finance, representing Greece’s private creditors, will propose that new bonds issued as part of a debt exchange should carry an average coupon of 3.75 percent when he resumes Athens talks with Prime Minister Lucas Papademos this evening, Greek newspaper Kathimerini reported, without saying how it got the information.
“It seems that the prospective agreement on the PSI together with the initiation of the talks over the next loan agreement is alleviating some of the risks surrounding Greece at the moment,” said Vassilis Kararizos, head of research at Proton Bank.
The FTSE/Athex Banks Index has risen 46 percent this year, compared with a 13 percent increase for the Athens Stock Exchange General Index and a 4.3 percent gain for the Stoxx Europe 600 Index. Last year the general Athens index dropped 52 percent, while Greek banks lost 79 percent.
--With assistance from Maria Petrakis in Athens. Editors: Steve Bailey, Francis Harris
To contact the reporter on this story: Marcus Bensasson in Athens at mbensasson@bloomberg.net
To contact the editor responsible for this story: Craig Stirling at cstirling1@bloomberg.net
