Piraeus Bank opts for reverse stock split

Piraeus Bank won shareholder approval at a meeting on Wednesday for a reverse stock split to reduce the number of its outstanding shares, which it hopes will improve their tradability.

The bank was forced to issue billions of new shares after three rounds of recapitalization in recent years to boost its equity capital. But with the share price trading in cents, transactions on electronic platforms were becoming cumbersome, bank executives said.

Shareholders approved a one-for-20 reverse split that will reduce the bank's 8.73 billion outstanding shares to 466.6 million. The new par value will therefore increase from 0.3 euros to 6 euros.

"The move aims to facilitate the trading of the shares on electronic platforms and improve the stock's marketability and liquidity," chief executive Christos Megalou told shareholders.

Piraeus, which is 26.2 percent owned by...