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Marfin Analysis: Macro Concerns Weigh On Greek Banks’ Attractive Prices
The EU-IMF loan facility has removed Greece from the markets for at least two years, reducing short-term liquidity risks and giving it the opportunity to correct its fiscal and external imbalances, Marfin Analysis says in a report dated June 21st.
On the other hand, it notes that the loan granted was attached with a series of additional austerity measures that will lead to lower disposable income, higher unemployment levels, and significant GDP contraction, all affecting banks’ profitability.
“Within this framework and taking into account the impact of the weaker macro outlook, we have adjusted our revenue and overall profitability estimates downwards,” it says.
In more detail, it has factored in flattish/negative loan and deposit growth (negative in Greece for most names for both FY10 and FY11), weaker NIMs and of course higher NPL levels (and provisions), all leading to a significant contraction of the system’s profitability.
Incorporating also the new one-off taxes (“social contribution tax”), it has downgraded its bottom line estimates (for stated net profits) by 70% on average for FY10 and by 50% on average for FY11.
Though short-term liquidity issues seem to be resolved, market concerns have now shifted to the ability of the country to timely and accurately implement its fiscal consolidation plan, while the focus with respect to banks has now turned to the balance sheet and the ability of each institution to absorb loan losses, it says.
“Liquidity is scarce and expensive, while wholesale funding and the interbank markets remain shut for Greek banks. The situation seems to be similar to the one post the Lehman collapse, with confidence, valuations and perception drifting lower and lower,” the brokerage indicates.
Still, it notes that the ECB will continue providing liquidity to the system as long as this is necessary, allowing banks’ to support their balance sheets, NIM’s and profitability.
Marfin also says that the banks’ seem attractively valued trading just 0.7x their tangible book value.
However, despite the appealing valuation and the significant upside “to our target prices from the current levels, we prefer to stay on the sidelines at least until visibility with respect to Greece’s macro outlook is restored,” adding that the successful implementation of the Greek austerity package is a pre-requisite for the timely disbursements of the instalments from the EU/IMF support mechanism.
“Hence, we note that extra measures, leading to a harsher contraction in the Greek economy, constitute additional downside risk to our estimates.”
The firm favours Bank of Cyprus (Accumulate) due to its comparatively lower exposure in Greece, its resilient local profitability (supported by strong IBB performance) and promising Russian story; Alpha Bank (Accumulate) given its defensive characteristics (strong capital base, low GGB exposure); and NBG (Hold) given its international theme stemming from its exposure to the booming Turkish market.
“We therefore prefer banks with strong balance sheets, good geographical diversification and relatively lower exposure to GGBs and/or the Greek market. This is also the reason for applying “Hold” ratings to the other banks with an upside potential to our target price.”