Introduction:Asset damage is the most common form of harm encountered in the realm of business operations and in the broader world of transactions. In the event of such damage, the affected company may claim compensation, consisting either of restitution for the positive patrimonial damage it suffered or of redressing the residual loss—namely, the lost profits the company would have realized in the ordinary course of events had the harmful incident not occurred. Particular importance in the latter scenario (i.e., lost profits) falls to the preparatory actions or measures taken by the company that aimed to generate profits and achieve financially sustainable performance over time. Equally significant are contractual preparatory measures for substantiating a claim based on the loss of a future investment.
1. Concept of Lost Profit
Article 298, section b of the Greek Civil Code (AC), defines "lost profit" as follows: "Such profit is considered the one that a person expects with likelihood, according to the conventional course of events or the special circumstances, andespecially the preparatory measures that have been taken."
Lost profit consists in the prevention of an increase in assets that would have occurred absent the harmful event. In other words, in its absence, the business's assets would have increased, for instance, through commercial profits from business activity, or its liabilities would have decreased through debt repayment.
Precisely because lost profit is based on hypothetical developments, the judge may rely on probability regarding whether such profit would have occurred. For the application of Article 298 of the AC, it is sufficient that the injured party had a real possibility of deriving income.
2. Specific Issue of Claims for Compensation for Lost Profits from Business Activity, in Relation to Preparatory Measures Taken by the Business
According to Greek case law, particularly in cases where a court is asked to award compensation for lost profits due to loss of income from interruption or abandonment of business activity, the claimant's filing must detail the circumstances under which the business is conducted and the income it would likely have obtained in the future through usual course of events—had the harmful event not intervened. It is noted that case law frequently refers to the premature nature of claims stretching into the "distant future" and dismisses such lawsuits as prematurely filed, on the grounds that the longer the time period the claim spans, the more unpredictable variables come into play. However, it seems that case law accepts a ten-year period as the furthest temporal boundary beyond which a claim is deemed premature. In any event, the issue of duration—where the limit between premature or not lies—is judged on a case-by-case (in concreto) basis. See, for example, MEfAth 82/2025 (TNP NỘMOS), TrEfPeira 15/2024 (TNP NỘMOS), MonEfThess 467/2021 (TNP QUALEX), MonEfThess 179/2019 (TNP QUALEX), and so forth.
Moreover, the claimant must set out in detail the preparatory measures taken by the company that would have ensured, with likelihood, the receipt of the sums claimed as compensation for lost profits from the business activity. Such preparatory actions (in the form of prior initiatives undertaken by the company) that courts have considered, in determining whether to award compensation for loss of profit, include:
- The company's organizational structure and business infrastructure;
- The market strategy for the product promoted by the company;
- The drafting of a Business Plan, i.e. a business plan prepared by the firm's financial advisor, outlining the company's purpose, annual turnover projections, and detailed numeric figures regarding the number of available rooms, expected number of bookings and their value (with average price per customer per night or based on room types), or any additional services that—according to general understanding and as commonly occurs in the relevant professional context—can demonstrate the potential revenues expected from renting each room;
- Commissioning a technical expert for the study and planning of the project;
- Commissioning a feasibility study for a business;
- Entering into contractor (construction) agreements;
- Obtaining a building permit;
- Constructing necessary facilities and purchasing equipment;
- Securing financing from third-party sources (e.g. bank loans, EU funding programs, etc.);
- Hiring specialized staff;
- Procuring raw materials and placing product orders;
- Communications/agreements with recruitment agencies;
- Platforms or agreements with suitable professionals for marketing, advertising, and operation of the business;
- The entrepreneur's efforts to secure, for example, the lease of a hotel in case of tourism accommodation operations—agreements with travel agencies to guarantee leasing of the hotel complex for the first years of operation, the hotel's promotional advertising actions, etc.;
- Entering into contractor agreements, communications, and contract conclusions with architects, engineers, specialized consultants, and commissioning studies from such professionals for the project.
