ATEbank proceeds with 1-billion-euro capital increase
ATEbank announced yesterday it will shortly proceed with a share capital increase of 1 billion euros in order to strengthen its capital position in terms of both quality and quantity, with the support of its main shareholder, the Greek state. The government had promised last summer to boost the lender’s capital after it failed the European Central Bank stress test. ATEbank also announced its return to pretax earnings in the third quarter of the year, amounting to 2.3 million euros, against losses of 87.9 million in the previous quarter and 45.5 million in the January-March 2010 period. Net revenues from interest posted a 6.4 percent increase from the second quarter, reaching 214.1 million euros, while operating expenses declined by 6.2 million euros from the same period last year to 150.1 million. The bank also reported the highest operating profits before provisions of the last five years in Q3, reaching 105.8 million euros, up 4.4 percent from Q2.
