Positive reception of international houses JP Morgan, Goldman Sachs and Morgan Stanleywith a “overweight” recommendation on shares, demonstrated full-year results Bank of Piraeus, on the basis of which the levelized profit for the period was 577 million euros (against 190 million euros in 2021), of which 208 million euros was fourth-quarter profit. Adjusted profit for the period excludes proceeds from the sale of the additional card business, which collectively generated a profit of €899 million in 2022 (compared to a loss of €3.2 billion in 2021 due to a loan restructuring in the Bank’s portfolio ). ), of which 170 million euros in the last quarter of the previous year.

Earnings per share was €0.42 from €0.13 in 2021, beating the target of €0.37, while the smoothed return on equity was 10%, beating the 9% target set by management Piraeus Bank. . Shareholder returns are expected to improve further in 2023, with smoothed earnings per share estimated above €0.45, supervisory capital generation of around 100 basis points on strong organic profitability, leading to a further increase in the CAD total equity ratio. to 17.3% (from 16.4% in December 2022) and further balance sheet consolidation, which led to a decrease in the NPL ratio below 6% and the reserve coverage ratio above 60%.

Speaking at a briefing for investors, the CEO of Piraeus Bank, Christ Megaludescribed 2022 as a “significant year for the group” as performance exceeded set targets, while not taking into account an equally positive plan for 2023 based on new targets set by management in a recent revision of forecasts for the new year.

Piraeus Bank’s positive assessments are based on good monitoring of the influx of new problem loans, which, in the opinion of management, “show no signs of deterioration”, a significant credit expansion, which, combined with rising interest income rates and high liquidity available to the group, allows “comfortable” financing of the economy and timely repayment of liquidity provided by the bank through the TLTRO program from the ECB.

In particular, non-performing loans fell to 2.6 billion euros at the end of December 2022, well below the level of 4.9 billion euros a year ago, while the portfolio of existing loans amounted to 28.6 billion euros 2.7 billion per year, despite high payments of 7 billion euros.

For 2023, the administration has set a target of €1.7 billion in net credit expansion, mainly through increased lending to large, small, medium and small enterprises. Repayments from the Recovery Fund are a key driver of the credit expansion and, as Mr. Megalu said, the bank has already disbursed the first two tranches of €900 million, the third tranche of €300 million is expected to be approved soon, while how the bank’s targets are being prepared for the 4th and 5th tranches.