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Greek Banks Face ‘Challenging’ Environment, Goldman Sachs Says
By Natalie Weeks - Oct 7, 2010 1:31 PM GMT+0200 Thu Oct 07 11:31:10 GMT 2010
Greek banking stocks may be hurt should European Central Bank liquidity dependence increase, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
“Top-down concerns regarding Greek sovereign debt to remain the dominant concern for medium-term share-price performance,” a group of analysts including Heiner Luz said in an e-mailed note today. “Greek banks still heavily rely on the lender of last resort and continue to see restricted access to commercial funding sources.”
Greek banks, which have been locked out of the interbank market, promised Finance MinisterGeorge Papaconstantinou last month that they would increase lending in exchange for 25 billion euros ($34.9 billion) in government guarantees. Greece agreed to austerity measures in May in exchange for 110 billion euros in emergency loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to avoid a default.
Piraeus Bank SA, Greece’s fourth-biggest lender, and two state-controlled banks, Agricultural Bank of Greece SA and Hellenic Postbank SA, were rated “sell” in resumed coverage by Goldman Sachs today. National Bank of Greece SA, Greece’s biggest lender, and Bank of Cyprus Pcl were maintained at “neutral.”
Goldman Sachs said the current environment “still looks challenging, however, recent data showed slight improvements.”
Reliance on ECB funds declined in August for the first time this year. Greek lenders held 95.9 billion euros for refinancing operations, down from 96.2 billion euros in July, according to the country’s central bank. Deposits by businesses and households increased to 213 billion euros in August, the first gain after seven months of declines.
National Bank rose 1.1 percent to 7.98 euros as of 1:20 p.m. in Athens trading. Bank of Cyprus, the biggest lender on the eastern Mediterranean island, dropped 0.5 percent to 3.8 euros. Agricultural Bank gained 1 percent to 97 cents and Hellenic Postbank advanced 0.5 percent to 4.14 euros, while Piraeus Bank fell 0.5 percent to 3.99 euros.
(Bloomberg)
By Natalie Weeks - Oct 7, 2010 1:31 PM GMT+0200 Thu Oct 07 11:31:10 GMT 2010
Greek banking stocks may be hurt should European Central Bank liquidity dependence increase, Goldman Sachs Group Inc. said.
“Top-down concerns regarding Greek sovereign debt to remain the dominant concern for medium-term share-price performance,” a group of analysts including Heiner Luz said in an e-mailed note today. “Greek banks still heavily rely on the lender of last resort and continue to see restricted access to commercial funding sources.”
Greek banks, which have been locked out of the interbank market, promised Finance MinisterGeorge Papaconstantinou last month that they would increase lending in exchange for 25 billion euros ($34.9 billion) in government guarantees. Greece agreed to austerity measures in May in exchange for 110 billion euros in emergency loans from the European Union and International Monetary Fund to avoid a default.
Piraeus Bank SA, Greece’s fourth-biggest lender, and two state-controlled banks, Agricultural Bank of Greece SA and Hellenic Postbank SA, were rated “sell” in resumed coverage by Goldman Sachs today. National Bank of Greece SA, Greece’s biggest lender, and Bank of Cyprus Pcl were maintained at “neutral.”
Goldman Sachs said the current environment “still looks challenging, however, recent data showed slight improvements.”
Reliance on ECB funds declined in August for the first time this year. Greek lenders held 95.9 billion euros for refinancing operations, down from 96.2 billion euros in July, according to the country’s central bank. Deposits by businesses and households increased to 213 billion euros in August, the first gain after seven months of declines.
National Bank rose 1.1 percent to 7.98 euros as of 1:20 p.m. in Athens trading. Bank of Cyprus, the biggest lender on the eastern Mediterranean island, dropped 0.5 percent to 3.8 euros. Agricultural Bank gained 1 percent to 97 cents and Hellenic Postbank advanced 0.5 percent to 4.14 euros, while Piraeus Bank fell 0.5 percent to 3.99 euros.
(Bloomberg)