Greek telecoms giant delists from NYSE

Athens - Greece's main telecoms operator OTE on Wednesday said it was de-listing its shares from the New York Stock Exchange in a bid to cut costs, as the company announced a plunge in profits.

"OTE's decision to de-list aims to cut operational cost, limit the complexity of financial reporting and concentrate on the Athens Stock Exchange, a market which presents the greatest liquidity for its shares," the company said.

"OTE estimates that the de-listing procedure will be completed during the second semester of 2010," it added in a statement in Greek.

Shares in OTE were down 0.25% in morning trading on the Athens stock market, which was up 1.44%.

OTE, a quarter of which is controlled by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, earlier on Wednesday announced a 75.5% drop in first-quarter net profits to €65.8m.

Turnover in the first three months of 2010 was €1.4bn.

The Greek state retains a 20% stake in the company which had originally listed on the NYSE in 1998.

OTE is the largest telecom operator in the Balkans, with operations in Albania, Bulgaria, Macedonia and Serbia.

  - AFP