Hellenic Bank sees €21 million after-tax profit

Hellenic Bank said Tuesday it has posted an after-tax profit of €21 million for the first nine months of 2021, as net interest income rose to €192.8 million. Non-interest income was €74.2 million.

“Despite the fact that COVID-19 is still determining the social and economic developments, during the first nine months of the year, we have seen a strong economic rebound underpinned by the government support package,” Hellenic Bank CEO Oliver Gatzke said on Tuesday, adding that the bank also supported the economy with €628 million of new loans.

The bank’s profit before impairments for the first three quarters of the year amounted to €66.8 million.

“With a robust capital adequacy ratio of 22.3 per cent and liquidity coverage ratio of 473 per cent, we remain committed to supporting our customers and investments in sectors that increase the competitiveness and productivity of the economy, such as health, education, energy (renewables), ICT, hospitality, transportation and shipping,” Gatzke said.

The bank posted a CET1 ratio of 22.31 per cent.

The non-performing exposures (NPEs) ratio to gross loans stands at 14.5 per cent, while net NPEs to assets ratio is 1.9 per cent (excluding the NPEs covered by the APS agreement).

“We now focus our efforts on the drastic improvement of the quality of our portfolio, through resolving and deleveraging our NPEs which now stand at 14.5 per cent,” the Hellenic Bank CEO said.

“Our Project Starlight is on track and with its conclusion, we will expedite the clean-up of our balance sheet to a mid-single-digit percentage of NPEs,” he added, noting that the vast majority – over 95 per cent — of borrowers who joined the loan moratorium scheme are performing well.

Gatzke said another priority for Hellenic Bank is the acceleration of its transformation to achieve long-term sustainable profitability.

This includes a commitment to make the bank more customer-friendly by improving digital onboarding, streamlining procedures, and enhancing product scope.

“We want to enhance the profile of our loan book through healthy growth with a strong focus on ESG (Environmental, Social, and Governance),” Gatzke said.

“Other key priorities include the management of our high-cost base and our excess liquidity, and the implementation of a meritocratic HR strategy,” he added.