New listings provide a ray of light
The drop in oil prices during most of 2001 did not help their cause. A pleasant surprise during this otherwise bleak year were new listings, which provided investors with considerable returns. Of the 21 new listings, the majority ended the year with gains; only five show losses exceeding 10 percent. The champion among the new listings was Rainbow Computers, whose performance reminded investors of the golden days of summer 1999, when the market was in white heat. The company topped all other ASE stocks, rising 260 percent in less than two months. Three more new listings more than doubled their IPO price: Medicon, Fitco and Unibrain. Other newcomers that provided good returns were MLS, Babis Vovos, Domus and Intracom Construction. On the other side, Atlantic suffered losses of 28 percent. However, the year’s most disappointing performance must have been that of oil refiners Motor Oil and Petrola, which lost 21 percent and 19 percent respectively. The top loser was electronics retailer Multirama, whose share dropped 81.60 percent in 2001, from 35.22 to 6.48 euros. Other with big losses were Lymberis Publications, Ideal’s preferred stock, Karamolengos and Lambrakis Press.
