On the plus side, its capital position has been strengthened thanks to the agreement for the sale of €2.7bn of non-performing loans through Project Helix.

According to a Bank announcement at the end of last year, CET1 ratio was 15.4% and Total Capital ratio 18.3%, scotching rumours about the need for recapitalisation.

In 2018 the bank generated an income of €781m and a positive operating profit of €381m. Provisions for 2018 were reduced by 78% from 2017. They were €168m compared to €780m the previous year.

“This has been an important year in the transformation of the Bank and one in which we have made significant progress on a number of fronts against our objective of balance sheet de-risking and refocusing the business in supporting the growing Cypriot economy,” said CEO John Hourican.

Hourican, who will be leaving the Bank in September to take up a new job in the UK after six years at the helm, said that “balance sheet repair was accelerated through the agreement for the sale of €2.7bn non-performing loans in Project Helix.”

“This portfolio sale complements our organic non-performing exposure (NPE) reduction, which amounted to €1.3bn for the full year,” Hourican said, adding: “During the fourth quarter, we reduced NPEs by €217m, broadly in line with the guidance, marking our fifteenth consecutive quarter of organic reductions in NPEs”.

Source: Cyprus Mail