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Cyprus Cement Profit Rises As Vassiliko Stake Lifts First-Half Earnings To €5.4 Million

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 29, 2026

Cyprus Cement Public Company reported a stronger first half, with net profit rising to €5.4 million for the six months ended June 30, up from €4.64 million a year earlier, as its associate Vassiliko Cement Works delivered a larger contribution to earnings.

Vassiliko Drives The Improvement

The key driver behind the improved performance was Cyprus Cement’s share of profit from Vassiliko Cement Works, which increased to €5.9 million from €4.9 million in the corresponding period of 2025. Basic earnings per share also improved, climbing to 3.94 cents from 3.38 cents.

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The company’s interim condensed consolidated financial statements for the first half of 2026 were approved by the board on September 28. The meeting had been announced at the end of August.

A Company Built Around Strategic Holdings

Cyprus Cement is not operating as a pure cement producer. Its core activities center on the development and exploitation of land, alongside strategic investments. As a result, its holding in Vassiliko Cement Works remains the principal engine of group profitability.

For the period, the company reported income of €207,000, compared with €193,000 in the same period last year.

Outlook Remains Uncertain

Management said the full-year outcome for 2026 remains difficult to forecast, citing prevailing market uncertainties that could affect performance in the months ahead.

The first-half results follow a net profit of €5.94 million for the full year 2025, when Cyprus Cement’s share of profit from Vassiliko Cement Works reached €8.99 million.

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Meta Takes Muse From Consumer Buzz To Small Business Utility

by THEFUTURE.TEAM

September 29, 2026

Meta is widening the ambitions of its Muse AI agent, moving beyond consumer appeal and into the operational core of small business workflows.

A New Push Into Business Productivity

The company on Tuesday introduced Muse for Small Business, a version of the agent designed to connect with widely used software and services from Asana, Zoom, Intuit, Box, Canva and Slack. It can also link directly to Meta ad accounts and professional Instagram and Facebook profiles, turning the agent into a more practical business tool rather than a standalone assistant.

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Pricing remains aligned with the existing Muse app, which is free within usage limits and available on a subscription basis for heavier use.

Meta’s Enterprise Strategy Is Coming Into Focus

The launch follows Monday’s announcement that Meta will build a broader enterprise platform and has brought in MongoDB CEO C.J. Desai to lead it. That platform is expected to include a Muse agent, a business agent and a coding tool, signaling a more deliberate move into enterprise software.

The timing is notable. Meta has enjoyed a strong stretch on Wall Street, with the stock rising sharply in September before pulling back in recent sessions. Much of that momentum has been tied to Muse, which launched on Sept. 8 and quickly climbed to the top of Apple’s App Store, overtaking ChatGPT. Evercore analyst Mark Mahaney has said he expects Muse to reach 100 million users within six to 12 months.

Why Small Business Matters To Meta

Meta CEO Mark Zuckerberg has been explicit about the company’s push to find durable AI revenue beyond advertising, which still accounts for the overwhelming share of Meta’s business. After spending heavily on AI talent, including Scale AI founder Alexandr Wang, Meta has begun rolling out new models under the Muse Spark family, and Zuckerberg has called Muse the “centerpiece” of the company’s AI strategy.

For Meta, small business is a logical entry point. The company says about 200 million small businesses already use Facebook, giving it a vast distribution base and a ready-made customer pool for AI-driven productivity tools. In other words, Meta is not trying to create demand from scratch; it is trying to attach a higher-value service to an existing ecosystem.

The Competitive Stakes Are Rising

The new product arrives as OpenAI holds its developer day and as competition intensifies across enterprise AI. Meta’s move is a clear signal that it intends to compete not only for consumers, but also for business users who increasingly want AI embedded into the platforms they already rely on.

As Meta put it in its announcement: “Small businesses have been growing on our apps for nearly two decades. They told us they’re short on hours, not ideas. So we built Muse for Small Business to help get work done with the tools they already use.”

That framing captures the broader opportunity. The next phase of AI adoption will not be defined solely by novelty or chatbot engagement. It will be defined by integration, workflow efficiency and the ability to deliver measurable business outcomes. Meta appears determined to be in that race.