The Bank of Cyprus on Monday posted a profit after tax of €117 million for the first quarter of 2025, marking an increase of 9 per cent compared to the previous quarter.

In addition, according to the bank’s financial results, basic earnings per share for the quarter stood at €0.27.

Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) stood at at 18.3 per cent, exceeding the bank’s full-year target.

“The Bank of Cyprus delivered another strong quarterly performance in the first 3 months of 2025,” said group chief executive Panicos Nicolaou.

“Our key performance metric, Return on Tangible Equity, remained strong at 18.3 per cent, above our full year target for mid-teens returns – despite the impact of falling interest rates,” he added.

“Our business model,” Nicolaou continued, “remains efficient with a cost to income ratio of 34 per cent whilst credit quality remained robust with NPEs remaining below 2 per cent and cost of risk under 40 bps.”

The Cyprus Chamber of Commerce & Industry (Keve) on Monday announced that businesses operating in the food sector were the primary focus of this year’s Cyber Security Weekend.

The event, held on May 9-10, 2025, at the Golden Bay Hotel in Larnaca, was co-organised by Keve and the Digital Security Authority (DSA).

It aimed to inform and raise awareness among food sector companies about the increasing importance of cybersecurity.

Keve’s initiative highlighted the growing risks associated with the digital transformation of food businesses, as cyberattacks no longer target specific industries, but can cause widespread operational and social damage.

The statement emphasised that “the continuously increasing degree of digitalisation in food business operations creates new fields of opportunity, but also risk”.

Deputy Shipping Minister Marina Hadjimanolis on Monday travelled to Szczecin, Poland, for a working visit.

While there, she will attend the informal council of ministers responsible for shipping, held under the Polish Presidency of the Council of the European Union.

According to the announcement, Hadjimanolis will also deliver a keynote address at the 11th International Maritime Congress, taking place on  May 15 and 16.  

The event, organised by the Maritime Congress Foundation—established by the Northern Chamber of Commerce in Szczecin and the Polish Steamship Company (Polsteam)—has become a key fixture in the European maritime calendar.

The congress will open on May 15 at the Polish Theatre, followed by thematic discussions the next day at the Radisson BLU Conference Centre.

Topics on the agenda include port access infrastructure, shipbuilding and offshore industries, inland waterways, and the integration of road and rail links within European corridors.

Cyprus continues to lag behind most EU countries in gender equality, according to findings presented at a recent event co-organised by the Labour Ministry and the Cyprus Institute of Chartered Accountants.

The event, which focused on gender equality and employment trends, highlighted that women in Cyprus remain underrepresented in politics and leadership, with the gender pay gap still above the EU average—despite recent gains in employment and access to financial resources.

The findings demonstrated that the lowest levels of equality between men and women are seen in positions of power, covering political, economic and social decision-making.

In short, women remain underrepresented in leadership roles, while family and care responsibilities remain unevenly shared.

According to the report, only 14 per cent of MPs in Cyprus are women, compared to 33 per cent in the EU.

A similar underrepresentation is seen on the boards of the largest companies listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange, where women hold just 9 per cent of board seats, far below the EU average of 34 per cent.

The Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC) and its financial ombudsman service received 154 formal complaints from bank customers in 2024, according to the CBC’s annual report.

The majority of these complaints, the CBC report showed, related to credit facilities and loan restructuring procedures.

However, despite the aforementioned number of people turning to the CBC for assistance, this still marks a decline from the 180 complaints recorded in 2023.

In more detail, 75 complaints, or 49 per cent of the total, concerned credit facilities in 2024. Of these, 25 focused specifically on loan restructuring practices.

In comparison, 96 such complaints were submitted in 2023, representing 54 per cent of that year’s total, with 65 directly involving restructuring procedures.

Despite the volume of issues raised, few complainants opted to pursue their case through the internal dispute resolution committees of credit institutions or loan-acquiring companies.

The Cyprus Real Estate Agents Registration Council on Monday welcomed the court’s decision to convict two Hungarian nationals for their involvement in the illegal promotion and sale of Greek Cypriot properties in the island’s north.

Council president Marinos Kineyirou said the ruling “sends a clear and unequivocal message that such illegal acts do not go unpunished”.

The convictions mark a significant legal milestone in Cyprus. They are the first cases in which individuals have admitted guilt for usurping Greek Cypriot property in the north since 1974.

