George Peristeris: The leader of GEK Terna, the powerful 4 billion group

How long is the journey from the starting point to the top of the construction market in Greece for the man who managed to rise to the most important protagonist of the market until today? For George Peristeris, CEO of the GEK Terna Group, the beginning was in 1980 when he received his degree.

With his initial professional base at Themistokleous Street in Exarchia and the headquarters of Terna S.A., it didn't take him long to become the head of the company. He studied civil engineering at the National Technical University of Metsovion, and by maintaining a good reputation and good relations with the market, he managed to evolve through the years. From 1982-1984 he served as construction manager of major construction projects. In 1984 he took over as chairman and managing director of Terna.

Terna under his guidance and at a time when public works were abundant in the country, grew with him and in 1993 it was listed on the Athens Stock Exchange. Four years later, Terna Energy was founded to become one of the key players in the energy market. In 1999 the GEK Terna group was established, while in 2003 Heron Thermoelectric was created, which was the company that built the first private thermal power plant in Greece.

Rapid development and major projects and interest from foreign investors

Under his leadership, the group has undertaken major infrastructure projects such as railway works, road and rail tunnels, metro stations, motorways, dams and port projects. Among other things, however, it took steps to expand its activities abroad in countries such as Romania, Albania and Bahrain. The construction resume of Mr. Peristeri and the GEK Terna Group also includes major construction and industrial projects, such as buildings of the former Olympic Aviation, refinery constructions, the Stavros Niarchos Foundation Cultural Centre in joint venture with Impregilo SPA, the Olympic facilities and several others.

The growth of the group has led to the attraction of interest from strong investment branches. Thus, powerful funds such as the American York Capital which invested €100 million for 10% of GEK Terna, Qatar Petroleum International which invested €58 million for an equity stake in the second thermal power plant Heron II and then GDF Suez, which took an equity stake in both Heron Thermal and Heron II.

With a turnover of 4 billion euros

In 2022, despite the effects of the energy crisis and inflation, GEK Terna's revenues reached 4 billion euros, while its operating profitability doubled. At the same time, it has embarked on an investment plan with a total budget of EUR 10 billion for the concessions and energy sectors. In the first case, we will even recall that it was GEK Terna that won the concession tender for Attiki Odos, offering a price of EUR 3.2 billion.

In particular, the group's total revenues for 2022 approached EUR 4 billion. Operating profitability doubled to EUR 661.8 million compared to EUR 323.5 million for 2021. Net profit attributable to shareholders reached EUR 174.4 million, almost 6 times more than the EUR 33.1 million in 2021.

Leading presence in a range of industries

In practice, the group is a leading force in the concessions sector, maintaining under its management umbrella more than 1,500 km of motorways after the addition of Egnatia. Its portfolio includes flagship projects representing billions of euros of investment, such as the new Heraklion Crete International Airport in Kastelli, the Integrated Tourist Complex in Elliniko, the new gas-fired power plant in Komotini and many more. At the same time, in the PPP sector, it has undertaken the Hersonissos - Neapolis road section of the Northern Road Axis of Crete, waste management in the regions of Epirus and Peloponnese, electronic ticketing in Athens and Thessaloniki, as well as the development of the ultra fast broadband internet infrastructure network. It is also the largest construction company with revenues of over 1 billion and a backlog of 5.5 billion euros.

In the energy sector, it is perhaps the most important private investor in clean energy generation and storage with an installed capacity that will exceed 1,200 MW by the autumn, rising to 3,000 MW by 2026 and reaching 6 GW before the end of the current decade.