Beta SEc: Tuesday, October 03, 2023: Market Monitor- Market Comment- In the Spotlight- Other H1:23 results:

Turnover and market trend nosedived at AthEx on Monday following negative sentiment in most European Markets. Investors are remaining cautious despite the good H1:23 sets and positive outlook from major caps as inflationary pressures in the economy persist.

General index closed at 1,191.77 points, shedding 1.45% from Friday’s 1,209.34 points. The large-cap FTSE-25 index contracted 1.74% to end at 2,882.30 points. The banks index fell 2.13%, as Piraeus slumped 3.91%, National dropped 2.32%, Alpha gave up 2.15% and Eurobank slid 1.03%. Viohalco was down 3.02%, just as Sarantis expanded 0.82%. In total 34 stocks secured gains, 72 were dealt losses and 22 remained unchanged. Turnover was the lowest of the last five months, amounting to €52m, down from last Friday’s €72.7m.

A volatile session is expected; it seems that the market will bounce –once again- from technical oversold levels since domestic news-flow is not supportive.

Greece/PDMA: The Public Debt Management Agency announced that this Wednesday it is planning to auction 13-week treasury bills in book entry form to the amount of 625 million euros. The issue will mature on January 5, 2024 and the settlement date is this Friday.

Greece/Economy: FY24 draft budget was tabled in to Parliament yesterday for ratification. The draft calls for 2024 GDP primary surplus of 2.1% while for 2023 the respective figure is 0.7%. GDP growth estimated at 2.3% in 2023 (€224bn from 208bn in 2022) and 3% in 2024 (€235bn). Public debt to drop from 159% of GDP (2023) to 152.2% (2024) at €358bn. CPI at 4% in 2023 and 2.4% in 2024. Unemployment at 11.2% in 2023 and 10.6% in 2024.

Greece/PMI: Greek PMI index retreated to 50.3 level in September 2023 from 52.9 in August reflecting drop in the production close to the 50 level threshold that indicates recession rather than economic expansion.

Greece/Unemployment: Unemployment in August at 10.9%, unchanged m-o-m and down from 12.3% in August 2022.

AEGEAN AIR: The company announced yesterday its winter 2023-2024 schedule with 9 new routes and 3 new countries served while 7 summer routes will continue performing during winter. 9M 2023 traffic stats stand at 11.9mn passengers (7.1mn related to intl routes) up 30% y-o-y. Q3:23 passenger traffic at 5.3mn with domestic passengers up 175 and intl +18%. Q3:23 load factor at 86% with 9M:23 respective figure at 83% vs 84% and 78% respectively. On September 28, BOD Chairman and major shareholder Mr. Vasilakis bought 15K shares for a total consideration of €153.35K (€10.23/share).

NOVAL: IPO procedures extended up to October 2024.

R-Energy: The company calls for an AGM on October 17 to decide on listing shares in Altenrative Market of AthEx and Euronext Growth Paris.

Energy Sector: The board at RAAEY, the Regulatory Authority for Waste, Energy and Water, is expected to meet this week to finalize terms for the country’s second auction for standalone batteries. RAAEY will announce the finalized terms for the second auction once the energy ministry has issued a ministerial decision. Though a final decision still needs to be reached on the starting price to be offered at this next auction, a level of just over 100,000 euros per MW, for a year, well below the starting price of 200,000 euros per MW, for a year, offered to successful bidders in the first auction, staged in August, appears likeliest. Bidding competition at the first auction was intense.

Questions still remain about the total storage capacity to be offered to investors at the next session. This offer could depend on the extent of the remuneration cut, even though some RAAEY sources have noted the capacity to be offered could well remain at about 300 MW, as originally planned. The energy ministry is aiming for approximately 1,700 MW in installed standalone batteries by 2027. A total of 12 RES projects with storage units, for which successful bids were submitted in the first auction, secured tariffs averaging 115,000 euros per MW, for a year, or 57 percent below the starting price.

IT/Sector: The computer sector recorded a slowdown in the seventh-period of the year, as a result of the saturation of the market due to the strong sales that had preceded during the pandemic and also the strong boost that had been given to this particular category of products through a subsidy program. More specifically, according to market data, computer sales in values dropped 17.4%. The sales in pieces also fell 12.8%. Regarding notebooks, sales in units dropped 38.7% and in values also dropped 26.8%. Sales of tablets also have a negative sign. In value they dropped 23.2% and in pieces 28.4%, keeping up with the rest of the market. On the other hand, sales on screens moved steadily.

The shift in market shares of the leading PC manufacturers is notable. As everything shows under these difficult conditions in terms of consumption, the battle is also raging in the Greek market between the dominant players in the field, Apple, HP, Lenovo, Asus and Dell.

Businesses underlined that inflationary pressures on all goods combined with interest rate increases significantly affect the purchasing power of consumers and create a climate of uncertainty. However, analysts estimate that both home consumers and businesses will begin to reschedule their investments in upgrading devices and transitioning to modern environments that they have frozen. It is estimated that the IT market will start to recover from mid-2024 subject to market conditions.

In the telecoms market, the picture is relatively better in terms of sales value. Specifically, sales in values rose 10.8%. On the other hand, sales in pieces fell 2.3%. As market executives noted to “Naftemporiki”, this fact reflects the trend of consumers towards expensive mobile phones, equipped with high technology.

Other H1:23 results:

EKTER: Net Cash €10.8mn from €3.2mn in FY:22. Op CF €8.2mn, CAPEX €100K, FCF €8.1mn.

REDS: Net cash €19.993mn from net debt €23.237mn in FY:22.

DROMEAS: Net Debt €22.744mn from €22.693mn in FY:22.

PERFORMANCE TECHNOLOGIES: Net cash €6.5mn from €3.1mn in FY:22.

Q&R: Net Debt €4.26mn from €3.225mn in FY:22.

TZIRAKIAN: Net Debt €17.374mn from €16.726mn in FY:22.

TECHNICAL OLYMPIC: Net cash €10.5mn from €11.45mn in FY:22.