Hello, yesterday was a day that in terms of news was essentially characterized by what we call in our journalistic jargon “aftermath” from the NTUA report on Tempi. In Parliament we had… many goals and spectacle from Floridis who, although he doesn’t look like it, when he opens his little mouth not even the Galikos river near his hometown in Kilkis can wash you clean, since he found Velopoulos in front of him and turned him into balm with everything this charming and picturesque guy was saying—who, frankly, I don’t see why anyone would want to argue with him, really. Everyone knows there’s always a…Velopoulos in Parliament for as long as I can remember. You’ll say that these pagan-style theories about the 13 missing railcars, the 33 tons of wood alcohol, the smugglers, and the hidden NATO weapons in the railcars, etc., have been heard from the entire opposition for the past three months and we almost believed them too, but never mind, if only the trains had been fixed and so many innocent lives hadn’t been lost and everything else just confirms that the conspiracy crowd was and will always be among us.

And the Opposition?

Now in the “serious opposition” —and in that, apart from our leader Nikos, I now also include SYRIZA— which since the day before yesterday has been struck by what Vissi sings, “awkwardnesssssss, awkwardnessss, what can you say to me, what can I say to youuuuuu.” Some minor announcements, some half-statements about the Karonis report, there’s also that proposal for a preliminary investigation by PASOK, we’ll see if anything else comes up because on the Tempi issue “we pretty much got screwed,” as Tzakri says.

Mitsotakis–Adonis

Yesterday Mitsotakis appeared alongside Adonis at the ygeiamou.gr (our own) conference and before going on stage to speak, a nearby interlocutor asked him what he would say about the Karonis report since he was bound to be asked—especially by the discussion’s moderator Sroiter, who hadn’t seen him since the infamous and very difficult interview he gave him on Alpha three months ago. So, Adonis, who had spoken at the conference a few minutes earlier and had said, “I’ve learned to speak my mind and shout whatever I believe is true,” encouraged him (K.M.) to…say everything right then and there about Tempi. “Say a good word for me too, President, that I was right in the end,” Georgiadis said to him smiling, but Mitsotakis chose to refer very briefly to the Tempi issue, simply because he knows very well that it doesn’t lend itself to celebration. So he limited himself to publicly declaring that “it always proves that lies have short legs, we’ll say the rest in Parliament.”

Laskaridis’ idea for €1 billion in annual sponsorships

Meanwhile, yesterday morning before heading to the ygeiamou.gr conference, Mitsotakis went to the facilities of the Supreme Military Command of the Interior and Islands (ASDEN), where together with Dendias and the Army leadership they inaugurated four ultra-modern drones that will be integrated into the overall weapon system “Achilles’ Shield,” and as the responsible minister said, will excellently oversee the security of our islands in the Aegean from above. (…those old P-3B Orion planes of Kammenos are no match!). This new weapons system is yet another donation from Thanasis Laskaridis, who a few months ago also donated the Special Cyber Unit currently under construction at the Ministry of National Defense. So, after the Prime Minister and the Minister thanked Laskaridis for his ongoing contributions, the shipowner himself took the floor and said: “In Greece today we have more than 300 serious shipping firms (i.e., shipowners); if the 100 largest of them gave a donation of 10 million euros each annually, we’d gather a significant amount of about 1 billion euros. Such an amount would be extremely useful either for national defense or for our country’s other major problem, the demographic issue.” Let’s see, let’s see, will anyone listen to the proposal? Because honestly, 1 billion euros a year in state sponsorships could make a huge difference everywhere—in healthcare, in education, and in demographics, apart from defense of course.

