“The transaction will improve the core equity tier 1 capital (CET1) ratio by up to 0.15 percentage points,” Yiannos Stavrinides, the bank’s head of strategy and transformation, said in a telephone interview on Thursday in reference to yesterday’s €70 million deal.

At the end of September, the ratio of the bank’s €1.1bn CET1 to its €7.4bn risk-weighted assets was 15.23%, down from 15.42% in December 2016.

The transaction reduces the bank’s risk-weighted assets by at least 0.1 percentage points, the executive said.

The nine companies, which practically bought out the bank’s stake themselves, operated in a wide range of economic activities, ranging from produce trading to tourism.

“Some were very profitable, some of them were less,” said Stavrinides. “After some restructuring, they are all robust. They are fixed”.

The juice producer Sevegep, one of the major among the nine companies sold, is one of the most export oriented companies in Cyprus selling its products to mainly former Soviet Union countries, he said.

“Around 90% of Sevegep’s turnover is generated by exports,” Stavrinides said adding that it invested in new production units.

Comarine, operating in the travel and tourism sector, is the owner of Miramare hotel in Limassol’s suburb Yermasogeia, he continued and added that livestock fodder producer Sopaz, which relocated from Nicosia to Larnaca’s suburb Aradippou, “is today very healthy”.

The Cyprus Cooperative Bank, which the government recapitalised with €1.7bn in 2014 and 2016, is Cyprus’ second largest bank, owned to 99% by the government.

Source: Cyprus Mail