GEK Terna

The Greek economy avoided a credit rating downgrade on Friday, as Fitch, DBRS Morningstar and Standard & Poor's only reduced its outlook from "positive" to "stable," which investors greeted by sending Greek stocks higher on Monday, although trading volume remained low.

Despite Wednesday's early gains at Athinon Avenue, in line with most eurozone bourses, the session ended with a relatively small increase on particularly low daily turnover, which points to the market's reservations about the economy's emergence from the coronavirus crisis, especially as far as the creation of new nonperforming loans for Greek lenders is concerned.

The dramatic slide in oil rates and some negative corporate developments, including QCM's report on Greek Nasdaq-listed firm Akazoo, saw local stocks heading south at the beginning of the week, with the credit sector losing more than 10 percent in a day.

The decline that started toward the end of Tuesday's stock trading session at Athinon Avenue continued throughout the day on Wednesday, led by the credit sector, which took significant losses, in line with most international markets. Daily turnover dropped significantly.

Dutch investment fund Reggeborgh Invest has raised its stake in listed construction and energy group GEK Terna to over 32 percent, becoming a de facto strategic investor and a significant guarantor of the future course of the company.
A year ago it had agreed to buy out the 15.3 percent stake that York Capital Management controlled then at GEK Terna.

Most business groups with strong liquidity are optimistic they will manage to weather the financial crisis created by the coronavirus epidemic.

Greece has received nine non-binding bids for the sale of a 65 percent stake in its dominant gas supplier DEPA Commercial, its privatisation agency said on Monday.

Investors who have expressed an interest in the stake include Shell Gas, Vitol Holding, Power Globe, MET Holding and C.G. Gas Limited of Greece's Copelouzos group, the agency said in a statement.

Terna Energy has completed the acquisition of the RF Energy Omalies SA wind power company in a move that signals a new generation of investments in both the sector of renewable energy sources and the energy sector in general.

Despite the pressure on banks at the Greek bourse on Tuesday that looked as though it might drag the benchmark lower still, most of the rest of the market posted healthy gains that saw the main index come off a four-year low, on improved turnover too.

The double whammy of mounting worries over the coronavirus epidemic and the standoff between Saudi Arabia and Russia on oil output and prices wreaked havoc on global markets, with Athinon Avenue taking a serious beating on Monday in the biggest daily declined suffered in almost four years. All of the impressive gains recorded in 2019 have been wiped out in the last few session, as the benchmark