Cyprus Business Now
This was first revealed on August 8, when the bank released its financial results for the first half of 2024.
At the time, Bank of Cyprus CEO Panicos Nicolaou said that “in the coming weeks we will outline why we are recommending the above, with a proposal to be put to shareholders at a forthcoming EGM to be convened in due course”.
He also stated that this move “will yield a number of long-term strategic and capital market benefits”.
In its statement on Monday, the bank referenced the above statement, saying that the “Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company disclosed that its Board of Directors had approved the proposed listing of its ordinary shares on the Main Market of the Regulated Market of the ASE”.
The announcement clarified that this change in listing structure will not affect the company’s operations, which will remain an Irish company and tax resident in Cyprus, nor will it impact the company’s subsidiaries.
Also, there is no proposed change to the company’s listing on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.
A total of 551,229 tourists visited Cyprus in July 2024, marking a rise of 5.3 per cent from the 523,718 visitors recorded in the same month last year, according to a report released on Monday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat).
Over the period from January to July 2024, Cyprus welcomed 2,203,704 tourists, showing an upswing of 3.1 per cent when compared to 2,137,408 in the corresponding period of the previous year.
The UK continues to lead as the predominant source of tourists, contributing a significant 33.9 per cent (186,751) of the total arrivals.
Other notable contributions came from Israel at 12.9 per cent (71,238), Poland at 6.4 per cent (35,456), Sweden at 4.3 per cent (23,511), and Germany at 3.8 per cent (20,726).
In terms of the purpose of travel in July 2024, holidays were the main reason, attracting 88.7 per cent of the tourists, a slight increase from 85.4 per cent in July 2023.
Learning from the disastrous past, which saw the collapse of the co-op banking movement with €7.5 billion in non-performing loans in 2018, the new cooperative will not make the same mistake of competing with the commercial sector of the banks.
The pancyprian society for the promotion of cooperativism was set up in 2021 and has been working towards opening the first cooperative bank, with an aim to give a fresh impetus to the economy.
Chairman of the society Panikos Hambas told daily Haravgi that the members of the society are individuals backed by trade unions and agricultural and professional organisations, such as the police, the fire department, teachers’ unions and the union of communities, which represent the workers.
Hambas said there was a great interest among people who wish to free themselves from the “suffocating hold” of commercial banks.
He added that all legal procedures will be followed before the first co-op opens.
In a press release announcing the action, the party calls on all ecologically aware people to submit their own objection and not let this important natural habitat be destroyed in the name of private interests.
Anyone wishing to add their name to the list of opposers can do so on the Environment Department’s website here until August 24.
In their objection, the ecologists say that the project will cause serious and irreversible damage to the environment.
The ecologists speak about an effort to “conceal” the impact with “false and misleading information”.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) has announced the suspension of trading for several listed companies on both the Regulated Market and the Emerging Companies Market, due to their failure to submit and publish their annual financial reports for the year ending December 31, 2023.
The CSE reported that, following its previous announcement on May 16, 2024, trading for the following companies on the Regulated Market will be suspended starting August 21, 2024.
The affected companies include A. Tsokkos Hotels Public Ltd, Dome Investments Public Company Ltd, Unifast Finance & Investments Public Company Ltd, and Karyes Investment Public Ltd.
Additionally, following the May 16 announcement, the CSE has also suspended trading for several companies listed on the Emerging Companies Market, effective August 22, 2024.
These companies include Mr. Pengu Public Company Ltd, Rianeson Investments Plc, G.A.P. Vassilopoulos Public Ltd, Meditrina Cyprus Plc, and The Reputation Exchange Plc.
In addition, the company said that it expects the figures for August to exceed 1.5 million passengers, similar to the levels recorded in 2023.
According to the Hermes Airport’s latest report, in June alone, the passenger count soared to 1.3 million, a rise of 105 per cent compared to the same month last year.
Larnaca airport handled the majority of this number, welcoming over 895,000 travellers, while Paphos airport saw more than 404,000 passengers.
July continued this upward trajectory with around 1.5 million people moving through the two airports, slightly up by 1 per cent from July last year.
According to a statement released by Frederick University on Monday, this initiative is part of the funded ‘Peer-to-Peer Green Energy Sharing Platform for Cold Ironing’ national research project.
The project, known by its acronym P2P-Ironing, is co-financed by the Research and Innovation Foundation (RIF) with support from the European Union, under the Codevelop-AG-SH-HE/0823/0197 programme, and has a duration of two years.
Through the project, the consortium aims to reduce pollution and enhance the use of green energy by ships docked in ports, through the reconfiguration of energy usage and transactions at port facilities.
“The project proposes the development of a blockchain-based platform that will allow ships to purchase, procure, and operate on green energy without using their own electric generators while docked,” the announcement stated.
“By doing so, the project aims to establish a new standard in maritime operations, contributing to the global effort to reduce harmful emissions and pollutants,” it added.
The first online meeting of the project consortium took place on May 17, 2024.
The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Monday, August 19 with profits.
The general Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 169.83 points at 12:45 during the day, reflecting an increase of 0.69 per cent over the previous day of trading.
The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 103.40 points, representing a rise of 0.68 per cent.
The total value of transactions came up to €104,753, until the aforementioned time during trading.
In terms of the sub-indexes, the main and alternative indexes rose by 0.72 per cent and 0.03 per cent respectively. The investment firm index fell by 1.51 per cent while the hotel index remained unchanged.
The biggest investment interest was attracted by Vassiliko Cement Works Public Company Ltd (no change), the Bank of Cyprus (+1.67 per cent), Atlantic Insurance (+0.52 per cent), Demetra (-1.54 per cent), and Logicom (no change).