Hello, today I will start with an analysis of the daily and very well-done newsletter K Report. For me, it’s actually news because, I must admit, I didn’t know that, according to the Audit Court, major public insurance organizations in Greece haven’t had approved financial statements for a decade. For instance, DYPA (formerly OAED) hasn’t had approved financial statements for ten years due to, as they claim, problems with the information system. Similarly, EOPYY, since its founding in 2012, and e-EFKA since it began operations in 2017. Overall, according to K Report—which I’m quoting—the Audit Court audited 70 legal entities under public law (NPDD), and only a third of them submit financial statements and reports on time. These figures cannot be disputed since they come from the Audit Court’s press release (13-12-2024). Now, if you’re wondering why chaos persists in the Greek public sector, I think this provides a partial answer. Because if a “business” doesn’t submit financial statements, you can imagine the situation. This is just a prelude before we get to the everyday news, though I believe citizens’ daily lives would greatly improve if all these appointed administrators were held accountable. And without financial statements, there’s no true accountability.

Martinos – Asklipieio

The shipowner Thanasis Martinos must have had a bit of a shock yesterday when he accompanied Kyriakos Mitsotakis to the Asklipieio Hospital in Voula. This is a place where, apart from a new ER building, Martinos seems to have donated even the doorknobs. However, his shock wasn’t caused by protesting unionists but by the hospital workers’ union president, aligned with ANTARSYA, who criticized private donors and the “privatization” of hospitals in her remarks. Interestingly, when the president isn’t protesting, she works with the hospital’s digital mammography machine, which—guess what—was donated by Martinos, who was well aware of this. Naturally, he began to wonder aloud how he could be criticized while his donations are being utilized. Honestly, I don’t see why he’s surprised…

Drones and Republicans

Nikos Dendias has been having some intriguing meetings in the U.S. recently, and the timing of his visit is equally noteworthy. He toured a factory in Oklahoma and examined drones that could be utilized by Greece’s Armed Forces. Later, he began his schedule in Chicago, where he was greeted by Alexis Giannoulias (a top official and former basketball player for Panionios) and followed by Greek-American community leader Eddie Zemenides. The highlight, however, was his meeting with David Harris, the former CEO of the American Jewish Committee, who maintains close ties with the Republican establishment. As is well-known, the Jewish lobby actively supported Trump.

More Military Restructuring Ahead

Upon his return, Dendias will oversee the completion of a second wave of personnel restructuring. As my Pentagon contact put it, if the changes among generals were significant, the cuts among brigadiers and colonels will be “brutal.” The numbers are staggering—there are currently 1,800 colonels, while the organizational chart allows for only 500. As you can imagine, a massive “axe” is expected to bring things into balance. The political leadership has given free rein to the Chief of General Staff, Dimitris Choupis, to handle this, and decisions are expected by the weekend or, at the latest, by Monday.

Nammos – Cannes

It’s been a while since I last touched on the Nammos topic, simply because I’ve been waiting to see the outcome of either the English arbitration or an out-of-court settlement between the Arabs (ADMO) and the Greek stakeholders—Zannis, Sami, and others—over the shares of companies managing operations in Mykonos, Dubai, and Cannes, as well as other shared assets. However, I came across a (recent) report in Nice Matin regarding unpaid debts to employees and suppliers of Nammos in Nice. Let me just say that if you owe workers in France, you must tread carefully. It’s not like here, where someone will just make a call to bail you out, or if you owe money, they end up searching for you at the wrong address. Also, it’s not a great look to flaunt your wealth in Athens and neighboring Monaco while being scrutinized by French prosecutors and tax inspectors. Just so you know…

The Dreyfus Group insists on €27 for Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH) shares (for now)

LeonidsPort’s public offer to acquire a stake in OLTH is moving forward without any changes to the offered price, contrary to some expectations. The Louis-Dreyfus group had warned they wouldn’t raise the price above €27, and despite some anticipating a shift, that hasn’t happened. They continue to assert that they have no intention of revising the terms of their voluntary public offer. According to the informational bulletin approved by the authorities, the stake they acquired during the interim period didn’t exceed 2.58% of OLTH. Therefore, unless there is a major surprise, it’s considered unlikely that LeonidsPort will significantly increase its stake, especially when the share price on the board hovers around €27.70, having reached up to €29.50. On the contrary, throughout this period, the Savvidis side, through purchases, kept the stock price higher, and now Belterra holds a total stake of 72.69% in OLTH. The public offer officially launched yesterday and will last four weeks, ending on February 20. Looking ahead, the question is what the Dreyfus Group, which made a loud entry into Greece and raised many questions, will do with the stake they manage to gather.

Microsoft and the Greek data center investment

Just two days ago, a Joint Ministerial Decision was signed that finalizes and details the new regulatory framework for licensing data center operations, in combination with access to green energy through renewable energy sources (RES) and an extensive fiber optic network. Now, Microsoft informs us that it will make significant announcements next week. Logic suggests that Microsoft’s announcements will pertain to its €1 billion data center investment, which was enthusiastically announced in 2020. This project has since faced numerous practical and bureaucratic obstacles (and a pandemic), but it now seems there’s light at the end of the tunnel. Around this time last year, Microsoft’s plan was classified as a “strategic investment,” with serious incentives for fast-track licensing and zoning to establish three data centers in Spata and Koropi, creating 300 jobs. Next week, we are likely to get concrete announcements and timelines.

PPC heading for €13

Public Power Corporation (PPC) made a strong comeback after Wednesday’s correction, closing at €12.86, a 14-year record. Specifically, this was the highest level since February 18, 2011, when the stock price hit €12.88. The next-best closing was on August 20, 2010, at €12.90. PPC has already gained +4.21% in 2025, following a +10.6% performance last year. It now aims to break through the €13 barrier, with the group’s market capitalization just shy of €4.75 billion.

