The Hellenic Natural Gas System Operator (DESFA) is the monopoly in the national natural gas transmission system.
For some years now, not 100% state owned. 66% controlled by European also monopolies, Gas Managers.
So DESFA has both the knife and the melon… in the gas transit charges, after of course the “OK” is given by the Regulatory Authority for Waste Energy and Water (RAAEF).
The paradox
Why am I giving you this introduction?
DESFA posted the annual financial results for 2023. And I was really impressed! I almost admired the Italian management under Maria Rita Galli after it achieved a boom in revenues and profits, while the volume of gas volumes traded last year fell compared to 2022…
Twice as much
So I went ahead and read the annual financial report in detail. Revenue for 2023 jumped to €573.1m from €295.2m.
Profits for the year also almost doubled to €156.7m from €81.6m in 2022.
And these performances were recorded when for the same year, 2023, demand fell by 21.56%, exports plunged over 43% and domestic consumption was over 10% lower than in 2022.
Increases
Of course, the revenues and profits came from the increases in system user fees and other regulated revenues of DESFA.
For example, the €278 million increase in revenue came in large part from the security of supply levy that DESFA imposed on gas traders and power producers and they in turn passed it on to consumers in order to have gas reserves during the energy crisis . Stocks that were also held at that infamous FSU.
The account….
Gas quantities, which, as market players also emphasized before its lease, did not need to be met, especially on the floating tanker.
So we paid for it with 198 million euros, when the relevant fee in 2022 was only 16 million euros.
Obviously, even for the monopoly of DESFA, there are no sky-high profits… When the state generously offers them…
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OTE
Once upon a time there was also the monopoly of OTE.
For decades the market has been open and the group plays openly in the market.
And yesterday its management announced the financial results for the first half of the year, which you would have read in OT.
CEO Costas Nebis, during the teleconference with the analysts, gave the axes on which OTE’s strategy will move: Acceleration of investments, continuous development of the optical fiber network and digitization of the operating model.
The optical fiber
However, special mention was also made of the reduction in wholesale prices in the optical fiber network. An agreement that may also improve the final prices for the final consumer. Details are pending, according to OTE, to draw up agreements with the other two providers (Vodafone and Nova) and to officially put it into operation in the form of a new regulation. However, there is another wholesale fiber optic provider, PPC through FiberGrid, with which there is still no agreement…
And something in the tone of Nebi’s voice when he made the aforementioned comment, led analysts to believe that the market expects something from PPC… And I don’t mean the agreement with OTE….
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Change partner
OTE continues to excel in Greece, but there are also Greek groups that stand out in foreign markets. And I am referring to the Green Beverages Group.
I learn that his management is rolling out a strategic restructuring and “operational regrouping” plan.
The latest move of the group is – as announced – the agreement with Al Rabie Saudi Foods and concerns the extremely dynamic market of Saudi Arabia. Let me inform you that the Greek group has been in Saudi Arabia for years – not only that, but it also exported from there to … Yemen! It’s just that in this particular case the local partner changed. Given that the new partner also has the option of bottling, which the management of the group “sees” in the second phase…
In more than 30 countries
I remind you that the group’s development model is almost a copy of the American Coca Cola model. In other words, it places its products on a market – by export – and then cooperates with a local bottler. The “liquid mixture” is sent from Greece. And in addition to exporting the basic recipe, he also collects royalties. Until now, the Greek group bottles in about 10 countries, cooperating with 12-13 local bottlers – there are countries, such as Egypt, which cooperates with two bottlers – and exports the finished product to about 20 countries!
In the USA
A major asset in Green Beverages Group’s geographic portfolio is the United States market.
A characteristic element of the importance it has for the development of the group is the fact that Giannis Chitos is essentially based in the USA “running” the development of the group. Given the possibilities of the specific market, the priorities, but also the costs of the group’s development, its presence in the USA is undergoing a strategic restructuring.
The management of the group is redesigning the development plan in this particular market….
In the years of crisis
Let me also remind you that the company Green Cola – which was subsequently integrated together with Chitos ABEE into the aforementioned group – is a “child” of the protracted financial crisis that hit the Greek economy since 2009, just like other Greek companies. It was created in 2012 – at the darkest point of this period – by Mr. Pericles Venieris, when he bought EPAM in Orestiada. And it has integrated into its operation all the difficulties and contradictions of the last 12 years. And it is one of the most interesting business cases!
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The suit of… “king”…
We also have business activity in Mykonos, in more luxuries product categories.
As I learn, the people who bring the handmade Kiton suits to Greece are rubbing their hands with satisfaction. We remind you that one of them was worn last year by the first-born son of the former King Constantine, Pavlos at his father’s funeral.
I am informed that sales both in Mykonos and in Halkidiki and specifically in the Sani Resort hotel complex of the Andreadis group, where the brand has a presence, are going quite well.
In fact, on the “Island of the Winds” demand is developing much better than last year, but remains below expectations overall for all famous brands.
… and who rocked the scarf in Mykonos
And this for a very specific reason: the decision of tourists with relatively high incomes to spend “red” on the island due to the cases of corruption (remember the uproar that erupted internationally with the “golden crab legs”…).
There may be a lot of people in the alleys of Mykonos, however, as a person who knows the island well says in the column, the good customers who used to patronize the specific shops are missing. It is not enough, he emphasizes, the 10 and 15 crois (see Bezo, Ilfinger) who spend a few days on the island, staying overnight in their luxury yachts… Unfortunately, he concludes, the island is paying for the broken things of previous seasons and the bill is heavy…
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The radical facelift in the “home” of traders…
In full progress, despite the heat, the renovation of the property that houses the Athens Chamber of Commerce on Mitropoleos Street. The work inside the building will be completed very soon. We are informed that the management of the ESA under Stavros Kafounis seeks to “celebrate” the renovated house of the merchants with some kind of inauguration. Which will signal the intention of the commercial world to play a more dynamic role in economic events. This is planned to take place on September 22nd, which coincides with the “Greek trade day”.
… and the invitation to Mitsotakis
We learn that invitations have already been sent to all market operators as well as to Megaros Maximos. The presence of Kyriakos Mitsotakis, right after the TIF, is something that traders really want, since it will give that something extra and underline the importance of the space. The question, of course, is whether the prime minister will accept the invitation…
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