Stock Market Review: 10.43% rise in the General Index

The stock market closed out 2021 with gains of 10,43%, recouping nearly all of the ground lost in 2020 (-11,75%), while the total value of shares rose by 12.227 billion euros to 66.092 billion euros, following a decline of 7.8 billion euros in 2020.

The General Price Index closed 2021 at 893.34 points, compared to 808.99 points at the end of 2020, marking an increase of 84.35 points, or 10.43%.

The average daily trading value increased in 2021 by 10% compared to 2020, an increase attributable to a significant extent to the large capital increases by PPC, Piraeus Bank, and Alpha Bank.

While in 2020, publicly traded companies raised just 1.19 billion euros on the Athens Stock Exchange, in 2021, through capital increases and corporate bond issuances, they raised 7.9 billion euros, the highest amount in the last five years.

Among the major offerings, we note Piraeus Bank’s capital increase of 2.36 billion euros (CoCos conversion) and the €1.38 billion capital increase through a private placement, as well as the €1.35 billion capital increase by the Public Power Corporation (PPC) and the corresponding €800 million capital increase by Alpha Bank.

In the corporate bond market, five new issuances stood out (Motor Oil with 200 million euros, Prontea AEEAP with 300 million euros, Costamare with €100 million, CPLP Shipping Holding with €150 million, and ElvalHalcor with €250 million).

Despite the pressure from the pandemic and a weak start to the year, publicly traded companies have managed to fully recover their profits and business activity by the end of the first nine months, and the country’s GDP in the third quarter posted the largest positive percentage change in Europe, thanks to tourism, which exceeded initial estimates.

In the first four months of the year, after initially hitting a low for the year during the January 27 session (743.49 points), the market, buoyed by a significant improvement in sentiment in international markets, rose above the 900-point level. Subsequently, from early May through the end of the year, the General Index’s fluctuation was confined to a range of 100 points, moving between 830and 930 points, reaching its annual high of 929.26 points during the trading session on August 30.

A number of analysts have expressed concern about the market’s inability to react strongly to the many positive assessments of the Greek economy and stock market that have been published recently.

International agencies emphasize that Greek GDP had fully recovered from the shock of the pandemic, following the strong rebound in the second quarter, and this has led them to significantly upgrade their forecasts for this year. The high growth rate has not managed to drive the stock market to higher levels; it continues to lag behind international markets in terms of earnings growth.

The Performance of the Indices

The large-cap index closed out 2021 with a gain of 11.07%, while the mid-cap index rose by 34.72%.

The banking index posted annual gains of 10.78%, following losses of 41.37% in 2020.

Among the individual indices, the Technology-IT index posted the largest gain in 2021, with high returns of 96.54%.

The indices for Industrial Products (+27,23%), Telecommunications (+24,73%), Healthcare (+24.66%), Oil (+16.15%), Food (+14.64%), and Travel (+13.31%) also closed with strong gains.

In contrast, the indices for Raw Materials (-5.59%), Financial Services (-1.95%), and Retail (-0.71%).

Winning and losing shares

The stocks with the biggest gains were: Intralot (+354.84%), Epsilon Net (+342.74%), Bitros (+295.60%), SIDMA (+282.61%), Dionic (+172.73%), Medicon (+156.84%), Entersoft (+111.54%), Unibios (+110,53%), Intracom (+105,25%), SATO (+105,13%), and Minerva (+101,26%).

In contrast, the biggest losses were recorded by the following stocks: Piraeus Bank (-93.99%), Attica Bank (-83.50%), Kekrops (-39.24%), Euroxx (-33.00%), ANEK (-30.00%), Flexopack (-26.06%), Varagis (-25.00%), Dromeas (-22.89%), Mermeren (-17.79%), and Nikas (-16.79%).

High capitalization

Among large-cap stocks, the following closed the year with gains: Eurobank (+53,96%), National Bank of Greece (+29,68%), Mytilineos (+27.14%), PPC (+26.51%), OTE (+24.58%), Viohalco (+22.73%), GEK TERNA (+20.69%), Motor Oil (+16.36%), Hellenic Petroleum (+15.19%), Coca-Cola HBC (+14.53%), EYDAP (+13,68%), OPAP (+13,01%), Alpha Bank (+12,89%), Elvalhalcor (+8,82%), Terna Energy (+2,88%), and Aegean Airlines (+2,76%).

In contrast, the following stocks closed lower: Piraeus Bank (-93,99%), PPA (-11,69%), Jumbo (-11.33%), Ellaktor (-11.15%), ADMIE (-8.70%), Sarantis (-4,81%), Hellenic Exchanges (-4,75%), Lamda Development (-2,75%), and Titan (-2,62%).