Athens Exchange

The decline of the stock of National Bank of Greece did not suffice to prevent the benchmark from climbing to a new 12-week high on Monday. The daily turnover reverted to high levels at the start of the week that might bring Greece once again to climbing the steps to investment grade as Fitch Ratings will issue its verdict on Friday.

Bank bailout fund HFSF confirmed on Thursday the sale of 22% of the share capital of National Bank, out of the total 40.39% currently held by the state, after the unprecedented sum of offers observed in the private placement, with the sale oversubscribed by more than eight times.

The fourth straight day of gains for the benchmark at the Greek stock market saw banks and certain blue chips leading the way, as opposed to the blue chip index, which posted a minor loss. Most of the action focused on the credit sector, which is seeing plenty of activity in stake sales these days, attracting the strong interest of foreign traders.

On Tuesday Prime Minister Mitsotakis highlighted to German Chanellor Olaf Scholz that Greece has the fastest rate of debt reduction in the world. From around 206% of GDP in 2020, Greek debt is expected to decline this year to around 160% of GDP, and this downward trajectory is expected to continue throughout the decade.

Athinon Avenue recorded a third successive day of gains on Wednesday, on the back of Tuesday's major rise, though this time traders appeared to be more interested in carefully taking positions than spreading their buying across the board. This was also reflected in the day's turnover, which was reduced compared to the two previous days.

Demand for a 20% stake in Greece's National Bank (NBG) held by the country's bank bailout fund was covered by more than six times on Tuesday, in the first day of a book-building process which ends later this week, a source with knowledge of the matter told Reuters.

"Demand covered 6.2 times the shares offered," the source involved in the process said on condition of anonymity.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) on Tuesday launched the book-building process to offer 20% of its equity stake in National Bank.

HFSF will offer up to 182,943,031 shares of National Bank with the option for an additional 1.99% stake.

Stocks soared on Tuesday at Athinon Avenue, with traders shifting most of their attention to banks, which saw their index jump by almost 6% driven by the huge interest in the public offering of National Bank.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) on Tuesday launched the book-building process to offer 20% of its equity stake in National Bank. 

HFSF will offer up to 182,943,031 shares of National Bank with the option to offer an additional 1.99% or 18,294,303 shares. 

The book-building offer foresees both domestic and international investors. 

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) on Monday announced that it has agreed to sell its entire stake in Alpha and has started the process for that in National Bank.