Public Power Corporation

Friday's mixed session at Athinon Avenue had the blue chip index close in the red, while the majority of stocks managed to drag the benchmark back into the black with the help of a handful of energy blue chips.

Public Power Corporation on Wednesday announced the completion of the agreement for its acquisition of Enel Romania, which is the company's first major expansion abroad. The acquisition of all the stakes held by Enel and its Romanian subsidiaries was launched last November, with the exclusive negotiations between the two companies resulting in a binding agreement on March 9, 2023.

The impact of inflation and rising interest rates on first-half corporate results of listed companies continues to put pressure on stock prices at Athinon Avenue, as the benchmark of the Greek bourse suffered fresh losses on Wednesday.

Tuesday saw the benchmark at Athinon Avenue avoid another decline as it held on to some of its gains and ended the day in the black and on a week-high, albeit on reduced turnover. On Wednesday the Greek bourse is entering the three-day period for the floating of Optima, the first bank to be listed on the Greek stock market since the end of the financial crisis.

The planning of National Economy and Finance Minister Kostis Hatzidakis includes a new framework for the taxation of the self-employed. The new finance minister has challenged himself to make his own mark in the fight against tax evasion, as he did in his previous posts tackling pensions, Public Power Corporation and Olympic Airways.

Public Power Corporation (PPC), Greece's biggest power utility, announced a significant increase in first-half operating profit on Thursday because it spent much less on buying energy, especially natural gas, and on fines for carbon dioxide emissions.

When in mid-June British group Currys, the owner of electrical and electronic goods chain Kotsovolos, announced that it was looking for a buyer for its subsidiary in Greece and Cyprus, no one could have imagined that the historic commercial chain of electrical appliances would become the object of a claim by large energy groups of Greece.

A number of energy and industrial blue chips kept the Greek stock market benchmark on a positive course on Friday, in the face of the decline of the majority of stocks and the banks index. The main index ended the week at another nine-year high through its marginal growth, which revealed fatigue on the part of traders and the resilience of some index-heavy stocks. 

Even without the support of bank stocks, the Athens bourse benchmark soared to yet another nine-year high on Wednesday, in line with the positive mood across eurozone markets. Four out of the 21 non-banking blue chips closed at historic highs, also helped by the Scope Ratings report about the growing prospect of Greece regaining investment grade.

A glorious six-month period ended on Friday at the Athens bourse, with the benchmark of the market soaring by more than 37.5% compared to end-December 2022, climbing to a new nine-year high.