Piraeus Bank

The benchmark of the Greek stock market staged an impressive rebound late in Friday's session to come back from 1% down and close with gains of almost 1%. Banks led the way for the recovery of the index, though that was not enough to offset all its weekly losses.

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.

Wargaming has announced its decision to sell its remaining stake of 6.8% (28,023,767 shares) in Hellenic Bank to Eurobank.

The deal is valued at 65.9 million euros, equivalent to €2.35 per share.

Eurobank Cyprus, the local subsidiary of Greece's Eurobank Group, will have a controlling share of over 50% in Hellenic, the second largest lender.

Wargaming has announced its decision to sell its remaining stake of 6.8% (28,023,767 shares) in Hellenic Bank to Eurobank.

The deal is valued at €65.9 million, equivalent to €2.35 per share.

Eurobank Cyprus, the local subsidiary of Greece's Eurobank Group, will have a controlling share of over 50% in Hellenic, the second largest lender.

Since the beginning of 2021, Greece's four biggest banks - Alpha, Eurobank, National and Piraeus - have lent businesses some €70 billion, and businesses, in turn, have paid back €55 billion from these or earlier loan.

The net credit expansion of €15 billion is considered low and there are worries that it may drop further in coming years.

Greek stocks dropped slightly Wednesday after four sessions with cumulative gains of 1.90%. The general index closed at 1,316.94 points, a drop of 0.11%, although it was up 0.30% at one point.

Turnover was €95.54 million with 24,001,624 shares changing hands. Of the 120 shares traded, 43 rose, 61 declined and 16 ended unchanged.

Blue chips slipped 0.12% and mid-caps 0.37%.

The stock market faced a selling wave among heightened concern about the Chinese economy and fears that interest rates will stay high in both Europe and the US for some time.

The ASE general index ended 1.57% lower to 1,263.34 on turnover of €85.66 million. It was the fourth consecutive weekly drop (1.83%), while banks fell 3.02%.

A subdued session saw Greek stocks decline slightly on Thursday, in contrast to the gains in other European markets.

Most banks and blue chips faced selling pressure, but not excessively.

The ASE general index closed at 1,313.20 points, 0.30% lower on turnover of €84.9 million. Blue chips dropped 0.31%, mid-caps 0.24% and banks 0.13%.

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.

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%.