Greek Tourism Companies Make it into 500 Most Profitable Businesses List

Fifty-three Greek companies active in tourism have made it into Greece’s 500 most profitable businesses for 2018, which generated some 12 billion euros in profits despite the crisis-impacted economic environment, according to a study released this week by Athens-based consulting and research services group ICAP.

According to the findings presented as part of ICAP’s “Business Leaders in Greece” report which features the most successful Greek companies in terms of profitability and overall performance, Greece’s 500 “business leaders” improved profitability in 2018 against a year earlier boosting EBITDA profits by an average 12.4 percent year on year.

The top five tourism companies included on the list were Hertz-AutoHellas, Olympic ETE SA, Sani SA, TEMES SA, the company behind the award-winning Costa Navarino resort, and LeasePlan Hellas SA.

The five companies are among Greece’s top 500 in terms of profitability accounting for 43.2 percent of total EBITDA earnings in the sector with profits at 278.1 million euros.

Other tourism-related companies on the list are Athens International Airport SA and Hellenic Duty Free Shops.

Overall, according to ICAP, pre-tax profits for the top 500 grew by 48 percent to 8.2 billion euros and turnover by 10.6 percent compared to 2017. Equity, meanwhile, shrunk by 5.9 percent.

Despite the deep financial crisis that impacted Greece over the past decade, 94 of the 500 companies listed have also been included on the “Business Leaders in Greece” list for the 10^th consecutive year.

Referring to the report, Nikitas Konstantellos, president and CEO ICAP Group, underlined that the listed companies have worked with determination to achieve outstanding performance, adding that “the existence of a stable economic environment and the improvement of the business climate in Greece, will facilitate the most dynamic companies in the country to set and achieve even higher goals, taking advantage of all opportunities, contributing to the growth of the Greek economy and accelerated rate”.

Overall, according to ICAP, the most profitable Greek company in 2018 (and 2017) is the Bank of Greece, followed by OTE (Hellenic Telecommunications Organization), Hellenic Petroleum SA, Cosmote SA, and Motor Oil –  Corinth Refineries SA.

In tune with all other forecasts, Konstantellos said he expects the country’s GDP to increase by around 2 percent.