Cyprus Business Now

The Cyprus Development Bank (CDB) on Monday announced the launch of a new business loan scheme that takes into account environmental aspects for business and other professional facilities.

The scheme is aimed at small-to-medium-sized Cypriot companies, as well as private entrepreneurs, who are looking to develop or upgrade their business premisses.

The financing provided by the bank covers works related to the construction, purchase, renovation and expansion of offices, warehouses, shops, laboratories and industrial units.

The bank said that it is offering competitive interest rates and the possibility for flexible loan repayment installments.

Interested parties can submit their applications through the CDB Bank website.

In addition, in cases where applicants are seeking to fund environmentally friendly facilities, the bank offers additional benefits, as well as the option to combine this plan with other loan products from CDB Bank.

According to the current criteria, the minimum loan amount is €300,000 while the maximum loan amount is €1.5 million.

Moreover, 30 per cent of the investment will need to be covered by private funds.

“The support of the local business community through the adoption of green banking practices is one of the main pillars of the bank,” bank CEO Loucas Marangos said in a statement.

Alpha Services and Holdings SA, along with its subsidiaries, announced this week that it has reached an agreement with an affiliate of Cerberus Capital Management for the sale of a portfolio of Cypriot non-performing loans (NPLs) and real estate properties with a total gross book value of €2.4 billion.

The NPL portfolio will be sold by the 100 per cent indirect subsidiary of the Group, Alpha International Holdings SMSA.

“Project Sky forms part of Alpha Bank Group’s strategy for the reduction of its stock of non-performing loans and is the culmination of a series of similar successful transactions completed by the Group over the previous years,” a statement by the bank said.

“With this transaction, the Group further de-risks its balance sheet by reducing the NPE ratio by an additional approximately five percentage points to 3 per cent (as of September 30, 2021 pro forma),” the statement added.

Moreover, the bank explained that the impact on the group’s income statement is fully in line with the allocated loss budget at approximately €0.2 billion, with a commensurate impact on the group’s Total Capital Adequacy Ratio (CAD) of 20 bps (as of September 30, 2021 pro forma).

The group also noted that completion of the transaction is expected to take place during the third quarter of 2022, subject to the receipt of customary regulatory approvals.

Alpha Bank’s NPL portfolio sale follows similar moves by the Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank during the previous year.

The Bank of Cyprus’ project Helix 3 involved the sale of non-performing exposures (NPEs) worth €0.6 billion and €121 million in foreclosed real-estate assets.

Meanwhile, Hellenic Bank’s project Starlight saw the bank dispose of €0.7 billion in gross non-performing exposure.

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Tuesday, February 15 with profits.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 70.57 points at 13:26 during the day, reflecting a rise of 1.61 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 42.20 points, which represents an increase of 1.68 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €113,597.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main index (1.81 per cent), alternative index (1.44 per cent), investment firm index (2.89 per cent) and hotel index (2.83 per cent) all increased.

The biggest investment interest was attracted by the Bank of Cyprus (+0.94 per cent), Vassiliko Cement Works (-2.14 per cent), Logicom (+3.59 per cent), Salamis Tours (+1.05 per cent) and the Cyprus Cement Company (+1.94 per cent).