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The total cash balance of the 226 companies listed on the stock exchange hardly reached 8.4 billion euro at the end of September this year, while in 2008 their cash balance was about 11.27 billion euro for the servicing of their operational costs, but also for investment.

Effectively, this means that the money in "crisis cash balance" (i.e. from 2009 onwards) hasdecreased by 3 billion euro, while in the same period, the short-term obligations of companies to banks have increased by over 4 billion euro.

As for loans, actually the long-term bank loans decreased by 6.56% (to 25.7 billion euro from 27.5 billion euro in 2008), but the immediate executable loans (the short term ones) reached 19 billion euro (from 14.77 billion euro in 2008) because, given the general lack of liquidity on the market banks have started to pressure the most rogue companies.

Crisis

Unfortunately, the crisis that started timidly in Greece at the end of 2009, subsequently expanded enormously, while the debt rescheduling in other eurozone countries as well, made the efforts for economic recovery even more difficult. The greater than expected reduction in demand in all areas of economic life in Greece, accompanied by a recapitalization of the domestic banking sector, decreased the available resources of most of the companies listed on the stock exchange.

The fact that with the exception of the banking sector, only 22 companies have had available capital of more than 100 million euro the first 9 months of 2011 is very indicative. In the first places of this list, rank the Greek telecommunications company ΟΤΕ (with available resources of over 1 billion euro), the company "Elaktor" (764 million euro), the sports betting company "ΟPΑP" (648 million euro), the company "Coca-Cola 3E" (639 million euro), the company "MIG" (522 million euro, as compared with 1.51 billion euro, nearly three years ago).

Top ten

Among the top ten are also the companies: "Hellenic Petroleum" (477 million euro), the holding company "GΕΚ Τerna" (269 million euro), the Greek Electricity Company (235.36 million euro), the cement company "Titan" (with 235.2 million euro) and the airline company "Aegean" (with 194 million euro cash balance). It should be noted, however, that for the most part - except for, for example, the companies "ΟPΑP", "Karelia", "Jumbo", etc. – this applies to holding companies, which have respectively greater obligations to banks, and therefore maintain a higher cash balance.

Among the companies which managed to significantly increase their available funds during the crisis are "Folli Follie" (which is mostly due to the entry of the Chinese company "Fosun"), "Jumbo" (which continues expanding its network of hypermarkets in Greece and Bulgaria), "Metka" (which pursues and takes up large projects abroad), "S & B" (another pleasant surprise in the midst of the crisis, seeking profitable investment opportunities abroad), the companies "Sidenor", "Titan" and "Frigoglass" (due to their large liabilities), the holding "Sarantis", as well as "Quest Holdings". Some more distinguished companies include the company trading in metals "Kordelou Brothers", "Plastic products - Thrace", the companies "Plesio" and "Elastron" which have increased their available resources without increasing their debts to banks.

At the other extreme - a significant "leakage" of available resources (mainly due to the large investments that many of them have made, but also due to restructuring of their debts) is reported by most of the companies in the construction industry ("GΕΚ Τerna", "J & P Αvaks") and in the real estate industry ("Lamda Development", "Eurobank Properties"), "Intralot", "Igeia", "Fourlis Holdings" and others.

«The problem is», as noted by the head of the "Analysis" department in "Beta Securities" Manos Hadzidakis, "that the continued reporting of losses from a quarter to a quarter has seriously impacted the liquidity and capital positions of the listed companies. There is nowhere to find new capital from, at least until the situation in the banks has changed and savings through restructuring and cost reduction in most cases have been exhausted."

Sales

At the same time Hadzidakis added that «there is either no time to change the sales and to switch to the market abroad, or this process cannot be supported by existing resources. The new generation that will have recourse to art. 99, is already knocking on the door, and this will have to be taken into account by both the shareholders of these companies and their creditors».

Let us recall that a recent study of "Deloitte" discussed 153 companies listed on the stock exchange that are facing the likelihood of requesting protection from their creditors under Art. 99, and out of them 28 have reported very high risk, 65 - increased to high, and 60 - to lower to increased risk. The last ones to have filed such applications for protection are «Alapis» and «Petzetakis». Statistics show, however, that only 25% of the companies that resort to the solution offered to them by the bankruptcy law, subwsequently succeeded in recovering.

Increase of share capital – Sale of shares and assets