In reply to the Hellenic Capital Market Commission's letter of 28.01.2009, we would like to inform the Commission and the investing public of the following:
1. In respect of the estimated time horizon of the temporary suspension of Sometra's production activity, the Company would like to reiterate its explicit statement as contained in its announcement of 27.01.2009 to the investing public, i.e. that "... The Group's Management will in parallel be following closely the developments in the international markets, in order to take the appropriate decisions for the future should drastic changes occur." Further to this statement, the Company would also like to clarify that the duration of the suspension of the production operation cannot be estimated at this point in time, given that the time that will be required for the international markets and, by extension, for the prices of metals? to recover cannot be estimated.
2. In respect of the short-term cost of this action, the Company informs the Commission and the investing public that this is limited to the compensations to result from the gradual reduction of personnel. The amount of these compensations is not expected to exceed two million Euro (euro 2,000,000) and is expected to be paid within the first six months of 2009.
3. In respect of the estimated positive impact (avoided loss) of the temporary suspension of Sometra?s production activity to the operating results of the Group, the Company informs the Commission and the investing public that, based on the current conditions in the market, this is expected to amount to twenty-one million Euro (euro 21,000,000) for the current accounting period (2009).