Divani – President remain in the frame for sale

Let’s start with the hotel market, where developments are dense and often some deals that seem stalled remain warm. Thus, banking sources said that the process of selling the Divani Group hotels has not been frozen, even though the non-binding offers gathered by Citigroup as financial advisor came… below the threshold that had been set at around 700 million euros. At the same time, there seems to be movement with the President Hotel on Kifisias Avenue in Ampelokipi. One of the hotel’s strong advantages, apart from its location, is that it has a large number of rooms—517 in total—while it is said there’s interest from funds and foreign groups that have been steadily expanding their presence in the domestic market in recent years.

ThPA (OLTH): The behind-the-scenes, the message, and the guarantees

Yesterday at noon, a few hours before the start of the shareholders’ general assembly of the Thessaloniki Port Authority (OLTH), the state’s representative on the port’s board sent a new letter withdrawing his objections to convening the assembly. The people from the Superfund clearly did not decide to make fools of themselves with back-and-forth decisions. The behind-the-scenes that preceded relates to the overall change in stance and strategy of the Superfund across all companies it participates in, and a message that it is not a passive shareholder that simply rubber-stamps management decisions. And it doesn’t stop there. For the first time in a while, the government—through the Superfund’s stance—sent a message to every concessionaire that infrastructure progress concerns not only investors but also the state, which remains the infrastructure owner. Therefore, it demands development according to master plans and, of course, implementation of mandatory investments that must be executed within each infrastructure’s investment period. In OLTH’s case, the exercise is even more complex: there are other projects with political and social significance that share the same investor. Consequently, the need for the immediate launch of Pier 6 and other projects at OLTH moved high on the agenda with the emphasis “urgent.” The government wants Thessaloniki—with the port, the Egnatia Highway, the Gonou military camp, the HELEXPO, and the new healthcare infrastructure—to become a strong economic hub and bridge for the Western Balkans and Europe. Before giving its approval for the General Assembly to proceed, the Superfund set and received specific guarantees for the immediate start and uninterrupted completion of the projects within schedule.

Ivan, the power shifts on the Board, and the Government’s intentions

Tomorrow the €2 per share dividend of OLTH will be “cut,” which after a 5% tax withholding comes to a net amount of €1.90. Shareholders witnessed a general assembly with suspicious calm. It became clear that Ivan Savvidis’ side wants to impose new balances on the Board of Directors. Thanasis Liagos technically has not resigned yet, but he will not be in the position of President in the new Board and seems caught in a tug-of-war among the involved (shareholding) sides, while he will assume the position of management advisor. Today, the shareholding structure at OLTH is 67% owned by South Europe Gateway Thessaloniki (SEGT) Ltd (6,753,600 shares), 7.3% by the Superfund (732,594 shares), and the remaining 25.7% of the share capital (2,593,806 shares) belongs to the general investing public. Let’s also recall the government’s intervention in the Volos Port tender, where awarding it to Ivan Savvidis was canceled—a development that also reveals its intentions and disposition regarding Thessaloniki’s future.

Airports are soaring

The 14 regional airports managed by Fraport Greece continue to show steady growth, with total passenger traffic recording a 4.9% increase in April, reaching 1.75 million passengers. At the beginning of the summer season, international traffic also rose by 4.9%, reaching 1.14 million passengers. As expected for this period, Thessaloniki recorded the highest volume of traffic among the 14 airports (Aktio, Chania, Corfu, Kavala, Kefalonia, Thessaloniki, Zakynthos, Kos, Mytilene, Mykonos, Rhodes, Samos, Santorini, Skiathos), with over 626 thousand passengers, up 8.1%. For Thessaloniki in particular, international traffic figures are even more encouraging, with a 9.4% increase reaching 389 thousand passengers. Among the major destinations, Rhodes had a strong start with a 12% increase compared to April last year, reaching 378 thousand passengers, while Chania recorded a 6.5% increase (199 thousand passengers), and Corfu 4.9% at 171 thousand. Although with a smaller volume of 36 thousand passengers, Mytilene is a pleasant surprise with double-digit growth rates, +17.3% in April for combined domestic-international traffic and +10.6% for international traffic alone. Santorini is the big loser of April with a -27.8% drop, slightly above 129 thousand passengers, while Mykonos showed a marginal increase of 1% with slightly over 46 thousand passengers, and a 9.3% drop in international traffic (around 17.5 thousand). For the four-month period, total passenger traffic from January to April 2025 exceeded 3.9 million passengers compared to 3.77 million in the same period last year (+3.7%), with international traffic accounting for over 2 million, marking a 5.7% increase from last year. Thessaloniki alone accounts for over half of this four-month traffic, or over 2 million passengers, up 8.3%, with international traffic specifically reaching +10% and 1.247 million passengers.

