¢ Market Comment
Banking sector stocks backed the trend and assisted benchmark to remain in positive territory at the closing on Thursday, despite the majority of stocks heading lower and the day’s turnover declining. The mixed session at AthEx contrasted with the strong gains the main eurozone markets, particularly Frankfurt which closed at record highs.
General index closed at 1,506.83 points, adding 0.24% to Wednesday’s 1,503.18 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index expanded 0.25%, ending at 3,665.36 points, though mid-caps contracted 0.31%. The banks index augmented 0.68%, as Eurobank earned 1.79%, Piraeus fetched 0.41% and National grew 0.39%, while Alpha stayed put and Optima gave up 0.47%. Among the other blue chips, Cenergy Holdings dropped 2.42% and ElvalHalcor parted with 1.58%, whereas Coca-Cola HBC improved 1.68%. In total 37 stocks recorded gains, 78 sustained losses and 46 remained unchanged. Turnover amounted to €115.1m, down from Wednesday’s €125.5m.
Investors may keep their selective stance following corporate news-flow and fresh data from Q4:24 activity. Note also that January futures expire today.
¢ In the Spotlight
Greece/Public Sector arrears: Pending lump-sum pension payments, along with state budget and local government obligations, have contributed to an increase in state arrears. Although the total fell slightly in November to €2.66 billion, down from €2.82 billion in October, it remained higher than November 2023’s €2.34 billion. Data released by the Ministry of National Economy and Finance showed that overdue obligations from public entities rose to €263 million in November, up €85 million from €178 million a year earlier. The bulk of this debt is attributed to the Auxiliary Pension and Lump-Sum Fund (ETEAEP), which officials believe will decrease once the Labor Ministry’s payment plan is fully implemented. State budget arrears climbed to €225 million in November from €100 million the previous year, local government debt rose to €321 million, up from €168 million in November 2023, and social security organizations’ obligations increased to €632 million, compared to €528 million a year earlier. Hospitals remain the largest source of overdue debt at €1.22 billion, down from €1.37 billion in November 2023. While this €140 million reduction is modest, the ministry credits the National Central Health Procurement Authority (EKAPY) with halting the previous upward trend. Approximately €900 million of hospital debt relates to clawback adjustments, leaving a net debt of €300 million. Officials clarified that liquidity is not an issue, as all entities maintain sufficient cash reserves.
Greece/Economic Sentiment Index: Economic sentiment in Greece remained stable in Dec 2024, with a slight decline in the industrial and retail sectors, while construction and services improved, according to the Monthly Industry Developments Bulletin by the Foundation for Economic and Industrial Research (IOBE). The economic sentiment indicator stood at 106.0 points in Dec., slightly down from 106.1 in Nov. and 105.9 last year. Exports saw a 3.3% increase in the third quarter of 2024, reaching 577 million euros, an increase driven by a 5.1% rise in service exports and a 1.2% growth in exported goods. Imports, on the other hand, rose by 4.2%, compared to a 3.1% increase in 2023. The trade deficit amounted to 4.6 billion euros, up by 340 million euros from the same period last year. Industrial exports reached 2.7 billion euros in Oct. 2024, showing a 2.1% year-on-year growth, while the trade deficit for industry narrowed to 3.6 billion euros. Fixed investment saw a modest increase of 0.3% in Q3 2024, following a 3.7% rise in Q2. This growth was primarily attributed to construction and machinery investment. However, investments in technology equipment fell by 3.7%, and other investments decreased by 7.1%. Industrial production showed a slight year-on-year increase of 4.8% in Nov. 2024, while the EU27 experienced a 1.7% decline. The domestic manufacturing sector saw a minimal increase of 0.5% compared to the same period in 2023.
Greece/Consumer Confidence Index: Consumer confidence improved to -44.5 points in Dec. 2024, up from -47.3 points in November 2024, though still lower compared to the same period in 2023, when it stood at -40.3 points.
Greece/Business Expectations Index: The Business Expectations Index in Industry dropped to 101.6 points in Dec. 2024, from 105.9 points the previous month. However, it remained higher than the 94.1 points recorded last year.
