DB sees Marfin Popular at EUR12, KBW at EUR 10

Deutsche Bank (DB) has upped its price target on the shares of Marfin Popular Bank to EUR 12 per share following the presentation of results in London where the Group also informed investors regarding the increase in its projections.

DB is forecasting MPB to report EPS of EUR 0.56 in 2007, EUR 0.66 in 2008 and EUR 0.85 in 2009. The net profit of the Bank is forecast at EUR 442 mln for 2007, well above the revised profit target of EUR 420 mln issued by the Bank a week ago.

In sharp contrast to the 2007 performance, DB has issued a lower profit estimate of

EUR 528 mln for 2008, which is slightly lower than the EUR 526 mln forecast by MPB in its revised targets. For 2009, DB is forecasting EUR 677 mln profits for Marfin Popular Bank, which is better than the Bank’s revised target of EUR 669 mln.

KBW on the other hand is forecasting EUR 441 mln in 2007 net profit for Marfin Popular Bank and rising to EUR 601 mln in 2008. The EPS forecast by KBW sees EUR 0.47 per share in 2007 and EUR 0.73 per share in 2008.

KBW maintains its recommendation unchanged at “outperform” with a price target of EUR 10 per share.