Alpha Bank

The Athens Stock Exchange proved unable to hang on to early gains recorded on Tuesday. The ASE general index, which got close to its highest levels since 2014, ended down 0.84%, closing at 1,324.28 points.

Negative trends in other European stockmarkets finally were felt in Athens.

Blue chips lost 0.91% and mid-caps dropped 1.35%. Banks lost 0.78%.

Greek banks comfortably passed the capital adequacy stress tests conducted by the European Banking Authority (EBA), the latter announced on Friday.

Notably, in the adverse scenario for 2025, National Bank shows a CET1 of 14.5%, Eurobank 12.2%, Piraeus Bank 9.1% and Alpha Bank 8.9%.

Almost half} (46.6%) of all employees in Greece work at very small businesses with up to nine staff, compared to a rate of 29.4% in the EU. In contrast, large companies employ approximately 16.5% of workers in Greece, compared to almost 35.6% in the EU.

Greece will start selling stakes in its four largest banks this fall, sector officials and bankers said on Monday, marking the latest milestone in the country's recovery from the financial meltdown it suffered starting in 2009.

The disinvestment program of the state from its holdings in banks will be fully implemented from this fall, starting with Eurobank and the allocation of its 1.4% stake.

Up next will be National Bank, in which the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) has the largest stake, amounting to 40.39%.

The Greek stock market ended the pre-election period with moderate gains as traders chose to position themselves carefully in certain blue chips at the conclusion of a week of small losses for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue.

Alpha Bank on Wednesday announced it had successfully completed the issuance of a 500-million-euro senior preferred bond.

The issue attracted strong demand amounting to €1.3 billion, or roughly three times the initial target of €400 million.

How would you feel if your neighborhood bank operated one day as National, the next as Eurobank, the third as Alpha Bank, the fourth as Piraeus and the fifth as a cooperative lender?

Some 8.6% of the profitability of Greek banking groups came in 2022 from abroad, where profits before taxes amounted to 380 million euros out of a total of €4.5 billion, which was the profitability of the entire banking system in Greece last year.

The Greek stock market ended the last week before the general election with gains, which made it the third consecutive week of growth for the benchmark at Athinon Avenue. The market appears calm ahead of the polls, in contrast with what is happening on the other side of the Aegean, while turnover in Athens increased on Friday thanks to maturing of the month's derivatives.