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Rep Power: 3  |  Top 10 Greek Corporations to Watch in 2007
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2007: The Top 10 Greek Corporations to Watch
1/17/2007 (Balkanalysis.com)
By Ioannis Michaletos
An exclusive and elite group of Greek firms, operating at a high international standard, have prominently enlarged their presence inside and outside of Greece, notably investing in the neighboring Balkans. The following list comprises these top Greek players, companies that will be probably be involved with the most major Greek economic deals during the year ahead.
1.) National Bank of Greece (NBG)
2006 proved to be an excellent year for the largest Greek & Balkan bank. It has a market capitalization of around 18 billion euros, an almost 75 percent increase since last year. The head of the company is Takis Arapoglou a former Citibank technocrat who assumed control three years ago and has since masterminded an expansion plan aimed at foreign markets. This plan has included NBG acquisitions of Turkey’s Finansbank and the Serbian Vojvodanska Banka. The NBG is also currently bidding for the Romanian GEC Bank.
Moreover, NBG in 2006 took part in the buyout of P&K Finance Corporation, thus being able to become the largest financial institution in Southeastern Europe. According to the announcements and statements over the past few months the bank is targeting the Ukrainian market which is considered to have excellent capabilities for growth because of its large population and the very low penetration of foreign competitors on its financial market. Moreover there are strong indications that NBG will consolidate its various subsidiaries over the Balkans into a single unit with its strongest peripheral offices in Belgrade, Bucharest and Istanbul. On the 22nd of February Mr. Arapoglou will make public the 3-year development plan of NBG in a public meeting of the bank’s shareholders.
2.) Marfin Financial Group (MFG)
This prominent listed holding company has two main subsidiaries, the Marfin Popular Bank and the Investment Bank of Greece. Marfin Popular Bank was actually created by the recent merger of three mid-sized, though rapidly expanding banks, Marfin itself, Egnatia and the Cypriot-owned Popular Bank. This grand merger came about as a result of the vision of the CEO of Marfin Financial Group, Andreas Vgenopolous, who has the nickname”Killer.” Vgenopoulos believes that a strong Greek private bank that has the expertise and ability to stand on par with the world’s financial leaders is necessary, and seeks to fill that gap.
Marfin was originally named Maritime Financial, and was formed by Greek ship-owners mainly residing in London, according to speculation. Officially, however, it is considered as a sole creation of Mr. Vgenopoulos. It soon became a brand name associated with the new generation of financial management in Athens and in March 2006 it sold 31.5 percent of its shares to the Dubai Investment Group. Later on, the bank moved on acquiring shares from private clinics, high-tech corporations and other banks.
Egnatia Bank, one of those merged with Marfin, was a mid-sized bank based in Thessaloniki that came under pressure from the Athenian and foreign banks. Before the merger, Popular Bank was the second-largest financial institution in Cyprus (incidentally, it was accused during the 1990’s of holding former Serbian President Slobodan Milosevic’s exported capital from Serbia).
Currently the three united banks have a market capitalization of 6.5 billion euros and are negotiating common strategies with the Dubai Group concerning investments in the Balkans, as well as in the Greek tourism sector. According to most pundits Marfin is an institution promising to make the headlines quite often over the year ahead.
3.) Viohalco
This long-established heavy industry corporation is composed of tens of different companies active in the metal production, steel and aluminum trade. Its president, Nikos Stasinopoulos, is one of the richest businessmen in Greece. The magnitude of this corporation is visible in the fact that 7 percent of Greek exports are made by it. Viohalco’s overall sales for 2006 came to around 2.5 billion euros, with profits of 298 million euros- a 68 percent increase from the previous year (sales-and-profits from January-September 2006).
Viohalco has heavily invested in Romania and Bulgaria and the UK, and recently achieved a major deal in steel manufacturing with a US-based company. Due to the expertise of this conglomerate, which dates back to the early 1930’s, it is certain that 2007 will prove to be yet another one of significant success. Among the company’s publicly stated plans are the development of operations in Russia and Serbia and the construction of an energy plant in mainland Greece by early 2010. It should be noted also that Viohalco is a large land owner in Greece and in the Balkans; the eventual creation of a real estate company could not be excluded.
4.) Titan
The largest cement producer in the Balkans, Titan is owned by the Kanelopoulos and Papalexopoulos families, two of the oldest industrialist families in Athens, with business activities dating back to the early 20th century. Over the past few years Titan has managed to expand to North Carolina and Florida in its USA operations, as well as Egypt and Bulgaria. Its profits were 213 million Euros for the financial period January-September 2006.
Titan’s plans in the immediate future include the construction of a cement plant in Albania with a production capacity of 1.5 million cement tons per year. The ongoing growth in the construction sector in the Balkans and the bright financial prospects for most of the region’s states will further boost cement consumption. In Greece alone, some 15 billion euros are going to be spent by the state for infrastructure projects from 2007 to 2011. The recent admittance of Romania and Bulgaria into the EU provides these states with access to EU funding for similar public works.
5.) Vivartia
Vivartia is the new name of the Delta Group, a conglomerate composed of Delta, Chipita, Goody’s and a dozen other food and beverages related corporations. It is the 35th largest such company on the European level. It is led by businessman Dimitris Daskalopoulos, and the major shareholder is the Daskalopoulos family. It has 27 facilities, 13,500 employees, a commercial presence in 30 states and an estimated turnover of 1.3 billion euros for 2006.
