GEROULANOS: “The statute applies to everyone”, emphasizes (and repeats) Pavlos Geroulanos, referring to the “term limit cutoff” decided by the recent congress of PASOK, according to which anyone who has been in Parliament for 20 consecutive years cannot be a candidate for MP.
The “quarrel” is about Theodora Tzakri, who has already completed 22 years in “parliamentarianism,” but the leadership of Charilaou Trikoupi reportedly very much wishes to include her on the Pella ballot, because of the fanatical audience that follows her.
Geroulanos did not stop at the above assurance, but went one step further, indirectly responding to information about the “trick” of Ms. Tzakri being a candidate as collaborating with PASOK and not as a member of it, so that the “cutoff” would not apply to her.
What did the farsighted Pavlos say? That he would very much like to hear the justification (of the leadership) if it ultimately proceeds with the move.
Let's see at Charilaou Trikoupi lads fighting over Theodora's votes and what…
SYRIZA: To understand what is happening in the party right now: members of the Central Committee who were ready to officially resign from the party in order to go to ELAS, are “freezing” their resignations and remaining in SYRIZA in order to support… Famellos, along with his position that in the elections the new party of Alexis Tsipras should be supported.
That is, to support the position of a party president who asks that his party not run in the elections and support another party, without himself resigning from his position.
In the… “back, Giannis, the ships” retreat of the under-resignation members, Pavlos Polakis contributed, as he rushed (again…) to announce via social media (as he is accustomed to doing) that he will claim the position of president of SYRIZA’s Parliamentary Group, since, as is known, an attempt will be made to throw out Famellos.
According to those in the know, the resignations of the… covert ELAS supporters had been set in motion after the decision of the Central Committee (on June 6) that approved the above proposal of Sokratis Famellos. But when the Polakis-Dourou-Pappas-Rigas group etc. succeeded in having a new session of the body (on July 11) to cancel the controversial decision, they decided to remain members of the C.C. so that the cancellation would not pass.
Something like “we return for a while, vote, and leave again”, that is.
Mariliza Xenogiannakopoulou is not among them, since she publicly announced her resignation as a member of SYRIZA because -as she said- she cannot accept the party’s participation in the elections against Alexis.
This …upheaval led Nikos Pappas to ask for public statements from other member-MPs that they are not with one and a half feet in ELAS. Like Olga Gerovasili. Such statements will not be made, of course, but the persons in question will begin to feel strong pressure, since SYRIZA’s “party people” will ask them daily: are you staying or leaving?…
Between us, the image of the covert ELAS-supporting MPs… of SYRIZA not resigning from their parliamentary office (according to the condition set by Tsipras) because they do not know when… elections will be held, causes negative feelings that do no good even for Amalias.
We learn, however, that some (a few) are thinking of stopping the hide-and-seek immediately…
PARLIAMENT: An interesting amendment, because of (also) those who co-sign it, was submitted to Parliament.
It concerns a request for the immediate hiring of 1,000 new employment counselors at DYPA, with fixed-term private law contracts and funding from national resources.
Who are signing it? Four SYRIZA MPs, five from New Left, seven independents (former New Left), one independent from Kasselakis’ former party (Michalis Chourdakis), two independents (former SYRIZA), two independent women MPs (former Course of Freedom - Areti Papaioannou-Eleni Karageorgopoulou).
And one PASOK MP: Pavlos Christidis, one of the party’s younger and dynamic members.
The turmoil in the so-called progressive space and the informal pre-election period will hold many more such surprises. We simply note that of the above (except Christidis of course) 6-7 would like to find themselves in Tsipras’ ELAS and 2-3 have probably secured the ticket…
PHARMATHEN: The company is entering a phase of major restructuring of its borrowing and is obtaining new financing, as presented in Euro2day.gr’s extensive report.
However, market players attribute serious responsibilities to the management exercised, directly and indirectly in recent years, by the company’s current shareholders, for the turn taken by one of the biggest “success stories” of the Greek pharmaceutical industry, with international reach.
“It took great… effort to achieve this,” one of them told us pointedly, while more expressed doubts as to whether it will be able to return to its previously successful course, under the same ownership regime.
Regardless of whether someone agrees with these comments, the decline is indeed impressive.
The company was sold by the Katsos family to BC Partners in 2015, for 475 million euros. BC, after a further successful course, sold it in 2021 to Partners Group “on behalf of its clients,” at an Enterprise Value valuation of 1.6 billion euros.
In June, however, the stake of listed Partners funds, in the company’s common shares, was valued at... zero prices.
How can a “well-laid business” that seems to be going... like a bullet go wrong within five years?
PHARMATHEN II: As market executives argue, all the products were completed, the production units fully invested, certified (audited) and in full operation. There was also a specific development plan.
The only thing that had to be done was for the company to operate properly, for the expansion plan to be implemented and, at the same time, for new hires to be made, so that growth could be supported.
The same people add that, instead, critical projects were delayed, valuable know-how was lost during a particularly sensitive period, while afterwards hundreds of new employees came in to produce medicines.
So, it was only natural that problems would arise in relation to ensuring production conditions, which brought about the crisis with the American FDA.
Another executive notes that the company’s “machine” has suffered a serious blow, as the latest developments, combined with many layoffs and departures, had a serious effect on the morale of its people.
