Cyprus Business Now

Non-performing loans (NPLs) remained virtually unchanged in November, reaching € 4.24 billion from € 4.26 billion the previous month, according to a report by the Central Bank of Cyprus released on Friday.

In contrast, net NPLs, meaning loans with a delay of more than 90 days, which do not include restructured loans that according to the directive of the European Banking Authority are classified as non-performing, showed a small increase for the second consecutive month and amounted to €3.3 billion in November. The figure stood at €3.28 billion the month before.

Since the end of 2020, NPEs recorded a decrease of €0.84 billion, primarily reflecting the sales of non-performing loans made by the Bank of Cyprus.

As a percentage of total loans, NPLs stood at 15.1 per cent from 15.3 per cent in the previous month, while the percentage of net NPLs against total loans remained unchanged at 11.8 per cent.

According to the central bank, corporate NPLs remained unchanged at €1.76 billion in November, while non-performing household loans fell slightly to €2.17 billion from €2.18 billion the month before. However, of all corporate NPEs, 84 per cent (€1.49 billion) belonged to small-to-medium enterprises (SMEs).

Household NPLs accounted for 51 per cent of all NPLs, while corporate NPLs accounted for 41.5 per cent.

Moreover, the coverage rate of corporate NPLs amounted to 57.2 per cent, while the coverage rate of household NPLs amounted to 41 per cent.

Total accumulated forecasts amounted to €2.19 billion in November from €2.14 billion in the previous month, of which €2 billion related to NPEs, with the coverage ratio of NPEs reaching 47.7 per cent from 46.5 per cent in the previous month.

Total loans in November 2021 amounted to €28 billion from €27.9 billion during the previous month.

Furthermore, according to the central bank, the total amount of restructured loans fell to €3.92 billion from € 3.95 billion in the previous month, attributed to restructured loans classified as serviced in November.

Restructured corporate loans amounted to €2.27 billion, while restructured household loans amounted to €1.34 billion.

Finally, when compared to the end of 2020, the loans that have been restructured by the end of November show an increase of €0.6 billion.

Total loans in January 2022 recorded a net increase of €107.1 million, compared to a net increase of €386 million in December 2021, according to data released on Friday by the Central Bank of Cyprus.

The annual rate of change reached 1.1 per cent, compared to 0.8 per cent in December 2021. The balance of total loans in January 2022 reached €28.5 billion.

Total deposits in January 2022 recorded a net decrease of €341.8 million, compared to a net increase of €337.4 million in December 2021.

The annual rate of change reached 5.8 per cent, compared to 5.7 per cent in December 2021. The balance of deposits in January 2022 reached €51.3 billion.

Finally, the above figures reflect the result of transactions. They do not include changes resulting from reclassifications or other adjustments.

Cyprus’ industrial production increased by 7.5 per cent in 2021, compared to 2020, with most economic activities recording increases, according to a report by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat) released on Friday.

For the month of December, the Industrial Production Index reached 137.0 points (basis 2015 = 100), recording an increase of 4.7 per cent year-on-year.

In the manufacturing sector, an increase of 2.9 per cent was observed in December 2021 compared to December 2020.

An increase was also recorded in the sectors of water supply and materials recovery (27.6 per cent), electricity supply (8.9 per cent) and mines and quarries (0.3 per cent).

At the same time, in the manufacturing sector, positive year-on-year changes were observed in most economic activities, with the largest of them relating to the activities of manufacturing of electronic and optical products and electrical equipment (40.2 per cent), as well as furniture making and other manufacturing activities, repair and installation of machinery and equipment (35.3 per cent).

Additionally, positive yearly increases were seen in the manufacturing of machinery and equipment, motor vehicles and other transport equipment (16.5 per cent), paper and paper products and printing (8.1 per cent), as well as textile production, clothing and leather (5.9 per cent).

The only negative changes were observed in petroleum refining products, chemicals and products and pharmaceuticals and preparations (-23.5 per cent), manufacturing of other non-metallic mineral products (-7.5 per cent) and production of base metals, as well as in the manufacturing of metallic products (-1.7 per cent).

The Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE) ended Friday, February 25 with profits.

The main Cyprus Stock Market Index was at 68.98 points at 13:16 during the day, reflecting a rise of 2.45 per cent over the previous day of trading.

The FTSE / CySE 20 Index was at 41.45 points, which represents an increase of 2.57 per cent.

The total value of transactions came up to €83,193.

In terms of the sub-indexes, the main, alternative, and investment firm indexes rose by 2.83 per cent, 2.01 per cent and 1.91 per cent respectively

The biggest investment interest was attracted by Vassiliko Cement Works (+4.55 per cent), the Bank of Cyprus (+1.96 per cent), Salamis Tours (no change), Petrolina (+6.19 per cent) and Logicom (+4.55 per cent).