Yiannis Paraschis, CEO of Athens International Airport (AIA), is the person behind the largest IPO not only of 2024 but also of the last several years (3rd largest since 2000). At the same time, however, he is also the person behind the No. 1 airport in the country, which continues its record performance this year.
In February, when AIA was listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, giving a significant “boost” of 2.5 billion euros to the domestic capitalization, the experienced manager saw private investors offer the amount of 738 million euros, in order to take a position in a promising company.
Moreover, Paraschis’ commitment to stable dividends is a fairly convincing argument, despite the fact that the share has gone through some “ups and downs” and is only now preparing to recover 8.2 euros, i.e. the price of the recent listing.
At the same time, the management sees passenger traffic continuing to grow at double-digit rates, as in the 10-month period of 2024 the increase reached +12.9% compared to the corresponding period of 2023.
And this, reasonably, is also reflected in the improved financial figures of the 9 months, according to which operating EBITDA profits expanded by +9% and amounted to 351 million euros.
The day after the expansion
Yiannis Paraschis, who holds a master’s and doctoral degree from the University of Hamburg, first joined AIA in 1996, when the German Hochtief (later acquired by the Canadian PSP) entered into a partnership with the Greek government. In 2001, he assumed the position of deputy CEO, while in 2007 he was promoted to CEO, where he remains to this day.
Now the manager is called upon to take the next step, which concerns the spatial expansion of the airport, which is true that it has been somewhat delayed compared to the schedule. However, market sources reported that the projects, which will begin in 2025, may involve a larger expansion than initially planned.
