BOC’s profit after tax was €2m in the fourth quarter, while Hellenic posted a loss of €67.6m.

The bank said it had cut non-performing loans on a 90+ days past due basis by €3bn or 27% in 2016, while NPLs on the European Banking Authority (EBA) basis fell by €2.9bn thanks to seven consecutive quarters of problem loan improvement.

Deposits rose by €2.3bn in 2016 and it posted a Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 14.7%.

The bank said significant milestones achieved in January 2017 were the full repayment of Emergency Liquidity Assistance, the successful issuance of €250m in Tier 2 Notes (bonds) and the listing of the bank’s shares on the London Stock Exchange.

“Our results this quarter were satisfactory and reflect our strategy of continued de-risking, said BOC Chief Executive Officer (CEO) John Hourican.

“We are pleased to have delivered a modest profit in 2016 and to have started 2017 with the full repayment of ELA, a successful return to the debt capital markets and the successful listing of our shares on the London Stock Exchange,” he added.

“Underpinning the Group’s momentum is a recovering Cypriot economy. It was pleasing to note a 2.8% growth rate in the underlying economy for 2016. This allowed us grant new lending of more than €1bn to the Cyprus economy in 2016.”

Source: InCyprus