Attica Bank

The time is approaching for the share capital increase of Attica Bank, whose management this week expects DBRS Morningstar's evaluation of its bad-loan portfolio so that it can be included in the "Hercules 3″ bonds program of the state.

The streamlining of Attica Bank and its merger with Pancreta Bank will require a new share capital increase, which according to information will possibly even reach 600 million euros.

Athens-listed lottery and sports betting company Intralot signed an agreement for the issue of a new bond loan agreement of up to 100 million euros and duration to June 30, 2025, it said on Thursday.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) is one step before the complete divestment from Greece's four systemic banks, after the successful sale of all the shares it owned in Piraeus Bank.

The year of 2023 was a landmark for Attica Bank, marking the lender's consolidation, recovery and return to operating profitability after a long glut, according to a statement issued by the bank on Thursday.

On July 31, Pancreta Bank absorbed the Greek assets of global banking colossus HSBC, taking in a highly complementary business and, in effect, creating a new bank, far from its 1993 origins as a cooperative bank named Credit Development Cooperative of Heraklion.

In an interview with Kathimerini, CEO Antonis Vartholomeos explains that upcoming mergers will further expand the bank.

The issues of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund's divestment from Greek banks and the expansion of the Hercules program were at the center of the meeting held this week by Minister of National Economy Kostis Hatzidakis with the Hellenic Bank Association.

The new Hercules program will include three pending securitizations amounting to 3 billion euros.

Pancreta Bank will make the first significant and fundamental step toward the creation of a strong bank in Greece with the full absorption of HSBC's operations in the country on July 28.

This will be followed by the completion of the mergers with Central Macedonia Bank and with Attica Bank. 

A legal provision on deferred taxation, for the third time in the last two years, has been triggered by Attica Bank recording a 386.6-million-euro loss for 2022, leading to a new increase in the percentage controlled by bank rescue fund HFSF in Attica's share capital, from the current 69.5% to almost 72%.

Attica Bank on Thursday announced its return to profitability, with pre-provision operating profits totaling 500,000 euros in the first quarter of 2023, from a loss of €4.9 million in the same period last year.