* Swings to loss on Greek debt *
Hellenic Bank posted a net loss of 99.5 mln euros last year, hit by a 70% writedown on its Greek sovereign debt holdings, the bank said on Tuesday.
Hellenic said its operating profit, excluding the Greek impairment and other provisions rose 47% to 132.56 mln euros, compared with a net profit of 9.19 mln euros in 2010.
But the bank prides itself of its “prudent management”, saying it enjoys “ample liquidity” and has “no dependency on the interbank market or the ECB.”
Last week the island's largest lender, Bank of Cyprus, announced a 1 billion euro loss for 2011 after taking a 60% writedown on Greek sovereign debt, on the day that the European bailout plan considered a 53.5% haircut on the nominal value of Greek government bonds, which in reality comes out at an impairment of about 70%.
Hellenic, in which the Church of Cyprus holds a sizeable stake of about 21%, is the least exposed among the three major Cypriot banks to GGBs, holding an estimated 110 mln euros in such bonds. The size of the writedown was 77 mln euros, Hellenic said. Its provision for the writedown on all Greek debt, including private sector loans and non-performing loans, amounts to a “manageable” 142 mln euros, the bank said.
In all, Group loans rose 4% year-on-year to 5.6 bln euros, up 6% in Cyprus and reduced by 5% in Greece, against 7.1 bln in deposits, up 4% from a year earlier, of which 6.53 bln were deposits held in Cyprus, up 7% from a year earlier.
MARFIN LAIKI READY
The island’s second biggest bank, Marfin Popular, is scheduled to announce its results by Wednesday morning, with a briefing later in the day from the bank’s recently appointed chairman, former Finance Minister Michael Sarris, and Group CEO, Christos Stylianides.
The bank’s executive leadership is expected to avoid being quizzed on its recapitalisation plan that was submitted to the Central Bank of Cyprus in late-January, which calls for a safety cushion in its Core Tier I ratios, in accordance with European Banking Authority requirements.
CSE CONTINUES DOWNFALL
Meanwhile, the Cyprus Stock Exchange continued on a disappointing path with the CySE General Index recording a drop of 2.8% to 274.49, down 7.25% from the start of the year.
Bank stocks were once again the biggest burden of the day with Bank of Cyprus shedding 1.28% to 53.8 cents, taking the share 11.8% lower on the year, while its nil-paid rights crashed 24% to 1.6c.
Marfin Popular lost 7.95% on the day, down 18.2% from the beginning of the year, while Hellenic lost 2.9% and closed at 32c, down 10.25% this year.
The only significant gainers of the day were Petrolina Holdings, up 0.9% at 55c and Nemesis Contracting, up 4.8% at 24c, the only two stocks that have had gained investor interest recently, rising 5.7% and 19%, respectively, this year.