Even so, he hopes that the crisis will be overcome.
VAREMIS: Investments in Greece are directed mainly to construction and tourism and not to productive sectors, Markos Varemis pointed out, speaking at an event for the EY Entrepreneurship Barometer.
And this is not the only tension. He focused on the small size of Greek businesses, reminding that the overwhelming majority (95%) employ fewer than ten people. He therefore made it clear that productivity and innovation cannot be built with such small units.
Even more striking was his reference to productivity, which he placed at almost half the European average. His message was clear. The next day requires mergers, larger schemes and rapid adoption of technology.
FESSAS: For his part, Theodoros Fessas took the discussion deeper, into the pathologies of Greek entrepreneurship. He spoke of entrepreneurship that usually starts from necessity and not the desire to create, of the Greek’s individualism, of the difficulty of cooperation and of the fact that the mentality of “who you know” prevails instead of “what you know.”
Regarding Artificial Intelligence, he admitted that alarm has sounded in businesses, as changes are frequent, while he stressed that it remains to be seen whether in the “fire that has been lit,” the reaction will be orderly or spasmodic.
Indicative was also his reference to UniSystems, where last year many engineers were hired, while this year none, as the company chose first to solve internal issues before bringing in new people.
At the same time, he stressed that the country has talent that is not being utilized as much as it should be, but declared himself optimistic that Greece can adapt, provided there is better understanding and a more stable implementation framework.
GEK TERNA: The huge investment interest in the express capital increase was carried over into yesterday’s session, during which the stock, despite initial pressures, closed with gains of 3.09% (at 45.36 euros). Transactions exceeded 60.1 million euros. Of these, 14.2 million concerned five pre-agreed transactions.
With yesterday’s move, it thus covered the pressures that emerged at the end of Tuesday’s session, when it became known that the group’s capital strengthening was being promoted.
The gains over a six-month depth exceed 78%.
YKNOT: Investors on the Stock Exchange rewarded Y/KNOT’s first step in the tanker market with a rally, with the purchase of a 16-year-old ship for 44.1 million dollars.
The stock “posted” a rise of almost 10% to 1.5 euros, remaining however far from the highs of 2.89 euros it “saw” in the wake of shipowners Panagiotis and Rigas Tzortzis entering its share capital.
The company announced on Wednesday its first investment in a tanker, acquiring the Aframax Jag Lokesh (105,599 dwt, built in 2009 by Hyundai Heavy Industries) for 44.1 million dollars from Great Eastern Shipping, with delivery taking place through the newly established Y/Amethyst Inc. and the ship also being renamed Amethyst.
REFINERIES: After the Eurobank Equities, another domestic brokerage, Pantelakis Securities, proceeded to upgrade its estimates for the two Greek refineries, offering… back-to-back support to the two stocks.
On the board and in Wednesday’s session, Motor Oil revisited the 40-euro levels, closing with a jump of 4.12% at 39.96 euros, while Helleniq Energy followed the opposite course with losses of 2.44% at 10.78 euros.
Based on the Pantelakis Securities report, resilient refining margins -which remain at high levels despite the restart of Hormuz, due to low inventories and operational delays in the Middle East’s restoration- support strong profitability for both Greek refineries through 2028.
For Helleniq Energy, the refining margin is forecast at 17.4 dollars/barrel in 2026, gradually declining to 15.2 dollars in 2027 and 14.5 dollars in 2028.
This translates into EBITDA of 1.337 billion euros in fiscal year 2026, 1.145 billion euros in 2027 and 1.113 billion in 2028, with adjusted net profits of 682 million, 519 million and 491 million euros respectively.
The dividend per share is estimated at 0.75 euros for this fiscal year, at 0.70 euros for 2027 and at 0.75 euros in 2028, with dividend yields of 6.8%, 6.3% and 6.8%.
For Motor Oil, the margin is shaped at 16.7 dollars per barrel this year, 14.8 in 2027 and 13.9 dollars in 2028. EBITDA is forecast at 1.414 billion euros, 1,.272 billion and 1.230 billion, with net profits of 817 million euros, 734 million and 700 million respectively (the last two years also boosted by a contribution of ~60-65 million from UtilityCo).
The dividend per share is estimated at 1.90 euros this year and at 1.80 euros in both 2027 and 2028, with a yield of 5.0% for this fiscal year and 4.7% for the coming two-year period.
Overall, the study sees a “new normality” in profitability levels, with EBITDA above 1 billion euros for both companies as well, and Motor Oil standing out for lower leverage and stronger free cash flows.
VIOHALCO: The group’s shares remain in a downward channel. The parent company yesterday fell by 2.4%, to 18.74 euros, with the drop from the record of 21.85 euros (June 22) approaching 15%.
In the case of Cenergy, the high was 26.2 euros, also on June 22. After yesterday’s close at 22.3 euros, cumulative losses reach (also) 15%. In between, we recall, came the placement for 6.3 million shares at 24.2 euros.
In the case of Elvalhalcor, which it is recalled is proceeding with a 250 million euro capital increase, the picture differs only slightly. Year high at 5.72 euros (again June 22), yesterday’s close at 4.95 euros.
Total decline 13.46%.