Citigroup sees Bank of Cyprus at EUR 15.5

Citigroup has maintained its EUR 15.50 per share price target on Bank of Cyprus shares following the 8.07% transfer of Piraeus stake in BOCY to Marfin at EUR 11.24 per share in a deal valued at EUR 505 mln.

Previously, Alpha Finance has raised its share target price for Bank of Cyprus (BOCY) from EUR 10,60 issued on December 12 to EUR 13,50, based on improved profitability.

As explained in their report, the analysts at Alpha Finance said that contributing to the improved profits were the increased earnings in combination with containment of costs, the reduction of provisions for debtors, as well as the higher rates in lending (19% increase).

The Group profits after tax for the fourth quarter 2006 surpassed analyst estimates by 11%.

Alpha Finance expects the bank to report profits of CYP 240 mln (approx. EUR 413 mln) for 2007 and CYP 294 mln (EUR 505 mln) for 2008 and raised their projections for earnings per share by 28% for 2007 and 18% for 2008 (2007: 43c, 2008: 53c).