Piraeus Bank Presents Healthy Outlook as it Cuts Exposure to Bad Loans

Piraeus Bank, one of Greece’s four biggest lenders, reported a significant drop in its exposure of bad loans on Friday.

“Our NPE (non-performing exposures) reduction plan is well on track with more than 90% of actions already executed. NPE reduction in the first nine months of the year amounted to 16 billion euros, bringing our NPE ratio down to 16%,” Chief Executive Christos Megalou said.

The reduction of NPE helped Piraeus Bank to announce a smaller loss in the third quarter than the previous three months. The bank reported a net loss from continued operations of 635 million euros ($721 million), down from 2.045 billion euros in the second quarter, as loan impairment provisions slumped to 811 million euros from 2.28 billion.

The Bank announced that in the first nine months of 2021 it has granted 4.6 billion in new financing, in line with its target of €5.7 billion for the whole year. During the same period, customer deposits and mutual funds have increased by €3.4 billion.

Piraeus Bank launches new initiatives

Megalou hit an optimistic note about the future of Piraeus saying that the Bank’s transformation is producing tangible results in record time. “Performance has been strong on all fronts with solid revenue generation, continued cost discipline, and a massive improvement in organic loan impairments.”

He added that Piraeus is launching new initiatives, “with the aim to capture business upside, by leveraging on increasing healthy credit demand and the RRF structural funds, enhancing our asset management, bancassurance and custody business, as well as exploiting digital ecosystem commercial opportunities.”

Commenting on the course of the Greek economy, Megalou said that it “provides reasons for solid optimism.”

“The implementation of reforms, the speeding-up of foreign direct investments and the inauguration of projects under the Recovery and Resilience Facility, have reinforced the growth prospects of the Greek economy. On top, the acceleration of NPE reduction has further strengthened market confidence,” Piraeus Bank CEO added.

Piraeus helps fire victims

In August, the Bank announced the donation of €1.5 million ($1.8) to support actions for the sustainable restoration of the damages incurred by the fires in Greece.

In an announcement, Piraeus Bank said it stands by all the households and businesses that have suffered damages. It added that it is closely monitoring the restoration progress for the damaged areas and is ready to contribute alongside the Greek State to the planning and implementation of substantial actions across all levels.

As per the UN Principles for Responsible Banking, which Piraeus helped create along with 29 other banks worldwide to guide the banking industry toward a sustainable future, the Bank is initially increasing its sponsorship program by €1.5 million in order to support reforestation and restoration of fire-hit areas.

At the same time, Piraeus is supporting major initiatives aimed at the restructuring of the agricultural economy and the reopening of businesses hit by the fires. The Bank is also proceeding with the establishment of an Agricultural Observatory in Northern Evia.