Greece: New EU Rising Star, Forbes Article

(From Forbes magazine)

The Exchange That Launched 1,000 Ships
Tatiana Serafin 07.23.07

Greece, Europe's New Hot Spot

With little fanfare, Greece has become one of Europe's best-performing economies and stock markets.

Greece, birthplace of the Olympics and home of ancient relics and honeymoon hideaway isles, is noteworthy for another reason. Over the past ten years its gross domestic product has grown at an annual rate of 6%, putting this economy far ahead of three of the largest European Union economies (Germany, France and Italy).

In 2000 Morgan Stanley Capital International, which tracks global stock markets via hundreds of indexes, promoted Greece out of the emerging-market category. The catalyst for this change: Greece's 2001 entry into the eurozone, which had imposed strict fiscal and monetary policies. The MSCI Greece stock index has a 12-month total return of 42%, a tad ahead of 41% for the MSCI Europe index.

Greece can now capitalize on its central Mediterranean location, says Harris Siganos, a managing director at Alpha Asset Management in Athens. One way is with ships. Over the past four years Greek shipping companies have benefited from increased trade with China and India, and freight rates have more than doubled. Today the shipping industry leads tourism in fund inflows from abroad. Greece has 3,800-plus ships of 1,000 tons or more, the largest fleet in Europe and the fifth largest in the world. Helped by cheap bank financing, shippers have at least 260 new vessels on order.

Danaos Corp., which listed on the New York Stock Exchange at the end of 2006, is the country's eighteenth-largest maritime shipper by vessel tonnage. Its container ships are less exposed to the volatility found in bulk cargo. Profit in 2006 was down 18% to $101 million, on revenue of $245 million. The company attributes the decline in part to its investment in 28 new ships, 8 of which are already under 10- to 15-year contracts.

Tsakos Energy Navigation, Greece's third-largest shipper by tonnage, trades on the New York Stock Exchange. Last year sales rose by 45% to $428 million and net by 21% to $196 million. As of March Tsakos, which specializes in the more volatile oil tanker market and recently added a liquefied natural gas carrier, had nine ships under construction.

Two of Greece's big banks, both available as American Depositary Receipts, provide exposure to southeastern Europe. National Bank of Greece is the country's largest banking group and recently made a big acquisition in Turkey. Net income for 2006 was up 23% to $758 million, 20% derived from abroad. ADRs of the Athens bank sell for 14 times their Thomson IBES 2007 consensus earnings forecast.

(Added in) National Bank of Greece in Balkans:

*89.9% of the United Bulgarian Bank (UBB).
*Majority stake in Stopanska Banka (Skopje, FYROM).
*Owns Banca Romaneasca, a Romanian bank, and holds 88.7% of shares.
*80.4% of the shares of Finansbank in Turkey.
*99.44% of Serbia's Vojvođanska Bank)

Alpha Bank, with $12.8 billion in market capitalization, has been expanding in Romania and Bulgaria. Last year 10% of net income came from abroad; the bank expects this to double in three years.

(Added in) Alpha Bank in Balkans

*A few branches in Albania
*Sole owner of Alpha bank Skopia
*Owns 63% of Alpha bank Romania
*Owns 88.64% of Alpha Bank Beograd

Consumer goods is another Greek sector with exposure to the Balkans. In the first quarter revenues at Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling were up 18%, driven by growth in emerging markets such as Romania. With $7.4 billion in sales, Hellenic is the second-biggest Coca-Cola bottler in the world.

(Added in) It controls Coca-Cola distribution in all of the former Soviet Union except the central Asian republics and all of the former communist nations of eastern Europe except Albania and eastern Germany. It is also the bottler in both the Republic of Ireland and Northern Ireland as well as Greece, Austria, Switzerland, Nigeria and the northern two-thirds of Italy.

Greece still cashes in on its sunny Mediterranean climate and 15,000 miles of coastline. Over 12 million tourists a year visit Greece (more than one tourist per inhabitant), contributing 17% of GDP. The government took advantage of the 2004 Olympics and its tourist traffic to open up the funding spigot for improving roads and railways.

Two companies listed on the Athens exchange offer investors an opportunity to take part in the building boom. Hellenic (or Elliniki) Technodomiki, which posted a 38% gain in first-quarter revenue, to $242 million, has a project backlog of $5.2 billion. Lamda Development, the real estate development arm of the billionaire Latsis family, is behind the two largest shopping malls in Greece as well as office and residential complexes. The company has announced plans to invest $520 million by the end of 2008 in Greece and the Balkans. Lamda sells for 12 times its 2007 consensus earnings forecast.



(Greece has 10 companies on the New York Stock Exchange, just as many as that with Italy and only 5 other countries in Europe have more: UK (48), Holland (31), France (16), Germany (15), and Switzerland (13). Greece has more than Spain (7), Russia and Ireland (5), Finland (4), Norway (3), Luxembourg (2) and Turkey, Belgium, Guernsey (British Island), and Portugal each with one.)

Current Greek companies on NYSE:

Aegean Marine Petroleum Network Inc.
Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling Company S.A.
Danaos Corporation
Diana Shipping, Inc.
Excel Maritime Carriers Ltd.
Hellenic Telecommunication Organization S.A
National Bank Greece SA
Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.
Navios Maritime Holdings Inc.
Tsakos Energy Navigation Limited

It's truly great to see the country we - or our parents - left to seek a better opportunity, doing so well!

One thing bothers me: Of all the companies listed, I only recognise the National Bank. Are the other firms newly-developed Greek firms or are the daughter-companies of Western European concerns...

Ego tis xero kai einai ellinikon symferonton.Katarhin to ena den einai o OTE?
O Tsakos einai enas panexypnos kapetanos Hiotis apo genis se genia.O pateras tou dielyse tin epiheirisi tou pappou tou propappou ktl kai aytos angkastike to 1970 na kanei diki tou etairia apo to miden(apo to miden einai ligo sarkastiko na to leo giati eihe idi fantazomai ta mesa)Telos panton horis karavia.TO 75 agorase ta naypigeia tou Montevideo,Uruguay.An thymamai kala mpike to 2002 sto NYSE.Einai apo tous anthropous pou ypostirizoun oti ta ellinika ploia prepai na ehoun kai elliniki simaia kai polemaei gia ayto.
Ayti tin stigmi diathetei 39!!!! dexamenoploia eno kataskeyazei alla 14!!!!
Oso gia ton emporiko stolo o typos kanei lathos giati an ta prostheseis ola(me elliniki simaia kai aneu)einai gyro sta 6500 ploia

Should've realised they meant OTE!

I m not expert but i realised Grecee has serious unemployment problem...
To talk about welfare we have to consider employment. Also salaries for an educated person is under Europe, and its getting worse.

I wrote what i think after talking many Greeks and after my searches because Greek economy is not as good as Europe but the working standarts like Europe another think for dirty industries such as foundry, textile, leather they follow Europe and leave this sectors outside of country and it kills the economy because Grecee cant companse the gap with other industries only tourism cant be solution too...