Mytilineos Holdings

On Tuesday high-flying Mytilineos Group and the banking sector led the Greek stock market back to its upward course that has dominated Athinon Avenue throughout this year.

Greece could be Europe's answer to China's decision to restrict exports of gallium and germanium, rare earth elements used in the manufacture of semiconductors, photovoltaics and optical fibers.

The benchmark at Athinon Avenue gave up on Thursday all the gains it had collected on Wednesday, as banks led the profit-taking activity by investors, although a number of blue chips, such as Mytilineos, maintained their upward course for another day.

After two days of cautious profit-taking, the Greek stock market reverted to its upward course on Wednesday, led by mid-caps, which grew almost 2% on the day, while blue chips such as Aegean Airlines and Mytilineos climbed to historic highs.

The management of Mytilineos Energy & Metal is pondering whether it should move its headquarters outside Greece, as the company grows and expands its activities in international markets.

The benchmark of the Greek stock market soared to levels unseen since July 2014 on Monday thanks to the election result on Sunday that has opened the way for ruling New Democracy to score a new four-year mandate.

The Greek stock market ended the last week before the general election with gains, which made it the third consecutive week of growth for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue. The market appears calm ahead of the polls, in contrast with what is happening on the other side of the Aegean, while turnover in Athens increased on Friday thanks to maturing of the month's derivatives.

Mytilineos is close to reaching an agreement on green energy in North America, Evangelos Mytilineos, chairman and CEO of Mytilineos Energy & Metals, told Bloomberg TV on Tuesday.

In an interview, Mytilineos said that the framework in North America is very attractive and noted that in Europe the system is more bureaucratic and things move more slowly.

Greek stocks closed their second consecutive week of growth on Friday, approaching the year's highs, though the session offered negligible gains to the main index and the rising stocks outnumbered the losers by the smallest of margins.

Mytilineos on Thursday reported its best ever performance in a first quarter, with net profit after minorities soaring 113% to 143 million euros, earnings per share jumping 109% to €1.04 and EBITDA rising 72% to €225 million, while turnover rose 30% to €1.358 billion. Net debt, on an adjusted basis, stood at €948 million.