The master builder’s drought

Dimitris Koutras, a “master builder” of the sector, saw his plans for Domiki Kritis not unfold quite as he had hoped. The leap from a local construction company to one with nationwide reach, even if you have the experience, requires time, structure, and organization. And in those areas, the company still has a long way to go. The slowdown in the pace of construction projects is also reflected in the profits of the most recent fiscal year (217,000 euros compared to 2.771 million euros in 2023) for Domiki Kritis—a picture that is also reflected on the stock board, with the share price falling below 2 euros. Since last August, Domiki Kritis has been the provisional contractor for the Kelefina dam (tendered in 2023), valued at 25 million euros. However, due to legal appeals, the contract has stalled. If all goes well, according to sources, the signatures are expected soon, as the outcome favors the company, offering a lifeline to the current project backlog which is below 40 million euros and struggling to “get off the ground” with new contracts. The company is also the lowest bidder for a pedestrian bridge in Elliniko and has secured the renovation of the Panteion University building.

Non-stop deals in insurance

The capital increase in Europe Holdings is nearing completion (the rights exercise period ends tomorrow, 16/5, and trading of the new shares on the Athens Exchange is expected to begin on 26/5), and acquisition time has arrived. In fact, there are two acquisitions: NAK Insurance Brokers is being acquired, and, as many expected, full control is being taken of AMYNA – Insurance Brokers, which for years had shareholders from the Kokkalis Group. At the same time, the stock of Intracom Group’s subsidiary has gained momentum on the board, and its capitalization has reached 250 million euros. The insurance sector as a whole is undergoing intense activity, and in the coming period, we will see more deals across the entire market spectrum, regardless of size. Already, Mega Brokers of the Chatziotheodosiou family, a major player in Greek insurance brokerage, has acquired “Athinaiki Insurance Agents,” a company with a 30-year presence in insurance consulting and program management.

HelleniQ Energy won’t impress

The results that HelleniQ Energy will announce today will not excite the investment community. Reduced profitability—among other external factors—is due to the fact that one of its two refineries (Elefsina) remained closed for maintenance for four weeks. Additionally, there was a significant decline in international oil prices and refining margins. Sources indicate that the refining margin for the first quarter of 2025 dropped to $5.2/barrel compared to $7.8/barrel in the same period last year. As a result, the first quarter of 2025 for HelleniQ Energy includes reduced production (due to the closed refinery) along with increased energy and payroll expenses. Nevertheless, the stock of HelleniQ Energy is closely tracking Motor Oil, which has already reached a capitalization of 2.5 billion euros. Yesterday, HelleniQ Energy closed the session at €7.98 (+1.72%) and its capitalization exceeded €2.4 billion.

OLP hit 1.1 billion euros

Although the MSCI restructuring did not involve changes to the main index for Greek stocks, it held a pleasant surprise for OLP. The stock was included in the MSCI Greece Small Cap Index and is now more visible to the investment community. This development acted as an extra “fuel,” resulting in the extension of its historical record. Specifically, yesterday it rose by 3.5% to 44.5 euros and reached up to 45 euros at the day’s high. Trading activity also picked up compared to usual levels, with a turnover of 939 thousand euros and over 21 thousand shares traded. The stock’s performance this year is estimated at +48.3%, while its market value now exceeds 1.1 billion euros. The average target price is set at 48 euros, which means there is an upside potential of about 7.9% from current levels. An additional catalyst is the proposed dividend of 1.92 euros for fiscal year 2024, up 43.7% compared to 2023, when it was 1.34 euros. The “green light” is expected to be given at the annual general meeting on July 22. The ex-dividend date is scheduled for August 4, and payment for August 8.

