The profitability of listed companies may show signs of high resilience in the first quarter of 2025, with the data so far indicating a net result of 1.981 billion euros compared to 2.064 billion euros last year.
However, two opposing trends seem to be emerging, which in turn lead to two opposing conclusions. The first concerns banks, which not only do not slow down, but continue their upward trend (almost +10%), despite the reduction in interest rate margins. The second is related to non-financial companies, which recorded a significant decline of -25%.
More specifically, according to the analysis of “N” on the financial figures of 41 companies on the Athens Stock Exchange (38 published data on net profits and 33 published data on turnover), the majority of listed companies showed profitability and only five recorded losses on the bottom line.
Overall, net profitability reached 1.981 billion euros in the first quarter, i.e. slightly reduced by -4% compared to the result of the corresponding listed companies in the first quarter of 2024 (2.064 billion euros).
A closer look, however, “testifies” that a dual trend is emerging among the listed companies.
Dual trend
While the seven listed banks reported cumulative profits of 1.348 billion euros, recording an increase of +9.9% (1.226 billion euros in the first quarter of 2024) and confirming that they have definitively turned the page, the rest showed a performance of 632 million euros, which is down by -24.5% compared to last year (838 million euros in the first quarter of 2024).
Companies such as Helleniq Energy, Motor Oil, Titan Cement, PPC, AIA, Austriacard, etc., saw their net profitability decrease, offsetting the improved figures of companies such as OTE, OPAP, Cenergy, ELVALHALCOR, Sarantis, OLP, etc.
Explanation
This, according to market analysts, is attributed either to extraordinary events or seasonal factors, as well as the high basis of comparison, given that last year saw a record profitability of 11.5 billion euros for the full year.
However, most managements continue to declare themselves optimistic, expecting a recovery in the numbers in the coming quarters and especially in the second half. The cases of PPC and Titan Cement are indicative, while the refining sector is also looking forward to an improvement after the weak start of 2025.
Developments abroad also play an important role in the outlook, as uncertainty in a number of critical data, such as the trade war, the dollar exchange rate, the path of interest rates and the price of oil, may affect the bottom line. This also concerns banks, which are called upon to repeat the strong performance of the first quarter.
On the other hand, a possible resolution of the above pending issues is likely to provide a significant boost and actually contribute to the improvement of economic figures during the coming quarters.