3. In This Chapter, Representative Case-Law Examples Are Presented Where Greek Courts Ruled for or Against Awarding Compensation for Lost Profit, in Conjunction With (Among Others) the Existence or Not of Preparatory Measures Taken
- MEfAth 434/2025 (TNP NƠMOS) ruled that: "[...] To ground this claim, the plaintiff states that she would have realized the amount in question with likelihood and in accordance with the usual course of events or the special circumstances—and especially the preparatory measures that had been taken—and that this amount (€108,680) is presented in detail and substantiated in the business plan of the financial advisor dated February 2013, which the plaintiff briefly refers to in the lawsuit with a table of results — profitability for the years 2014 through 2023 [...] However, the above-mentioned data do not constitute actual facts satisfying the legal notion of future patrimonial damage (lost profit), nor the special circumstances and the preparatory measures on the basis of which the plaintiff's expected lost profit in the normal course of events was likely, since there is omission of reference to preparatory measures taken and especially to numeric figures related to the profit from the hotel's operation during the 2014 tourist season—such as number of available rooms, expected number of bookings and their value (with average price per customer per stay or based on room type per day) or any additional services, according to general understanding and what commonly occurs in the relevant professional circle, that could serve as evidence for the potential revenues the plaintiff expected from renting each room [...]".
- MEfAth 245/2022 (TNP Qualex) states: "[...] Indeed, as set forth in the above legal reasoning, the proper assessment of the claim at issue and the relevant claim sum requires accepting it as specific and admissible, since the necessary elements required by law are elaborated in the claim—that is all the facts that define the expectation of the claimed lost profit, the special circumstances, and the preparatory measures taken (the special market conditions for the products for which the defendant was responsible, the organizational structure and business infrastructure of the plaintiff), as well as the individual amounts, the likelihood of receipt of which can, from the above, be proven later [...]".
- TrEfAth 715/2020 (TNP Qualex): "[...] Consequently, it was determined that, due to the untimely interruption of the disputed agreement, for which the defendant was responsible, the plaintiff is entitled to compensation for lost profits, which, with sound probability and in the usual course of events, he would have realized, based on the preparatory measures taken by him (infrastructure – equipment – clientele) [...]".
- MPrThess 4062/2022 (TNP Qualex) ruled: "[...] Nor is there invocation of specific circumstances and measures that make the profit in question likely with respect to the above amount from the operation of the business (café – refreshment stand) throughout the year [organization and experience in the relevant activity, clientele, business operating time, location, etc.]. The lack of clear and specific elaboration of these circumstances renders the claim as to the aforementioned item of residual damage as indefinite [...]".
- EfThess 1097/2015 (TNP NỘMOS) notes: "[...] The rise or decline of commercial activities depends on various unpredictable and variable factors, internal and external, such as general political and economic conditions, unforeseen complications in international developments, the upward or downward trend in international trade and global stock indices, which do not allow ascertaining with likelihood and according to the ordinary course of things whether, or to what extent, a rise or fall in profits of commercial businesses will occur within specific temporal and local boundaries. Consequently, initiating claims for lost profits requires thorough reference to the preparatory measures taken and to the special circumstances [...]".
- PPrAthens 1016/2013 (TNP NỘMOS): "[...] Specifically, in the academic year 2003–2004, the plaintiff had 296 students, while after a 2005 advertising campaign via handbills, the students increased from 299 to 331, and in 2006 from 331 to 401. Consequently, the Court concludes that given the operation and infrastructure as above—material, technical, and human resources—and the duration of the plaintiff's operation, in the usual course of events, an increase of 10% in new enrollments was expected by academic year 2007–2008, taking into account the advertisements through handbills, cards, and advertising leaflets that the plaintiff undertook [...]".
4. In Lieu of a Conclusion
In light of the above, the importance of initiatives undertaken by the beneficiary of a claim for lost profits is made clear. The undertaking of such initiatives—as preparatory measures—creates a trajectory of profit that deviates from ordinary, empirically typical profit, thereby making it easier for a court to ascertain its existence and extent.
The content of this article is intended to provide a general guide to the subject matter. Specialist advice should be sought about your specific circumstances.
