ASE capitalisation shrinks by 141.4 bln euros in 3 years

The Athens Stock Exchange lost 141.455 billion euros from its capitalisation in the last three years, falling from 196.390 billion euros at the end of 2007 – on the eve of a global financial crisis – to 54.935 billion euros last year.

The Greek market’s capitalisation shrank by 29.037 billion euros in 2010, falling to 54.935 billion euros on Dec. 31, 2010, down from 83.972 billion euros at the end of 2009.

The market’s capitalisation is currently at record lows compared with the country’s Gross Domestic Product, despite a significant decline in the GDP in the last two years. The capitalisation to GDP ratio has fallen to around 25 pct, down from 150 pct in 1999, although the Greek market did not seem to be undervalued in P/E terms because of a significant decline of listed companies’ earnings.

Massive liquidations by foreign portfolios – worth around 2.0 billion euros – have also contributed to the decline in the market’s capitalisation.

Coca-Cola Hellenic Bottling was the biggest capitalisation stock in the market, followed by National Bank, while bank shares’ capitalisation fell significantly to 18.472 billion euros.

 

ASE’s capitalisation as a percentage of GDP
Year ASE European average
1998 54.9% 73.3%
1999 149.7% 105.2%
2000 85.3% 108.4%
2001 66.2% 74.6%
2002 42.0% 53.8%
2003 49.0% 59.0%
2004 49.7% 64.4%
2005 63.2% 79.1%
2006 75.2% 85.9%
2007 86.7% 93.3%
2008 28.9% 61.3%
2009 35.8% 62.8%
2010 25.8% 66.9%