The Maximos Palace and the Ministry of National Economy and Finance did not have time to rejoice at the upgrade of the Greek economy by S&P, and the “mandates” came from the Financial Times. And they hurt them! They hurt them a lot! Because the newspaper in question is considered the “gospel” of the international – and not only European – market. And what did the valid financial version say? What we as Greek citizens know from the good and the bad!
The poorest!
Of course, the rate of growth of the Greek economy is much higher than that of the Eurozone. The’re is no doubt. Nor is there any doubt that the “recovery has only slightly lifted Greeks’ living standards relative to the EU average over the past two years – and not enough to lift them from their position as the poorest people in the eurozone.” . Did you read it? “The poorest people in the eurozone”!
Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis
And it has even better: “With the gap with Bulgaria narrowing sharply, it is not unreasonable to expect that Greece will soon become the poorest country in the EU.” You have now understood that no matter how many walks the Prime Minister Mr. Kyriakos Mitsotakis makes in the supermarkets and in the central market of Rentis, he cannot limit the … “downhill”! Of family budgets…
Something is moving…
Now, of course, NielsenIQ, the well-known company that monitors market trends, recorded some optimistic data in its research on organized food retailing. It specifically reported that sales increased by 3% in the first quarter of 2024 compared to the corresponding period last year. So-called fast-moving products had an increase of 2.7%. And as he characteristically notes, the growth comes mainly from the increase in the volume of sales, given that the increase in prices does not exceed 1%!
He hides them!
It’s interesting. Estée Lauder Hellas – the subsidiary of The Estée Lauder Companies (ELC) – something is not telling us well. First of all, it does not mention the amount of sales in the Greek market. Of the year that ended on June 30, 2023!
He merely informs us that net sales fell by 18.9%, gross profit margin increased by 6.7 percentage points, while the subsidiary recorded a pre-tax loss of €7.9 million! And of course to emphasize to us that “it maintains its leading position in selective distribution beauty products in Greece and significantly strengthens its position in the perfume category, achieving particular growth in the high perfumery category with brands that it maintains in its portfolio”! Yes!
It’s going great
And for 2024, he informs us that the company is “returning to strong growth, already achieving a double-digit increase in net sales for the first half of the year (July 2023 to December 2024)”. And what you understood, you understood…
Uncharted waters
Meanwhile, IPOs seem to be recovering internationally. At low rates, of course, but moving positively, according to EY. In fact, Mr. Tasos Iosifidis, Partner and Head of the Department of Financial Advisors, Corporate Strategy and Transactions of EY Greece, points out in his statement that “There is no doubt that the global activity of public subscriptions is moving in uncharted waters, under the influence of geopolitical instability, of the continued high interest rates, but also of the intensifying adoption rates of artificial intelligence. In this environment, the dynamic recovery of public registrations in Europe that the report finds, is an important development”!
Prospects
And referring to Greece, he notes that “the recovery of the investment grade and the stable positive course of the Athens Stock Exchange, already contributes to the attraction of large foreign institutional portfolios, with a long-term horizon. The recent listing of Athens International Airport on the Greek capital market (…) is one of the most important public listings in Greece in the last 20 years, a confirmation of these positive prospects”! Optimism….
They took off
I think the insurance companies are “having a party”! In the first two months of 2024, according to the data of the Association of Insurance Companies of Greece, it increased by 17.1%. Impressive! Of course, I should point out that a significant part of this increase is due to the increase in insurance premiums and not to the increase in the volume of insurance material! Let’s explain…
The life branch
But there are better ones. The growth of the life insurance sector is impressive. Their production increased by 23.4% – of course, those who hold, for example, hospital contracts, when they were forced to renew, they were spared the … stroke! – and amounted to 429.2 million euros. The growth of the claims sector is running at a lower but double-digit rate. Between January and February, its production reached 463.4 million euros, marking an increase of 11.8%!
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