GEK Terna

The new natural gas power plant being developed by a joint company of Motor Oil and GEK Terna is expected to be put into trial operation in the summer, while its commercial operation is expected by early fall, Motor Oil sources said in the context of the general meeting of shareholders. The new unit has a capacity of 877 megawatts and a cost of 375 million euros.

The government announcement of the 33% levy on the excessive earnings of refineries had a direct effect on the share prices of both Motor Oil and Helleniq Energy, impacting the rest of the market too. However, GEK Terna and its subsidiary Terna Energy benefited on the latter's sale to Masdar, on a day of significantly increased turnover at Athinon Avenue.

Masdar Hellas has reached an agreement to initially purchase 67% of Terna Energy with GEK Terna and other shareholders of the Athens-listed energy company, GEK Terna announced on Thursday.

Blue chips at Athinon Avenue on Wednesday maintained their rising course that had started on Tuesday, though the majority of stocks finished the day with losses, on a day of reduced turnover, partly due to the national holiday in the US (Juneteenth).

Thursday offered investors another bank-centered decline for stocks, which came with a drop in turnover too. The benchmark at Athinon Avenue took significant losses and even closed at the day's low, pointing to a trend for a further drop on Friday morning at least. Observers say the market is waiting for the sale of blue chip Terna Energy to unleash some liquidity.

The decision by the Single Supervisory Mechanism (SSM) of the European Central Bank approving the distribution of dividends by Greek banks helped the credit sector outperform at Athinon Avenue on Thursday and carry along the benchmark to a second day of healthy gains. Nevertheless, the majority of stocks and the mid-cap index ended up in the red.

Strong investment interest has been officially expressed for the majority stake in Lavrio Port Authority.

Eight investment schemes had tabled a bid at the TAIPED-run tender by Thursday's deadline.

After being evaluated, some or all of them will be short-listed for the submission of binding financial offers.

Despite the drop of the blue chip index, the banks index, mid-caps, turnover and the majority of stocks on the Greek stock market on Thursday, the benchmark at Athinon Avenue managed to remain in positive territory by the closing, ending the short streak of the previous two days. That small rise is attributed mainly to energy stocks.

The final bourse session of the week offered mixed feelings to observers, as the rise of banks did not suffice to see the benchmark hold on to its early gains that had temporarily taken it above the 1,500-point milestone. However, the losses eventually recorded were marginal and the index remained in positive territory for a second week in a row.

The moderate cashing-in of profits that followed last week's notable rise saw the main index of the Greek stock market come off its 13-year highs of last Friday and settle for contained losses upon closing on Monday. Banks reined in the decline, as did some non-banking blue chips, while turnover returned to its usual level after last week's jump.