By Seraphim Constantinidis

All the early data available to us shows that the listing of the Postal Savings Bank on the Athens Stock Exchange has been a success. The IPO issue has been covered several times over, the price is considered attractive, the state is set to collect a significant sum and another slow-moving, bureaucratic body is set on a path of modernization and growth.

The listing becomes even more important because it coincided with a less-than-auspicious moment: a time of nervous markets on a declining trend, with most investors feeling pessimistic. In such circumstances, we usually observe a “flight to quality,” with investors seeking safe havens in order to get out of high-risk markets and shares. For this reason, the success of the Postal Saving Bank’s listing is important. It shows that when state firms are managed by people aware of market developments and who want to make the best use of the assets they manage, they draw investors’ confidence. Of course, despite earlier efforts to turn it into a real credit provider rather than a state agency, Postal Savings Bank had made little progress. However, one cannot but acknowledge the will to change and the fact that the market approved of it.

Maybe the interest shown for Postal Savings Bank is so high because of the quest for safe havens. This is a stock with limited risk and obvious growth prospects. Throughout Europe, credit institutions targeting the less wealthy and their savings, like Postal Savings Bank, show that they can grow very quickly, thanks to their extensive networks. Their plan is simple: to make best use of the big pool of savings they have by offering attractive products.

In any case, the golden rule of investment is not to trust obscure business plans. It has been proved that the more complicated business plans are the less their actual performance turns out to be.