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☆ Greece's National Bank stake sale oversubscribed -source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-16 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of National Bank is seen outside a branch in Athens March 23, 2015. REUTERS/Alkis Konstantinidis/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Nov 16 (Reuters) - Greece on Thursday sold a 22% stake in National Bank (NBG), its second-biggest lender by market value, with the sale oversubscribed by more than eight times, a source close to the process told Reuters. On Monday, HFSF concluded the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit and announced plans to sell a 20% stake in NBG. A book-building process and a public offering for the sale of the NBG stake which started on Nov. 14 concluded on Thursday, with the final offer price set at 5.30 euros a share, the source said. HFSF, which owns 40% in NBG, sold a total of 201,237,334 shares, raising more than 1 billion euros, according to Reuters calculations.

Persons: Alkis, HFSF, Lefteris Papadimas, Toby Chopra Organizations: National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, P Global, Alpha Bank, Fidelity, Norges, Lazard, RWC, Allianz, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, UniCredit, NBG, Blackrock

☆ Greece's National Bank attracts strong demand in 20% stake sale - source
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-15 | by ( Lefteris Papadimas | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

"Demand covered 6.2 times the shares offered," the source involved in the process said on condition of anonymity. On Monday, HFSF concluded the sale of a 9% stake in Alpha Bank to UniCredit and announced plans to sell a 20% stake in NBG. The value of the 20% stake is estimated at about 1 billion euros ($1.09 billion). HFSF currently holds a 40.4% stake in NBG and a 27% holding in Piraeus Bank, (BOPr.AT), Greece's third-largest lender. A source told Reuters on Monday that out of the 20% stake in NBG, 17% would be offered to funds and 3% to retail investors.

Persons: Alkis, HFSF, Greece's, JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs, Morgan Stanley, Lefteris Papadimas, Louise Heavens, Sharon Singleton Organizations: National Bank, REUTERS, Rights, Greece's National Bank, Reuters, P Global, Alpha Bank, Piraeus Bank, UBS, Thomson Locations: Athens, Greece, UniCredit, NBG

☆ Greek state bank bailout fund sells 9% of Alpha bank to Unicredit
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Nov 13 (Reuters) - Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF said on Monday it sold its 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) to UniCredit after an improved bid by the Italian bank. UniCredit (CRDI.MI) announced last month it would become Alpha Bank's biggest investor by buying a 9% stake owned by Greece's HFSF and also agreed to acquire most of Alpha's Romanian business. Greece has been attracting significant investment as its economy strengthened after the crisis, prompting S&P Global to upgrade the country to investment grade in October. HFSF sold last month its 1.4% stake in Eurobank and is expected to proceed with the sale of about 20% of National Bank in next coming days. Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Tom Hogue and Stephen CoatesOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: HFSF, Greece's HFSF, UniCredit, Lefteris Papadimas, Tom Hogue, Stephen Coates Organizations: Alpha Bank, Alpha, Athens Stock Exchange, Global, National Bank, Thomson Locations: ATHENS, Italian, Romanian, Greece, Eurobank

☆ Greek PM to call for reforms, fiscal prudence after deadly storm
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks to journalists, in the aftermath of Storm Daniel in central Greece, in Larissa, Greece, September 8, 2023. The storm swept through Thessaly in central Greece for three days flooding cities and villages and turning the region into an inland sea. "We still have a state which, despite the reforms, does not correspond to current needs. So we need to make more changes," one of the officials said, adding that fiscal prudence was necessary due to the relief measures for Thessaly. Greece will include any extra spending in a supplementary budget for 2023, which will not derail the country's fiscal progress, a second official said.

Persons: Kyriakos Mitsotakis, Storm Daniel, Kostas Mantziaris, Daniel, Greece's, Mitsotakis, Renee Maltezou, Lefteris Papadimas, David Holmes Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, European Union, Mega TV, Thomson Locations: Greece, Larissa, Thessaly

☆ Greek PM to call for reforms, fiscal prudence after deadly storm - sources
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-16 | by ( Renee Maltezou | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis speaks to journalists, in the aftermath of Storm Daniel in central Greece, in Larissa, Greece, September 8, 2023. REUTERS/Kostas Mantziaris/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsATHENS, Sept 16 (Reuters) - Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis is expected to announce state reforms and relief measures in a keynote speech on Saturday, days after a devastating rainstorm killed at least 17 people, sources said. The storm swept through Thessaly in central Greece for three days flooding cities and villages and turning the region into an inland sea. So we need to make more changes," one of the officials said, adding that fiscal prudence was necessary due to the relief measures for Thessaly. Greece will include any extra spending in a supplementary budget for 2023, which will not derail the country's fiscal progress, a second official said.

☆ Eurobank posts lower H1 profit due to higher provisions
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-31 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, July 31 (Reuters) - Eurobank (EURBr.AT), Greece's largest lender by market value, on Monday reported a lower net profit in the first half of the year, due to higher provisions. The bank reported net earnings of 684 million euros in the first half of 2023 from 941 million in the same period in 2022. Greek banks have cut their bad loan ratios to below 8% in 2022 from 45% in 2016 but still remain above euro zone peers. Eurobank's Non Performing Exposure ratio fell to 5.2% at the end of June, from 5.9% a year ago. Despite the fall in profit the bank's net interest income grew by 56.2% year on year in the January to June period to 1.04 billion euros, driven by higher interest rates, growing lending and its international business.

Persons: David Evanse Organizations: Athens, Thomson Locations: ATHENS

☆ Greece's Eurobank posts big jump in 2022 profit
▼ + stars: | 2023-03-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

ATHENS, March 9 (Reuters) - Eurobank (EURBr.AT), Greece's largest lender by market value, reported on Thursday an increase in 2022 profit, amid higher net interest and lower provisions for impaired loans. The bank, which is 1.4% owned by the country's HFSF bank rescue fund, reported net profit of 1.33 billion euros ($1.41 billion) versus 328 million euros in 2021. Eurobank's net interest income grew by 17.4% year on year in 2022 to 1.55 billion euros, driven by higher rates, lending and its international business. The bank's non-performing loan exposure (NPE) ratio fell to 5.2% at the end of December, from 6.8% at the end of 2021, with the stock of bad loans decreasing to 2.3 billion euros. ($1 = 0.9452 euros)Reporting by Athens Newsroom; Editing by Kirsten DonovanOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Greek banks overlooked but on bumpy road to re-rating -Eurobank Equities
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

ATHENS, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Rising interest rates will provide a significant tailwind to Greek bank earnings this year and the next, Eurobank Equities said on Thursday, rating Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT), National Bank (NBGr.AT) and Piraeus (BOPr.AT) a "buy". In a research report, it said Greek bank shares were "out of sync with fundamentals", up just 3% so far this year and trading at a steep 25% discount to peers in Europe's periphery. Greek banks will benefit from a new credit cycle following a decade of de-leveraging while rate hikes will boost their net interest income, Eurobank Equities said. Greece's economy is also proving resilient thanks to tourism while banks' asset quality has improved in the last three years. "Besides their higher sensitivity to rate hikes versus EU peers, Greek banks have additional levers to pull, including continuous cost–cutting and accelerated fee generation," the report said.

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