Since then, the Republic of Cyprus has maintained that it retains sovereignty over the occupied areas, despite its inability to exercise control.

The Nicosia court found that both women had knowingly engaged in promoting and advertising homes constructed on land belonging to displaced Greek Cypriots, without the owners’ consent.

The first defendant, a retired beautician, was sentenced to two and a half years in prison. She admitted to 21 out of 63 charges, which included advertising real estate in Kalogrea, Ayios Amvrosios, and Akanthou through her personal website and social media.

Larnaca has begun work on what is expected to become one of Cyprus’ most important cultural landmarks, a €30 million Art and Design Centre set to be completed by 2030.

Designed by world-renowned British firm Foster and Partners, the project will also include the Museum of People and serve as the flagship of the city’s European Capital of Culture bid.

The complex will be built on a 4,000-square-metre seaside plot, granted by the Petrolina Group as compensation. The site, located next to the American University of Cyprus, forms part of the wider ‘Larnaca – Land of Tomorrow’ regeneration zone.

The aim is for the centre to become a landmark for both the new district and the city as a whole, and for that reason, Foster, who also designed the area’s masterplan, was chosen to lead the project. 

Last week, Mayor Andreas Vyras and Larnaca 2030 officials met with Foster and Partners to begin shaping the building’s design.  

According to Vyras, the project will proceed whether or not Larnaca wins the Capital of Culture title.

Cyprus recorded a trade deficit of €1.85 billion in the period from January to March 2025, marking a rise from the €1.71 billion deficit registered during the same period in 2024.

Total imports of goods for the first three months of 2025 reached €3.19 billion, compared to €2.56 billion in the first quarter of 2024, representing an increase of 24.7 per cent.

Meanwhile, total exports of goods amounted to €1.34 billion, compared to €849.1 million in the corresponding period last year, showing a significant increase of 58.3 per cent.

According to provisional data released on Monday by the Cyprus Statistical Service (Cystat), the total imports of goods in March alone stood at €1.02 billion, compared to €828.1 million in March 2024, indicating a year-on-year increase of 23.3 per cent.

Total government employment in Cyprus increased by 237 persons, a rise of 0.4 per cent, in April, compared to the same month in 2024, reaching a total of 55,490 employees, according to the state statistical service.

Employment in the civil service and the security forces decreased by 1.2 per cent and 1.1 per cent respectively, while the educational service saw an increase of 3.8 per cent.

Over the first four months of the year, from January to April 2025, the average total government employment rose by 0.9 per cent compared to the same period in 2024.

In April 2025, the civil service employed 11,960 permanent staff, 4,141 employees with contracts of indefinite duration, 1,458 with contracts of definite duration and 5,798 hourly paid workers.

Cyprus is stepping up scrutiny of influencers, YouTubers and other public figures, as tax and consumer protection authorities intensify efforts to tackle undeclared income and misleading advertising.

Using advanced digital tools and data from platforms such as Instagram, TikTok, X and Facebook, the Tax Department is monitoring individuals whose online lifestyles appear inconsistent with their declared income.

Officers are collecting photos, videos and other public content to assess whether a taxpayer’s visible spending habits reflect what they report in their tax returns.

Tax Inspector Sotiris Markides told Politis that the department is now focusing on “publicly identifiable individuals who exert influence and shape public opinion” and has already summoned some of them to revise or submit corrected declarations.

These include influencers and content creators with active commercial presence online, who are being audited to determine whether they declare turnover, net profits, and pay VAT and income tax accordingly.

In cases where individuals are found to have spent considerably more than they report earning, they are called in for explanations and must present receipts or documentation.

Those who fail to justify discrepancies face additional tax assessments, fines, and in some cases, audits of their bank accounts.

The highest average interest rate on new floating-rate housing loans reached 5.24 per cent in March, according to a report published on Monday by the Central Bank of Cyprus (CBC).

This figure applied to loans with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year. Meanwhile, the lowest rate offered for the same loan category was 2.50 per cent.

According to the Central Bank’s monthly interest rate statistics for deposits and loans across all credit institutions for March 2025, the Bank of Cyprus provided the highest average rate for new floating-rate housing loans with an initial rate fixation period of up to one year at 5.24 per cent.

Eurobank Cyprus followed with 4.58 per cent. Hellenic Bank offered the lowest rate in this category at 2.50 per cent.