Piraeus Bank 9M Net At EUR41 Mil.
Piraeus Bank Friday said that in the first nine months of 2010, net profit attributable to shareholders was EUR41 mn, versus EUR219 mn in 9m’09.
Still, it notes that the result was further burdened by the one-off tax of EUR28 mn imposed for 2009 profits, so net profit in 9m’10 amounted at EUR14 mn.
Pre-provision profit excluding trading results increased by 5% y-o-y at EUR490 mn (EUR469 mn in 9m’09) and pre-provision profit reached EUR461 mn, -24% y-o-y (EUR603 mn in 9m’09). “This decrease was mainly attributed to trading results (EUR29 mn trading losses compared to trading gains of EUR135 mn in 9m’09),” the Athens based lender said.
Net interest income amounted to EUR897 mn, +10% y-o-y (EUR812 mn in 9m’09). The stabilization of deposit cost at high levels was offset by the systematic repricing of all loan products both in Greece and internationally. The best quarterly performance in net interest income for the Group historically (EUR305 mn).
NIM in 9m’10 (net interest income on average interest earning assets) increased to 2.7% compared to 2.6% in 9m’09.
Operating costs remained flat y-o-y (EUR636 mn). For the full year 2010, operating costs are expected to be lower compared to 2009.
Provisions amounted to EUR418 mn (+26% vs. EUR331 mn in 9m’09) corresponding to 143 bps on average loans (114 bps in 9m’09) as a response to the deteriorating economic environment in Greece in Q3’10 (GDP growth rate Q3’10 -4.5% y-o-y compared to -4.0% y-o-y in Q2’10).
“Despite the difficult economic situation, the serious efforts that have been made to stabilize the economy along with the recent gradual normalization of the banking environment in Greece, have created the preconditions that enable the Bank to proceed with a share capital increase of EUR800 mn to further enhance its capital base and safeguard its balance sheet. The Bank has received underwriting commitments, in respect of the full amount of the Rights Issue from a syndicate of international financial institutions. Upon this proposition, the Bank’s major shareholders have responded very favourably,” said Michalis Sallas, the bank’s head.
“The strengthening of the Bank and the prudent management which is applied to issues of liquidity, asset quality and operating expenses will enable the Bank to address the economic conjuncture effectively and will create the prospects for exploiting growth opportunities when the conditions permit it,” he added.
(Capital.gr)