In his annual letter to shareholders, Prem Watsa said 2025 was the best year in the history of Fairfax Financial Holdings, underscoring the Canadian conglomerate’s growing confidence in Greece as two of its most successful investments—Eurobank and Metlen—continue to deliver outsized returns.
Fairfax posted record net earnings of $4.8 billion in 2025, capping what Watsa described as a transformative period for the insurer and investment group. Since 2022, gross premiums written have risen 40%, underwriting profits have climbed 127%, and interest and dividend income have surged 302%, while book value per share has doubled. Fairfax’s book value per share rose 21% in 2025, adjusted for dividends, to $1,260, and its stock advanced 31% to C$2,616.
But it was Fairfax’s Greek portfolio that drew some of Watsa’s strongest praise.
The billionaire investor called Fairfax’s stake in Eurobank the best investment in the company’s four-decade history, saying the value of its holding in the Greek lender has climbed to €4.6 billion from €700 million in 2020. The investment has generated an unrealized gain of $4.6 billion and delivered a compound annual return of 15% since 2014.
“Eurobank is by far the best investment we have ever made,” Watsa wrote.
His comments come as Greece’s banking sector continues its recovery from the country’s sovereign debt crisis, with domestic lenders benefiting from stronger economic growth, improved credit quality and rising shareholder payouts.
Eurobank posted a 16% return on equity in 2025 and returned 55% of net profit to shareholders through dividends and buybacks, according to Watsa. He said loan growth remained strong in Greece and Bulgaria, while the bank further expanded its regional footprint through the merger of Eurobank Cyprus with Hellenic Bank and the acquisition of Cyprus’s largest insurer.
Despite Eurobank shares rising 54% in 2025, Watsa said the bank remains attractively valued, trading at about 10 times earnings and offering a dividend yield of 5%.
Fairfax has also deepened its commitment to Greek industrial champion Metlen, the energy and metals group formerly known as Mytilineos. Fairfax now owns 8% of the company, making it the second-largest shareholder behind founder and chairman Evangelos Mytilineos.
Watsa said Fairfax first invested in the company during Greece’s financial crisis and has increased its stake twice in recent years. He praised Metlen’s low-cost aluminium operations, growing strategic-metals business and position as Greece’s second-largest power producer.
Metlen transferred its primary listing from Athens to London in 2025 and joined the FTSE 100 index, a move Watsa said marked a milestone in the company’s evolution. He added that management is pursuing a transformation plan aimed at doubling EBITDA to €2 billion.
“With the stock trading at below 10 times earnings, we expect strong returns from this long-term partnership,” Watsa wrote.
The remarks amount to a broader endorsement of Greece’s investment case from one of the country’s most prominent foreign backers. Fairfax emerged as a major investor in Greek assets during the financial crisis, when many international firms were retreating from the market.
Watsa also highlighted Fairfax’s prior investment in insurer Eurolife—later sold to Eurobank—and said the group is repositioning Grivalia Hospitality following a difficult 2024, as it seeks to improve returns from its Greek real-estate and hospitality portfolio.
