Financial economics

Credit agency Standard and Poor’s raised its rating on Cyprus to B from B- on Friday, saying the Mediterranean nation was faring better than expected after last year’s tumultuous international bailout.

Cyprus was meeting terms set out by its foreign lenders and risks to its debt repayments were less, the ratings agency said.

Fitch Ratings on Friday affirmed Intralot’s Long-Term Issuer Default Rating (IDR) at B+, but revised the outlook to Negative from Stable.

[Reuters]

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

By Jesse Westbrook, Eshe Nelson & Nikos Chrysoloras

Shut out of international bond markets for four years, Greek Prime Minister Antonis Samaras wasn’t going to take any chances with his country’s return.

Mohamed A. El-Erian

There was a time not so long ago when the vast majority of experts agreed that a country could not emerge decisively from a financial crisis unless it solved problems of both “stocks” and “flows” -- that is, secured a flow of money to cover its immediate needs and found a way to manage its stock of outstanding debt over time.

 Share capital increase to be completed by May 10 for new shares to start trading by end of next month

By Yiannis Papadoyiannis

During a roadshow in London, National Bank officials have observed particularly strong investor interest in the lender’s 750-million-euro bond issue and the planned share capital increase of 2.5 billion euros.

Eurobank and National are rushing to make the most of the favorable climate for Greece in global markets, as the former is beginning the process of its share capital increase this week and the latter is expected to open the book for its new five-year bond on Tuesday.

Greece's third largest lender Eurobank, which is issuing new shares to help plug a capital shortfall, said on Friday that the cash call will take place from April 25 to 29.

BELGRADE - Veroljub Dugalic, secretary general at the Association of Serbian Banks (UBS), said on Thursday that banks made a loss of EUR 18 million in 2013.

Greece’s new five-year bond returned on Wednesday to the yield at which it was sold last week, after a turbulent few days of trading.

The bond issue – which was Greece’s first in four years and came just two years after the country defaulted – was issued at a yield of 4.95 percent last Thursday.