Alpha Bank

The desire of Greek banks to rid themselves of the burden that thousands of repossessed real estate properties put on their expenses is reshaping the country's property sector, local market professionals told Xinhua in recent interviews.

The Athens stock market managed to remain on a rising course on Tuesday, on presentable trading volume, although stocks painted a mixed picture and the banks index headed lower. Traders were very selective, opting to cash in recent bank stock gains while buying into other blue chips and mid-caps.

Greek lenders Alpha Bank and National Bank reported a sharp fall in profit in the last quarter of 2018 as they focused on reducing their piles of bad loans.
Alpha, Greece's fourth-largest lender by assets, reported a net loss from continuing operations of 0.4 million euros in the October to December period after a net profit of 41.1 million euros in the third quarter.

Alpha Bank warns in a report on tourism in 2019 that the risks associated with the economic slowdown in Greece's main markets, the Brexit uncertainty and concerns over trade wars and geopolitical tensions are leading to travelers from certain countries exhibiting more conservative behavior. The World Tourism Organization also believes that this behavior is already quite obvious.

Hilton Athens, one of the capital's landmark hotels, has passed into the hands of TEMES, which also controls Costa Navarino in the southwestern Peloponnese, the company owned by Achilleas Konstantakopoulos announced on Friday.

Alpha Bank has added two new positions, chief legal officer and head of international operations, to its executive committee, Greece's fourth-largest lender said on Thursday.

The bank appointed Sergiu Oprescu as general manager of its international network, and Nikos Salakas as chief legal and governance officer.

Diners Club and Alpha Bank present the fourth installment of Dine Athens, a celebration of the Greek capital's ever expanding and increasingly respected restaurant scene, running through February 10. This premier culinary event offers discounts and special menus at 120 select eateries around the city.

An Athens prosecutor on Friday ordered a preliminary investigation into reports that a close associate of a government minister had tried to intervene so that a company owned by disgraced businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis could get out of paying more than 120 million euros in debts to the Public Gas Corporation (DEPA).

Disgraced businessman Lavrentis Lavrentiadis is facing fresh charges of fraud, after he and four close associates were accused by an Athens prosecutor of cheating Alpha Bank out of millions of euros in loans.

Greek households lost 27.9 percent of their assets in the decade from 2008 to 2018, Alpha Bank notes in its weekly financial bulletin.