The Qualco Party

The trading of Qualco’s stock starts today at €5.46. Following the impressive oversubscription of the Public Offering, only 10% reached retail investors, which might justify a “small party” for the stock in its early trading days. Approximately €563 million was offered in the Public Offering. A total of 20,700,000 common registered shares of the group were made available. Excluding the shares allocated to Cornerstone investors—Latsco Hellenic Holdings, Antenna Group BV, and Green Hydepark—the remaining shares were oversubscribed 8 times. Of the €563 million submitted in the Public Offering, €189 million came from subscriptions outside Greece. Qualco raised €47.7 million in net funds, which management pledged to use for its 5-year investment plan focused on strategic mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in Greece and beyond.

Stock Market: The Mood Shifted After 4 PM

The goal is clear: the General Index wants to conquer 1,800 points. However, from 1,780 points and beyond, there are many interested sellers who would prefer to lock in profits, since the General Index has already gained over 21% since the beginning of the year. At the same time, investors are awaiting tomorrow’s derivatives closing. Yesterday, the General Index began with the usual “short-term profit-taking,” dropping to 1,780.99 points (-0.42%), but after 4 PM, buyers reappeared in the banks, pushing the Index up to 1,790.99 points (+0.14%). There were numerous block trades totaling over €32.9 million, while the total trading value reached €175.5 million. OPAP recorded the swiftest rebound after its dividend cut and, with trades worth €15.3 million (including a €4.84 million block at €20.17), closed at its highest price in the last 16 years at €20.2 (+0.5%). All banks (except National Bank) closed in positive territory. GEK TERNA (+1.74%) reached €19.25, AKTOR (+1.32%) €5.38, and Aegean (+1.09%) €12.96. OTE’s results did not satisfy the market, and the stock dropped to €17.1 (-1.44%). Despite market expectations, TITAN was not included in the MSCI Greece Standard Index, and the stock fell -0.48% to €41.75, while JUMBO—despite its charming new radio ad—saw profit-taking at €28.28 (-0.56%).

Genekor to Announce New Deal

Genekor Medical SA is a 100% Greek company in the field of molecular diagnostics in Europe. It already operates branches in 8 countries. Sources report that within the coming days (or hours?), it will announce another Balkan deal. The agreement concerns a strategic alliance with Kandilarov Medical Diagnostic Laboratories, a leading player in healthcare in Bulgaria. The two companies will leverage their expertise in research, development, and—most importantly—access. Their collaboration will focus on key areas of molecular oncology such as treatment response, identification of hereditary syndromes, and early cancer detection. Greece is exporting know-how in high-level healthcare services.

Even the Scandinavians Are Now Considering Nuclear Power

“Nuclear energy? No, thanks,” was the stance of Scandinavians in the 1980s. Today, things seem to have changed. Denmark—the country of wind turbines and cool energy—is now reconsidering its 1985 nuclear ban. Sweden, which closed most of its nuclear power plants over the past decade, has also changed course, with the new government supporting nuclear power, given that artificial intelligence requires massive amounts of energy. In 2005, Danes celebrated Sweden’s closure of a nuclear plant near their capital, Copenhagen. Today, they are “studying” next-generation mini reactors. Lars Aagaard, Denmark’s Minister of Climate, Energy and Public Utilities, is scheduled next week to argue in parliament in favor of small nuclear reactors. “There’s progress in new nuclear energy technologies with small modular reactors.” Large energy demands are leading to a different approach toward the once-taboo issue of “nuclear.”