Alter Ego: IPO prospectus approved by HCMC. IPO max price €4. IPO to run between January 20 to January 22.
Greece/Economy: Greece has received 18 billion euros ($18.5 billion) in grants and loans from the European Union’s Recovery Fund since 2021, equivalent to about 8% of its economic output, the government said. Greece is eligible for a total of 36 billion euros in grants and loans from the post-pandemic fund until 2027 and the resources were expected to leverage total investment of more than 60 billion euros in medium-sized companies, green energy, digitisation and infrastructure. Athens will put in a request to receive another 3.9 billion euros from the Recovery Fund by May, which would help the country achieve its target for economic growth of 2.3% this year, up from 2.2% in 2024, deputy Finance Minister Nikos Papathanasis said during a press conference. Greek public investment – which draws funding mainly from the EU, including the Recovery Fund, as well as from the state budget – will come in at 14.1 billion euros this year and reach 16.4 billion euros in 2026, according to finance ministry data.
Alpha Trust Andromeda (correction): NAV as of end 2024 stood at €8.41/share vs a closing ASE price of €6.48/share implying a discount of 24.73%. Core holdings are: Titan (6.9%), Metlen (6.19%), Quest (5.78%), OTE (4.03%) and Petropoulos (3.68%).
Greece/Airports Traffic Stats: Over 36 million passengers traveled through the 14 regional airports managed by Fraport Greece in 2024. The company stated that passenger traffic increased by 6.4% compared to 2023, handling around 2.1 million more passengers. The number of domestic flights rose by 4.7% (86,026), and international flights grew by 4.2% (190,315), while overall (domestic and international flights), the increase reached 4.4%. In 2016 (the year in which the concession tender was completed), the 14 regional airports served a total of 25,008,965 passengers. In 2024, this number reached 36,026,347 passengers, a rise of 44.1%, or 11,017,382 more passengers, compared to the year before the concession. Between 2017 and 2024, more than 212.5 million passengers passed through the 14 airports, which underlines the company’s significant contribution to the support and sustainable development of Greek tourism. Growth in passenger traffic was also recorded at the 14 regional airports in December, with the total number of passengers reaching 805,056. This corresponds to a 6.7% increase from the same month of 2023, confirming the continuous upward trend in passenger flow, even during the winter.
MOH: The company decided to sell another 500K (0.5% of share capital) treasury shares that have been acquired at an average cost of €15.99/share. Min sell price was set at €20.5/share and the sale will be completed between January 17 to January 31. MOH is also entering the organized food retail sector, and specifically the small retail category, by developing a network of convenience stores under the Smartshop brand. The first steps were taken in 2023 when Motor Oil decided to terminate its collaboration with AB Vasilopoulos under which 79 stores under the “AB Shop & Go” brand had been developed at Shell gas stations. At that time, the development of its own stores under the Smartshop brand within Shell gas stations began, followed by the opening of two Smartshop stores outside gas stations in the areas of Ilioupoli and Nea Smyrni. The decisive step for the development of small retail stores and even extended opening hours was the acquisition of the Twenty 4 Shopen chain, which at the end of 2024 had 25 stores, all in Attica. The chain, which was founded in 2010, and its stores, as their name suggests, operate 24 hours a day, and had a turnover of 23.85 million euros in 2023, compared to €20.98 million in 2022. The acquisition was made through Core Innovations, a Motor Oil subsidiary active also in other service categories and the development of convenience stores.
Ellaktor: Moh’s stake dropped to 23.89% (83.2mn shares) from 26.88% (93.6mn shares) previously following the partial call option exercise by Reggerbough, the stake of which rose to 51.142% (178,072,350 shares) by acquiring the additional 2.9868% stake (10.4mn shares).
Med: As of January 17, 2025, the name of the company on ATHEX changes to “ONYX TOURISTIKI SOCIETE ANONYME”, with new distinctive title “ONYX TOURISTIKI S.A.”.
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