Blue chips: Which are nearing new highs and which are a long way off

The performance of FTSE 25 shares after yesterday’s close highlights the different paths listed companies have taken over the past 12 months.

On one side are five stocks trading less than 3% below their 52-week highs. On the other are shares that have fallen significantly from their highs and are now very close to their lows for the same period.

Bank of Cyprus tops the ranking. Closing at €10.92, it is just 0.64% below its high of €10.99. EYDAP follows, 1.72% below its high, and National Bank of Greece, 2.30% below. Eurobank and Jumbo complete the top five, at 2.43% and 2.94% below their highs, respectively, followed closely by Alpha Bank, 3.46% below.

This suggests that these stocks have maintained strong market momentum.

EYDAP is a special case. GEK TERNA’s entry into its share capital acted as a major catalyst for investors to reassess the company. On 3 March 2026, Urban Services, a subsidiary of the group, acquired a 9.71% stake for €103.4 million, or €10 a share.

A few days later, on 19 March, the stake exceeded 10%, reaching 12.76%. The share is now trading about 37% above the price paid for the initial block. In the meantime, it is worth noting, new water tariffs were introduced, giving the company greater visibility.

At ElvalHalcor, the share’s 37.94% distance from its high of €5.72 is the third-largest in the index. More revealing, however, is the comparison with the July share issue. The capital increase of about €250 million was completed with the issue of 59.52 million new shares at €4.20 each. Closing at €3.55, the share is trading about 15.5% below the offer price.

The proceeds were linked to an investment programme of about €455 million through 2030, aimed at increasing production capacity, expanding recycling and improving operational efficiency.

CrediaBank presents a different picture from the one suggested by a first glance at the table. The share closed at €0.934, 44.81% below its high of €1.692 and just 2.98% above its low of €0.907.

Much of the gap from the high, however, reflects the capital increase in the spring: the bank raised €300 million by issuing new shares at an offer price of €0.80, significantly below the market price at the time. At the current price, investors who took part in the capital increase are sitting on a gain of about 17%.

At Cenergy, Viohalco’s June placement involved 6.3 million shares, about 3% of the share capital, at €24.20 a share, for a total transaction value of €152.46 million. It was a sale of existing shares by Viohalco, which retained a stake of about 66.7% after the transaction, not a capital increase by Cenergy itself.

The placement took place just after the share had hit a record high of €26.20. On 13 November, Cenergy was 13.89% below its high and trading about 6.8% below the placement price, while remaining 53.47% above its 52-week low.

The performance of the two subsidiaries is also reflected in their parent company. Viohalco is 27.60% below its high, as its valuation is directly linked to the performance of ElvalHalcor and Cenergy. It remains, however, 62.42% above its low, showing that the pullback followed a strong rally.

Allwyn is the weakest performer in the table. At €9.65, it has hit a new 52-week low and is 49.5% below its high of €19.10. The pressure intensified in early November, when JP Morgan downgraded its recommendation to underweight from neutral and cut its price target to €9 from €13, prompting a double-digit fall in the share. The reason was the ban on betting in Brazil.

The bank believes that, despite the sharp decline since the start of the year, the valuation remains demanding. The main reasons are the lower multiples it applies to the North American operations and to Betano, in which Allwyn has a 36.75% stake and for which Brazil is a significant market.

After the fall, the gap between the share price and the bank’s price target has narrowed to about 7%. The next milestone for the stock is its quarterly results, scheduled for 19 November, which will show whether concerns about profitability are borne out.

Jumbo, by contrast, is just 2.94% below its high of €28.54, at €27.70. Its performance in 2026 has not been smooth, however. During the year, the share fell as low as €21.38, the low shown in the table.

The 29.56% rebound from that level is significant, but periodic pressure on the stock is a reminder that consumer expectations, competition and sales trends remain key factors.

In the energy sector, Motor Oil and HELLENiQ ENERGY stand out for their distance from their 52-week lows: 125% and 115.46%, respectively. These figures reflect a strong recovery from their lows, but do not alter the fact that both shares have recently pulled back and are 11.29% and 12.02% below their highs.

GEK TERNA is 10.89% below its high, but almost 80% above its low. PPC is just 7.40% below its high, as the market watches its investments, the energy transition and the financing of its investment programme. Aktor has gained 46.31% from its low.

Metlen is 9.11% below its high of €50.50 and 40.37% above its low. Its performance is linked to its energy and metals businesses, as well as the execution of its investment plans. Titan, by contrast, is just 7.47% above its low and 22.41% below its high, suggesting it has yet to recover the ground lost during previous bouts of pressure.

Aegean is 24.38% below its high and just 8.97% above its low. This points to a marked retreat from this year’s highs, with its performance dependent on travel demand, fuel costs and operational performance.

Lamda Development, just 2.82% above its low, also remains under pressure.