NBG ready to boost business in Cyprus

National Bank of Greece (NBG, or better known as Ethniki) is ready to embark on a new dynamic growth path following its recent restructuring in Cyprus, said Alexandros Tourkolias, Chairman of the Board of NBG Cyprus.

“We are ready to turn a new page in Cyprus and reclaim the position and rank that we are entitled,” said Tourkolias adding that under the helm of Michalis Kokkinos, NBG’s General Manager in Cyprus, the new growth plan is ready to be implemented.

“We shall concentrate on small-medium-large enterprises, property loans, trade finance and private banking to fuel our growth,” said Tourkolias.

NBG Vice-Chairman Agis Leopoulos who is also responsible international operations said the growth plan is flexible and when the time is right, NBG will open new branches and introduce new products.

“We are hiring again,” said Michalis Kokkinos, adding that with the introduction of the euro as official currency from January 2008, NBG will introduce some of its most popular products and plans based in euro and which are in use in Greece.

Tourkolias said NBG has the needed capital, reserves, wide product range and diverse international operations to meet every need of Cyprus based firms. Without specifying targets and market share levels, Tourkolias said the important issue is for NBG Cyprus to become a profit centre and join in the Group objective of delivering 50% of its profits from international operations from current levels of 37%.

NBG is Greece’s largest banking group with a market cap of EUR 23 bln and a loan portfolio of EUR 64 bln at Group level. It is active in 9 countries and has a very large institutional shareholder base, with about 55% of its capital now held by foreign funds.