All supply absorbed in the banks

A stock exchange session saw trading value more than double the usual amount. Numerous block trades (€186 million) took place, with Eurobank’s shares in the spotlight—80 million shares (2.2% of its share capital) were sold at a price of €2.33 per share. Total transaction value soared to €327.8 million, and even without the block trades, turnover reached €141 million. The General Index resisted pressure, holding at 1,529.57 points with a marginal drop of 0.07%. Piraeus Bank led the banking sector, gaining +1.27% to close at €4.31. The standout news of the day could be that sellers appeared for TITAN’s stock, which dropped (!) to €45.30 in transactions worth €5.8 million, reducing its market capitalization to €3.5 billion. Sarantis stood out with an impressive rise of +4.2% to €11.42, amid speculation of a generous dividend policy. Lavipharm officially announced a major agreement with Singapore’s multinational iNova Pharmaceuticals, which the market rewarded with a +5.14% increase to €0.838. AKTOR expressed market expectations with a +4.38% rise above €5. The past week was favorable for mutual funds, with assets increasing by +1.62% to reach €22.51 billion, while new capital inflows and purchases of units amounted to €110.33 million.

The Athens Exchange Group (ATHEX), increased revenue, and the dividend

As previously mentioned, yesterday was another stock exchange session with an impressive transaction value due to the Eurobank placement. Interestingly, even without the placement, the average daily transaction value on the Athens Stock Exchange from December 30 last year until the day before yesterday was +37% higher than the same period a year earlier. ATHEX’s revenue is increasing, raising expectations for a substantial dividend to be distributed in the spring based on the increased revenue and profits for 2024. The stock price is moving steadily towards €5 (€4.86) and is already +10% higher than three months ago.

Hellenic Dough “endows” Vivartia with €4.5 million

On January 14, the Extraordinary General Meeting of “Hellenic Dough,” a member of the Vivartia Group, approved the distribution of €4.5 million in past years’ profits to its shareholders (Vivartia and M. Arapatzis). The decision was officially posted yesterday in GEMI.

AVAX advances Line 4

AVAX is progressing with construction on Line 4 of the Metro, and yesterday one of the two tunnel boring machines, “Athena,” which began from Katechaki and is tasked with constructing the 5 km tunnel to Evangelismos, reached the 2.5 km milestone, completing 50% of its route. On the map, AVAX’s high-tech TBM has already passed under the “Goudi” station, leaving behind the “Zografou” station, and in a few days, it will reach the third station, “Ilisia.” These are three areas with significant traffic problems that eagerly await Line 4. The construction progress demonstrates the Group’s capacity for demanding projects, with the 12.5 km Line 4 tunnel expected to be completed by 2026.

Sanchez shines (amid lack of competition) in Davos

The Davos Forum concludes today, and Socialist Prime Minister Sánchez, who continues to govern despite the politically unstable and turbulent situation in Spain, made an impression. At Davos, Sánchez discreetly criticized Elon Musk for his interference in European politics and enthusiastically spoke about a united Europe. Meanwhile, as Sánchez was in Davos, the Spanish government issued €15 billion in 10-year bonds, receiving offers of €143 billion, while the spread with 10-year German bonds fell to 61 basis points, the lowest level since 2021. German Chancellor Olaf Scholz appeared as a leader on his way out at Davos, while neither the French President nor Meloni attended, allowing Sánchez to shine as a European leader. His critique of Musk was extremely cautious. Sánchez focused his criticism on “social networks” that harm the liberal order and the democratic system. He accused social networks of spreading online bullying and hate speech, emphasizing the need for transparency in algorithms. “Let’s make social networks great again,” said the Spanish Prime Minister, paraphrasing “Make America Great Again.”

Americans’ private debt puts heavy pressure on Trump

The U.S. government issued a 20-year bond yesterday, paying a 4.9% interest rate. However, for the average American who owes $1.1 trillion on credit cards, the average interest rate approaches 22%. Americans coped with rising prices by maxing out their credit cards, and the tariff policies proposed by the new president will not only drive prices higher but also burden consumer loan interest rates. In 2024, U.S. credit card debt increased by $51 billion. Over the past four years, total credit card debt has risen by $344 billion. On average, each American household owes $10,563 on credit cards. These figures exclude the “Buy Now, Pay Later” service, which set a record $19 billion in holiday shopping in 2024. As the cost of living rises and interest rates remain high to support the strong dollar, more Americans are falling behind on credit card payments by over 90 days. The delinquency rate rose to 7% of total balances, up +2% from 2023.

The governmental duties of Musk and his personal fortune

As soon as he triumphed in the November elections, Trump announced that he would create a powerful Advisory Body, the DOGE (Department of Government Efficiency), to “provide advice and guidance to the government,” help overturn bad regulations, and reduce government spending. At that time, Trump had told us that the DOGE would be led by ambitious billionaires Elon Musk and Vivek Ramaswamy. Ultimately, the Executive Order signed by Trump on Monday is different. It is not an “Advisory Committee.” It is part of the Government, a component of the White House. The DOGE replaced the Obama-era U.S. Digital Service (USDS), a unit primarily tasked with improving government websites and technology. The USDS unit employed 200 staff. Musk’s new team is reportedly made up of 20 employees. Ramaswamy is not participating in DOGE; sources indicate he will run for governor of Ohio. The DOGE is now subject to strict transparency and ethical rules. Because it is a part of the government, Musk cannot use his private fortune to fund DOGE’s activities. The mission of the DOGE, according to the executive order, is now to “implement the President’s DOGE agenda by modernizing federal technology and government software to maximize government efficiency and productivity.”