The new business plan by the PPC S.A. for the next five years (2006 - 2010) was presented to the analysts by Mr. Dimitrios Maniatakis, CEO, during a meeting held today at a central Athens hotel.The business plan aims primarily at fully modernizing the operation and at the ongoing improvement of its competitiveness with a view to successfully coping with the implications of the domestic electrical power market liberalization and the upcoming competition. As part of this new strategy, the PPC will launch in the coming week the so-called HERCULES program that consists of 12 specific initiatives, which will transform the business in all activity areas: assets, personnel cost reduction, inventory management, process streamlining etc. This transformation will lead to the ongoing improvement of the company's financial results. It is estimated that by the completion of this program, euro 2.2B additional cumulative EBITDA will have been earned by 2010. At the same time, the PPC S.A. plans to invest ca euro 4.8B by 2010 for modernization purposes. These investments will meet the needs for the improvement of its potential in the areas of production, distribution, mines, transmission etc. The new investment plan provides for the operation of new units with 1,600 MW capacity, hence, enhanced economic performance, and will secure the company's leadership in the electrical power domestic market. The tender for the first modern unit (CCGT) to be built in the area of Aliveri with 370-420 MW capacity will be announced early this June. Furthermore, the PPC has implemented significant strategic initiatives in the area of corporate development with an emphasis on:
- Making great investments in Renewables. The PPC plans to have contributed in the development of 1,540 MW by 2014 through joint-partnership or at least of 770 MW through an independent business activity in Renewables.
- Valuating the PPC's shareholding by 50% in Tellas, a rapidly growing company in fixed telephony, Internet access and broadband services.
- Generating important goodwill from the PPC's great real estate property valued at about euro 1.6B. The final valuation and development study are expected to be ready by early fall.
- Making use of the PPC's option to buy 30% of the DEPA, which has a business activity in the rapidly growing natural gas sector. Mr. D. Maniatakis stressed to the analysts that the "vision" of the new management is to transform the PPC into an ultramodern and dynamic electrical power operation in the Southeastern Europe by making a careful selection of the new upcoming investment opportunities. Apart from the euro 4.8B investments for the purpose of full business modernization, the PPC plans to carry out acquisitions and investments outside Greece amounting to c.a. euro 500M. To this end, the PPC has entered into a strategic collaboration with the Contour Global International House to participate for majority stake in the Montenegro tender. According to the CEO's words, renowned and reliable investment bodies have shown a great interest in a potential collaboration with the PPC. Their goal is to capitalize on the corporate development opportunities. The General Managers of the PPC participated in this presentation focused on the transformation of domestic activity, investments for modernization purposes and corporate development opportunities. During their speech, they also set out in detail the actions to be implemented in the area under their responsibility. The presentation can be found on the Company's web site (www.dei.gr)