Cyprus Business Now: Jumbo, shipping, airfares, loans, Logicom

Source: cyprus-mail.com

Greek retail group Jumbo recorded net profit of €120.6 million in the first half of 2026, up 2.92 per cent year-on-year, while sales rose by 4.42 per cent to €519.26 million, as the company kept its full-year outlook unchanged and announced an extraordinary €1 per share cash distribution.

In Cyprus, which remains one of the group’s four directly operated markets, Jumbo said the disruption initially caused by the island’s proximity to conflicts in the Middle East had gradually eased, with market conditions normalising over the summer months.

The group currently operates six stores in Cyprus, alongside 53 in Greece, 10 in Bulgaria and 20 in Romania, taking its directly operated network to 89 stores.

Jumbo is also planning a new store in Cyprus in 2027, as part of a targeted expansion programme across its core markets.

Ship traffic through the Strait of Hormuz fell to just nine vessels this week, as Cyprus joined dozens of countries in calling for the restoration of free navigation through one of the world’s most important shipping routes.

Preliminary Kpler data published on Friday showed that eight vessels left the strait and only one entered, down from 14 crossings a day earlier. The 10-day average stands at 18.

Some vessels may have crossed with their Automatic Identification System transponders switched off and would therefore not appear in the figures.

Among Thursday’s outbound traffic were a ballast very large gas carrier and a fully laden very large crude carrier, while the remaining vessels included Panamax and Supramax ships and short and medium-range tankers.

The only vessel recorded entering the strait was a Handymax dry bulk carrier.

Passenger air transport prices in Cyprus were 5 per cent higher in August than a year earlier, moving against the EU trend as airfares across the bloc fell slightly, according to Eurostat figures released on Friday.

Prices for package holidays in Cyprus also rose by 3.7 per cent year on year, compared with an increase of 3.2 per cent across the EU.

The increases come as Cyprus is also facing comparatively high inflation. The island’s harmonised inflation rate stood at 5.2 per cent in August 2026, the third highest in the EU, behind Romania and Lithuania.

Across the bloc, passenger air transport prices fell by 0.4 per cent year on year, while package holidays became 3.2 per cent more expensive, matching the EU’s overall inflation rate.

Greece recorded the sharpest rise in airfares, at 16.3 per cent, followed by Ireland at 14.4 per cent.

Deposits and loans in Cyprus both recorded net increases in August, with annual credit growth accelerating further while total deposits climbed to €59.3 billion, according to figures released by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) on Friday.

Total deposits rose by a net €171.5 million during the month, slowing from an increase of €562.3 million in July.

Their annual growth rate nevertheless picked up to 6.5 per cent, from 6.2 per cent a month earlier.

Deposits held by Cyprus residents increased by €175.3m, led by a €60.2m rise among non-financial corporations.

Household deposits, by contrast, fell marginally by €1.9m, while deposits belonging to other domestic sectors increased by a combined €117m.

Logicom has appointed long-serving executive Anthoulis Papachristoforou as its new chief executive, handing him responsibility for the group’s day-to-day technology operations as Varnavas Irinarchos shifts his focus towards strategy, investments and major projects.

The management changes took effect on September 24, following a board decision a day earlier, and form part of a reorganisation of the Cyprus-listed technology group’s senior executive structure.

Papachristoforou, who has served as deputy managing director and group chief financial officer, will oversee the daily management of Logicom and its subsidiaries across the technology and IT businesses.

He will report to Irinarchos, who steps away from the chief executive role but remains executive vice-chairman.

With the central message “Believe – Dare – Succeed”, ERB Cyprialife held its second annual Sales Force Training Day, reaffirming its commitment to continuous training and to strengthening the culture of excellence that characterises the organisation.

The event took place on September 11 at the Lefkara multipurpose conference centre, bringing together more than 420 insurance advisers and administrative staff.

Opening the event, Takis Phidia, chief executive officer of ERB Cyprus Insurance Holdings, congratulated the Sales Network on its strong production performance so far.

He also referred to the value of insurance as an act of foresight, responsibility and protection at a time of uncertainty, stressing that membership of the wider Eurobank Group creates an important opportunity for the company and its network.

The sculpture “Cyprus’ journey through the ages”, created by acclaimed Cypriot sculptor Philippos Yiapanis, was unveiled on Saturday, September 19, on the Protaras coastal promenade in the Xistaria area.

The artwork, which has already been presented in Salamina, Attica, depicts Cyprus’s centuries-long journey and highlights the enduring bonds between Cypriot Hellenism and Greece.

Its placement at Lefkolla in Protaras, overlooking occupied Famagusta and ancient Salamis, meanwhile adds to its symbolism as a work of remembrance, historical continuity and hope.

At the same time, its presence in the public space enriches the cultural identity of the area, offering residents and visitors a new landmark where art meets history and collective memory.

Cyprus recorded the third-highest share of dangerous goods in road freight transport in the EU in 2025, with such cargo accounting for 7.5 per cent of total tonne-kilometres, according to Eurostat.

The share rose from 4.9 per cent in 2024, when Cyprus had recorded a sharp fall from 7 per cent a year earlier.

Only Finland, at 9.8 per cent, and Ireland, at 7.8 per cent, recorded higher shares in 2025.

At the other end, Lithuania had the lowest share at 0.7 per cent, while Portugal and Slovakia each stood at 1.9 per cent.

The other reporting EU countries were Austria, Belgium, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czechia, Denmark, Estonia, France, Germany, Greece, Hungary, Italy, Latvia, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, Spain and Sweden.

K. Kythreotis Holdings Public Ltd reported higher revenue in the first half of 2026, but profits fell sharply as rising raw-material and fuel costs weighed on its quarrying and ready-mixed concrete businesses.

Revenue rose 4 per cent to €13.03 million in the six months to June 30, from €12.54m a year earlier, helped mainly by increased activity in land development.

However, profit for the period dropped to €583,100, from €1.37m in the first half of 2025, while pre-tax profit fell 57.1 per cent to €669,500, from €1.56m.

Basic and diluted earnings per share consequently declined to 1.37 cents, compared with 3.23 cents a year earlier.

Alpha Finance-AXIA has raised its price target for Bank of Cyprus (BoC) to €12.30 from €11.60, citing strong profitability, a solid capital position and shareholder returns as it lifted its targets across the Greek banking sector.

The investment banking and brokerage firm maintained its Buy recommendation on BoC, Eurobank, National Bank of Greece and Piraeus Bank, with the Cypriot lender offering a potential total return of 25.7 per cent, including dividends, based on September 24 share prices.

According to Newmoney, Alpha Finance-AXIA now expects BoC to deliver a dividend yield of 9.5 per cent in 2026, rising to 10.8 per cent in 2027 and 11.2 per cent in 2028, among the highest in the European banking sector.

The investment case for the Cypriot lender rests mainly on its high profitability, strong capital base and distributions to shareholders, the brokerage said.