Bank of Cyprus upbeat
NICOSIA (Reuters) – The Bank of Cyprus expects a marked improvement in its third-quarter results compared with the second quarter, partly due to continued cost cutting, it said yesterday. It said that it expected results of the fourth quarter to be at similar levels to those of the third quarter. «The continuous improvement of the Group’s financial results arises from the efforts for cost containment, revenue enhancement and collection of overdue amounts, as well as enhanced return from the management of the Group’s liquid assets,» the bank said in a statement. The bank will issue third-quarter results on Nov. 1. Bank of Cyprus posted a pretax profit of 18.8 million Cyprus pounds ($40 million) for the three months ending June 30. The bank earlier this year had attributed an increase in profit to cost cutting and a better performance in its insurance divisions at home. The institution is Cyprus’s largest financial group with a rapidly expanding presence in Greece.
