Stock market stays upbeat
INVESTMENT CONDITIONS REMAIN HEALTHY AT THE ATHENS STOCK EXCHANGE, AS BIG-TICKET INFRASTRUCTURE PROJECTS BUOY HIGH RETURNS

The investment profile of Greece has risen steadily over recent years, which has fueled the growth of the local capital market.
The Athens Stock Exchange (ASE) is now regarded by international fund managers as a mature market, as opposed to an emerging market, which has paved the way for greater inflows of foreign capital investment. Foreign investors currently account for roughly 20 percent of the market.
The bourse is home to some of the biggest companies in Greece, spanning sectors such as banking, telecommunications, construction, energy, food products, metals and chemicals.
Like other markets around the world, the ASE has been knocked down in the last few years – it reached its peak in September 1999 after a two year upturn. Then fears of recession in the U.S. and a general slowdown in the global economy led to a drop in overall value and a reduction in the number of transactions.

Dr. PANAYOTIS ALEXAKIS President of the Athens Stock Exchange

But Dr. Panayotis Alexakis, President of the ASE, insists that conditions for investment are still healthy. The outlook for listed stocks is essentially good, buoyed by high growth rates fueled by the country’s big infrastructure projects, deregulation, European integration and, of course, preparation for the Olympics. Many firms are also expanding aggressively throughout southeastern Europe.
“I believe that the Greek capital market has very good prospects for the next three to four years,” he says. “That is because we have economic stability, political stability, economic growth – we have growth rates of four percent – and this means that companies listed on the ASE have a very good outlook.”
The ASE, working closely with the regulator, the Capital Markets Commission, is making further advances with transparency – including the introduction of international accounting standards in 2003 – as well as ongoing harmonization with other markets across Europe.

THE ASE is introducing international accounting standards.

This year the ASE’s holding company, Hellenic Exchange, will be fully privatized, a measure of the government’s confidence in its capital market system.
“Maturity also means that, for our part, we put a lot of emphasis on our companies to have a dynamic growth, with transparency and disclosure,” adds Dr. Alexakis. “We always try to make companies more transparent and more dynamic.”
He says that he is interested in attracting more investment from the U.S. The ASE has set out plans to achieve this, which include organizing investor roadshows, presentations and meetings to try and convince New York fund managers to take a look at the obvious potential. Much of the foreign investment in the stock exchange today is held by European investors in the country’s larger, higher
capitalized stocks.

“It is true that there is more investment from European countries rather than from the U.S.,” he says. “We would like to see more investments from the U.S., which I hope will happen in the future.”
The prospect of further integration with the markets of Europe also bodes well for the future of the ASE in the long run.
Professor Stavros Thomadakis, chairman of the Capital Markets Commission, says intensive efforts have been taken since he took office in 1996 to develop a modern, technological and administrative regulatory structure for the capital market.

“When we started out in 1996, we were in a very backward situation in terms of actual regulatory institutional structure, as well as the technological structure of the capital market,” says Professor Thomadakis. “Now I believe that we are a little above the EU average. We have covered a lot of ground in this time.”
He says Americans should think about not only booking a trip to Athens for the upcoming Olympics, but also taking a closer look at some of the investment potential in the country.