In the Balkans, Vivartia is active in Serbia and Bulgaria and is interested in tapping the rising consumer demand elsewhere in the region and, further afield, Russia (tipped as a major country of interest for 2007). The food and beverage industry in the Balkans is arguably still in a nascent stage, and Vivartia’s management believes that it can maintain the company’s dominant position well into the next decade.
For 2007, expect Vivartia to get involved in areas as disparate as organic farming in Romania and (highly profitable) fast-food chain franchising in Serbia.
6.) Mytilineos
This industrial conglomerate, mostly controlled by the family of the same name, began as a metal trading firm in the late 19th century. Today, CEO Evangelos Mytilineos has managed to develop the family brand into a well diversified and modern company.
In 2006 Mytilineos acquired Delta Project, a mid-sized corporation involved in the production of renewable energy facilities. This fact coupled with the company’s ambitions to invest in domestic energy production, indicate that Mytilineos will move on constructing solar and wind parks across Greece in 2007. Such projects are often subsidized by the EU and have an upward trajectory growth in the Balkan market.
Mytilineos is active in aluminum production, vehicle assembly, steel production and production of energy-related facilities. It is estimated that for 2006 the firm’s total revenues will exceed 2 billion euros, while the market capitalization of all affiliated corporations is currently around 2.7 billion euros.
The company is currently negotiating a joint venture with the French energy giant Alstrom in order to bid for the forthcoming privatizations in the power and electricity sector in Romania and Serbia.
7.) Eurobank
One of the largest private banks in Southeastern Europe, Eurobank is controlled by Spyros Latsis, considered to be the richest Greek in the world. It was established in 1990, and it managed to acquire large capital from the international markets, including a 10-year backing from Deutche Bank.
Nowadays Eurobank is moving actively into foreign markets such as Poland, Bulgaria, Serbia, Romania, Turkey and Ukraine, and is negotiating its entrance into Egypt through the Bank of Alexandria. The bank is renowned for its state-of-the-art technological equipment and for the vast international connections of its main shareholder.
Numerous public announcements point towards further foreign acquisitions by Eurobank in the Balkan area, especially in Romania and Ukraine. Its market capitalization is currently around 11 billion euros.
A notable fact for this financial institution is that through the use of its real estate affiliates, Eurobank has managed to buy a large part of Bucharest’s commercial center, and has thus helped drive up real estate prices in the Romanian capital. According to market experts, the move of Eurobank into real estate is more or less a sure bet for those interested in investing in the Balkan realty sector.
8.) Alpha Bank
Alpha Bank is one of the oldest private banks in Greece, dating back to 1879. Today, it is still controlled by the same family, the Kostopoulos clan. It is the second-largest bank in the Balkans after NBG, and is characterized by highly esteemed human resources and organization. Its international presence has spread to Cyprus, Albania, the Republic of Macedonia, Bulgaria, Romania, Serbia, Turkey and UK.
The immediate plans of the bank, according to all available information are to buy a Ukrainian bank, as well as to establish a presence in Russia. The current oil boom in CIS states has created a new stratum of extremely wealthy individuals – a magnet for private banking – and the main factor behind all Greek banks’ plans to create a presence in the ex-Soviet republics. The market capitalization of Alpha Bank is 10 billion euros and it has quite a few subsidiary corporations in the real estate, tourism and consulting sectors.
9.) Coca-Cola 3E
Despite its plainly American name, this Athenian corporation is owned by three Cypriot families, which have the exclusive right to produce under the Coca-Cola brand name in 27 countries.
It is also the largest producer of fresh juices in the Balkans and has acquired shares in a multitude of companies across Europe related to the beverage sector. Moreover, it owns Frigoglass one of the world’s leaders in the production of refrigerator systems, with facilities in Europe, Asia and Africa.
The estimated revenues of Coca-Cola 3E for 2006 are some 5.7 billion euros with profits in excess of 450 million. Things to watch in 2007 include the entrance of the company into commercial and real estate markets in Romania and Bulgaria, and buyouts in food-related industries in Serbia.
10.) Intracom
This is the leading high-tech company in Greece and is owned mostly by the Kokkalis family. Last year it sold 51 percent of its affiliate Intracom Telecom to the Russian Sistema. The corporation is investing heavily in the defense sector and has signed contracts already with Krauss Maffei Wegmann, Erickson and NAMSA.
Moreover, Intrasoft which belongs to the Intracom Holdings group, is a corporation related to the gaming industry and has achieved great gains after winning consecutive contracts in Taiwan, Malaysia, Australia, the Philippines, South Africa and the US. Its capital value is over 2 billion euros, while that of Intracom has reached 800 million euros.
In 2007, the company is looking forward to a very busy year of lottery competition in Italy, Russia, Turkey, the UK and Greece. It further has definite plans to invest in the highly profitable casino sector in Greece and Cyprus.
Conclusion
The outlook for the top 10 Greek players for 2007 is bright; high growth in recent years and the availability of those corporations to borrow large sums of capital from the financial system in order to proceed to their investment planning support the optimistic view. These top 10 Greek firms will most surely make headlines numerous times over the coming months due to their investments, acquisitions and, quite possibly, because of their intentions to merge with or be absorbed by other American or European enterprises.
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19th January 2007, 04:26
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