Piraeus Bank reports higher first-quarter on strong net interest income (updated)

Piraeus Bank SA

30/04/2024 08:47

(Adds CEO quote, more results)
       ATHENS, April 30 (Reuters) - Greece's third-largest
lender by market value, reported higher quarterly net earnings
on Friday on strong net interest and fee income and plans to
distribute a dividend for the first time after 16 years.
        The bank, fully privatised earlier this year, has said
that it expects profit of about 900 million euros ($963.27
million)this year and 1 billion euros in 2025 and in 2026.
    Piraeus said that net interest income rose by 16%, on annual
base, to 518 million euros and it plans to distribute a dividend
to its shareholders for the first time after more than a decade.
        "Finally, I am very happy to announce that 2024 is
expected to be the first year after 16 years that Piraeus will
pay a cash dividend to its shareholders amounting to 80 mln
euros for 2023," said the bank's Chief Executive Christos
Megalou.
        Greek banks have been working to reduce a pile of
non-performing credit, the legacy of a decade-long financial
crisis that shrank the economy by a quarter.
    Piraeus Bank's book of so-called non-performing exposures
(NPE), or bad loans, continued to shrink to a ratio of 3.5% of
its total loan book at the end of March from 6.6% in the first
quarter of 2033. It aims to cut that to 2,4% by 2026.
    

($1 = 0.9345 euros)

 (Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas, Editing by Louise Heavens)
 ((lefteris.papadimas@thomsonreuters.com; +30 210 3376477;
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