Turnaround for local lenders in Q3
Greek banks turned a profit from domestic operations in the first nine months of the year, versus a loss in the January-June period, according to Kyprou Securities, a brokerage owned by Bank of Cyprus. In a report summing up earnings from the eight banks whose shares are listed on the Athens bourse’s blue chip FTSE/ATHEX 20 index, the brokerage said National Bank’s figures from Greek operations improved in the third quarter of the year while ATEbank continued to be in the red. The eight banks reported a nine-month net profit of 569 million euros, up from 294 million in the six-month period, including a one-off tax imposed on profitable companies. Apart from Bulgaria and Romania, a number of Greece’s larger lenders are also present in Serbia, the Former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia and Turkey.
