National Bank of Greece profit hit by lower interest rates and rising costs (updated)

National Bank of Greece

06/11/2025 09:50

Adds detail from paragraph 2

Nov 6 (Reuters) - National Bank of Greece NBGr.AT, the country's second-largest lender by market value, on Thursday posted a 7.9% drop in nine-month profit before one-offs, hit by falling interest rates and rising operating expenses.

Greek banks' net interest income has been squeezed by a  decline in euro zone interest rates, prompting efforts to diversify income sources by expanding wealth management and insurance businesses.

NBG's profit after tax and before one-offs was 979 million euros ($1.14 billion) for the January-September period, down from 1.06 billion euros a year earlier.

Net interest income dropped by 9.8% to 1.61 billion euros as benchmark rates fell by about 150 basis points, though fixed-income investments and repricing of time deposits helped to cushion the impact.

Operating expenses rose 7.3% to 685 million euros, driven by higher personnel costs, general and administrative expenses and depreciation tied to technology and digital investments, the bank said.

NBG reiterated full-year targets for return on tangible equity above 15%, cost of risk below 45 basis points and a non-performing loans exposure ratio of less than 2.5%.

The bank will pay a total of 200 million euros in interim dividends on November 14, it said.

($1 = 0.8575 euros)

 (Reporting by Antonis Pothitos
Editing by Alex Richardson and David Goodman)

 ((antonis.pothitos@thomsonreuters.com; +48 58 769 65 78;))