OTE

A colorful and joyful gaggle of 31 kids head down a narrow footpath to an excavation site at Ancient Corinth. They are all carrying backpacks and wearing identical green hats to protect them from the hot sun. 

Hyped about becoming archaeologists for a day, they were excited about digging, sifting and making exciting discoveries.

Greek digital consultancy and market research firm Convert Group reported a 103 percent jump in revenues in the first half of the year, compared with the same period in 2017.

The company said it estimates that this growth rate will be sustained until the end of the year, with turnover set to reach 1.3 million euros.

Greece's biggest telecoms operator OTE said on Thursday its second-quarter core profit rose by 1.6 percent, helped by a recovery in its home market.

The company, which is 45 percent owned and managed by Germany's Deutsche Telekom, reported EBITDA of 319 million euros compared to 313.9 million euros in the same quarter a year earlier.

The benchmark of the Athens Stock Exchange (ATHEX) retreated on Thursday following a sell-off in banking shares.

The ATHEX general index ended at 754.65 points, down 0.45 percent from Wednesday's 758.04 points, recording an intraday low of 753.89 points.

Greek stocks rose slightly on the Athens Stock Exchange on Tuesday, remaining close to the 760-point level.

The ATHEX general index ended at 761.29 points, adding 0.22 percent to Monday's 759.63 points.

Turnover jumped to 51.6 million euros on large block trades in Hellenic Telecommunications Organization (OTE) shares.

JP Morgan has raised its target price for OTE telecom shares to 14.1 euros, expecting the Deutsche Telekom-owned company to expand further in the domestic market by adding to its broadband connection market share.

On Wednesday OTE's share price on the Athens stock market ended at 10.75 euros.

With August more than a week away, daily turnover at the Athens stock market fell to the lowest point in 18 months on Monday, while the benchmark lost ground for a third consecutive session. Athinon Avenue appears to be on auto-pilot in the absence of any notable factors that might change its course.

Cosmote has been named the fastest network for mobile internet in Greece again this year, taking the title for "Greece's Fastest Mobile Network 2018" in the SpeedTest Awards presented by Ookla, a global leader in internet testing and analysis.

The Cosmote mobile network's download speed is 68 percent faster than the second-placed provider.

Coca-Cola HBC led the Greek stock index higher on Thursday as the biggest company listed in Athens enjoyed a rise of 3.50 percent, just as the majority of stocks headed lower. Turnover narrowly cleared the 30-million-euro bar.

OTE, Greece's biggest telecoms operator, said it raised 400 million euros from a four-year bond issue.

It completed the note issue on Wednesday via a bookbuilding process and said it was oversubscribed by about five times.

The coupon was set at 2.375 percent, the lowest that OTE has achieved in the last decade, it said in a statement on Thursday.