Beta Sec – Daily report 22-04-2025 Market Monitor – Market Comment – In the Spotlight

Stocks slipped on Thursday just before the Easter break, with investors taking some more profits, albeit on very low turnover – the lowest of the last couple of months. The expected cut in the European Central Bank interest rates did not affect sentiment.

General index closed at 1,642.17 points, shedding 0.79% from Wednesday’s 1,655.23 points. On a weekly basis it advanced 3.76%. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 0.97%, ending at 4,049.63 points, and the banks index lost 2%. Eurobank parted with 3.11% and Cenergy Holdings lost 3.10%, but Jumbo advanced 2.11%. In total 50 stocks reported gains, 68 suffered losses and 43 remained unchanged. Turnover amounted to €101.4m, down from Wednesday’s €119bm.

Greece/Economy:  S&P Global Ratings on Friday raised its long- and short-term local and foreign currency sovereign credit ratings on Greece to ‘BBB’ from ‘BBB-‘, citing the country’s “unwavering fiscal discipline.” The outlook is stable. The ratings agency was the first since the country’s debt crisis in 2010 to upgrade Greece to investment grade in October 2023.

In its report, S&P notes Greece’s efforts to improve tax compliance, combined with resilient economic growth, which have enabled the country to continue overperforming fiscal targets.  “Despite the difficult external environment, in most scenarios, Greece will see further firm reductions in net debt to GDP; in our central scenario, we expect this ratio will fall by an average of 6 percentage points a year over the next four years,” it said.

The Public Debt Management Agency’s (PDMA) cash position provides Greece with an additional buffer, which at an estimated 15% of GDP covers close to three years of upcoming debt maturities. “We could raise the ratings if Greece’s external imbalances were to substantially improve. For instance, this could happen if we saw a reduction in the economy’s import reliance. We could also upgrade Greece if we saw a material reduction in external debt, much of which is public,” the ratings agency said.

However, it added it could lower the ratings if Greece’s budgetary performance “were to materially deteriorate.” S&P said Greece substantially outperformed its 2024 fiscal targets, its  fiscal trajectory is well anchored, its economy is set to continue outperforming euro area peers, and the net government debt-to-GDP ratio shows a clear and continuing improvement.

Concerning US President Donald Trump’s tariffs, S&P said the risk to Greece was seen as manageable.  “Greece has only a small direct exposure to the US; direct goods exports are worth about 0.8% of GDP. That said, Germany and Italy, Greece’s most-important trading partners, are significantly more exposed to the impact of US tariffs. Greece’s manufacturing sector, which has been growing in importance in recent years, exports a significant volume of intermediate goods to neighboring countries, including Germany and Italy,” it said.

Greece/PDMA: On April 23, 2025 the Hellenic Republic will auction 26 Weeks T-Bills, in book entry form, with maturity October 24, 2025. The amount to be auctioned is 500 million euro. Settlement date is April 25, 2025 (T+2). During the auction non – competitive bids can be submitted up to 20% of the auction amount. No additional non-competitive bids will be accepted on April 24, 2025. Previous auction yield stood at 2.1%

Bank of Greece: Shares trading x-dividend tomorrow (€0.672/share).

NBG: Out of the total 795,838 shares to 25 beneficiaries in the context of the bank’s stock awards program 318,343 were granted for free out of the bank’s treasury shares. Remaining treasury at 2,424,764 shares. There is a lock up period of 12 months for these shares.

Piraeus Bank: In the context of stock awards program 985,051 own shares of the bank were granted to 154 beneficiaries – company executives and officials. Shares have a 12 month lock up period. Remaining treasury stake at 0.105% or 1,313,1086 shares.

Greece / Current accounts: According to the Bank of Greece, the current account deficit in February fell by €573.2m y-o-y and stood at €2.5bn. The goods deficit shrank, reflecting a drop in imports and a small increase in exports.

At current prices, exports rose by 0.9% and imports decreased by 7.6%. The services balance surplus fell due to surplus decline across all its sub-components. Compared with February 2024, non-residents’ arrivals registered a slight decrease of 0.8% and the relevant receipts recorded a small increase of 0.5%.

For the two-month period the current account deficit reached €1.5bn, widening by €211.1m y-o-y. The deterioration was mainly driven by a narrower services surplus and lower net secondary income inflows, despite an improvement in the goods balance. Tourism showed early strength, with international arrivals up 5.4% y-o-y and related revenues increasing by 3.9% y-o-y. 

AIA: Athens International Airport to trade x-dividend tomorrow (€0.78/share); the election period for the exercise of scrip dividend or cash payment will be from 25-April up to 08- May-2025; each eligible shareholder may reinvest in New Shares, in whole or in part, up to the amount of €0.3333333333/share held on the record date for the beneficiaries of the dividend for the FY 2024 (i.e. on 24-April-2025), reduced by 5% (which either corresponds to the withholding tax rate on the distributable dividend or will be paid in cash to the Company’s shareholders if the dividend is not subject to withholding tax);

Issue price for scrip dividend will be equal to the VWAP in the period from 25-April up to 02-May-2025 reduced by 3%; New shares that will be derived from the scrip dividend will commence trading on the Athens Stock Exchange on 16-May-2025.

AviAlliance GmbH and the Superfund (Hellenic Holdings and Property Company) committed to maintain their participation unchanged until the completion of the scrip process as well as for a period of six months after the start of trading of the new shares.

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