Hellenic Financial Stability Fund

Bank bailout fund (HFSF) executives have been working on two fronts.

Over the weekend they sought that UniCredit improve its offer for 8.9% of Alpha Bank, as the competitive process was completed last Friday without another offer submitted.

National Bank, Greece's second-largest lender by market value, on Tuesday reported higher net earnings in the first nine months of 2023 compared with the same period a year ago as net interest income rose.

NBG, 40% owned by the country's HFSF bank rescue fund, said net earnings reached 791 million euros from €680 million in the first nine months of 2022.

Alpha Bank's deal with Italy's second largest bank, UniCredit, was a touch of optimism in the gloomy environment of very low expectations that currently dominates the Greek economy.

Greece's state-controlled bank bailout fund HFSF said on Monday it had launched a process to sell its 9% stake in Alpha Bank.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) last week received an offer from Unicredit for the stake as part of the Italian lender's plan to become Alpha Bank's biggest investor.

Tuesday's session at Athinon Avenue was a one-stock show as it was the first day of trading for Alpha Bank after the major proposal tabled by UniCredit for the Greek lender's stake that bank bailout fund HFSF holds, and the merger of the Italian bank's operations in Romania with those of Alpha. As a result Alpha jumped 12.44%, while most other local stocks registered gains too.

Italian group UniCredit is proceeding to establish a strategic partnership with Alpha Bank, submitting a proposal to acquire the 9% stake held by bank rescue fund HFSF in the lender.

The divestment of the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund from Eurobank has been postponed by a few days following the acquisition of Hellenic Bank, in an attempt to value the bank based on the new financial data.

Piraeus Bank, Greece's third-largest lender by market value, on Monday reported higher net earnings for the second quarter from the same period last year on a rise in net interest income.

Greek banks hope to pay out dividends in 2024 for the first time since 2010, when the country's debt crisis erupted.

Eurobank won shareholder approval on Thursday to buy back the 1.4% stake in the group held by Greece's bank bailout fund, a move that would end state participation in the country's largest lender.

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.