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Wednesday, April 28, 2010

Coca-Cola HBC Is Biggest Greek Company as Banks Fall

(Bloomberg) -- Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Co., the world’s second-largest bottler of Coke beverages, has surpassed National Bank of Greece SA to become the nation’s biggest company by market value after the Greek debt crisis caused banking stocks to plunge.

Coca-Cola Hellenic, which is 24 percent owned by the Coca- Cola Co., has a value of more than 7 billion euros ($9.3 billion), the only such company on the Athens exchange, after National Bank plunged 44 percent this year on concern over the country’s debt. Shares in the bottler fell 1.1 percent to 19.50 euros today, for a value of 7.1 billion euros.

National Bank, the country’s oldest and biggest bank, rebounded today for the first time since April 15 after the country’s securities regulator banned short selling on the bourse for two months. The lender gained 2 percent to 10.20 euros, valuing the business at 6.2 billion euros.

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