Citigroup

Cyprus has appointed Citigroup Global Markets as advisers for the privatization of state telecoms firm Cyta, authorities said on Tuesday.

Privatization of the telecoms company, which holds a dominant position in the Cypriot market, is a condition of Cyprus?s 10-billion-euro bailout brokered in 2013 from the Eueropean Union and the International Monetary Fund.

Greece's Alpha Bank raised more than $500 million from a transaction backed by shipping loans, it confirmed on Thursday, one of the first of its kind by a Greek bank since 2008.

Reuters reported in November that Alpha Bank, Greece's fourth-largest bank, was to raise about $510 million by bundling together shipping loans.

Bulgaria is seeking to raise some EUR 1.3 B in new loans from foreign banks by end-2014 to finance budget deficit and provide liquidity support to banks, Reuters reported on Tuesday.

A combination of concern in the Eurogroup over the future of the Greek economy if the country were to exit the bailout program and of negative data on German growth led the Greek stock market to one of its worst sessions in the last decade yesterday. Resistance to keep the benchmark above 1,000 points was crushed, pushing the bourse to another year-low.

Greek equities rallied on Tuesday, bolstered by a Citigroup report on the banks of the eurozone periphery, while stocks elsewhere on the continent were little changed.

 Citigroup revises its forecast from GDP drop to increase in 2014

By Anestis Dokas

Blue chip companies have enjoyed borrowing costs of below 5 percent in their international corporate bond issues during the first half of the year. The main reason for the decline is the improvement in the country’s fiscal image, confirmed by Greece’s return to the bond markets in April for the first time since 2010.

The summer mood appears to have set in among investors, as they seem particularly reluctant to take positions in the local stock market on days with little economic or business activity, as was the case on Monday.

The Athens Exchange (ATHEX) general index closed at 1,242.82 points, shedding just 0.08 percent from Friday’s 1,243.80 points.

Greece's biggest refiner Hellenic Petroleum said on Thursday it mandated Barclays Bank PLC and Credit Suisse Securities as global coordinators to issue a five-year bond.

Hellenic did not give any further details about the timing or the size of the bonds. This would be the company's second debt issue since May, when it sold $400 million of bonds to improve its liquidity.

The National Bank of Greece has priced its share offer at 2.00-2.60 euros a share, in a placing worth up to 2.5 billion euros, two sources familiar with the matter said on Wednesday.

“There has been incredibly broad-based demand,” one of the sources said.