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Alpha Bank is preparing to buy Post Bank

30 June 2013 / 15:06:16  GRReporter
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Yiannis Kostopoulos, chairman of the board of Alpha Bank, announced, at the annual meeting of shareholders, the bank’s proposal to buy Post Bank. He stated that Alpha Bank would submit a serious offer for Post Bank, adding that the aim is to preserve the independence of Post Bank instead of allowing its takeover.

Commenting on the state of the Greek economy, Kostopoulos talked about the signs of movement but noted that the period 2013-2014 would be critical. He stressed that the country's emergence from the debt crisis and its return to development reinforce the need for adjustment which, however, should be completed along with the restructuring of the public sector.

"It is necessary to complete the programme of structural changes in the network of production because this will improve the competitiveness of the economy and its internal orientation. Therefore, all the forces of the country should be driven towards this purpose. Otherwise, the adjustment may be fragile," said Kostopoulos.

Speaking of the banking system, he noted that after the bank recapitalization, the Greek banking system would consist of fewer but more powerful groups with sufficient capital and of a significant number of small healthy banks. The market shares of the banks will ensure competition and will allow banks to benefit from the economic situation.

Later, Executive Director Dimitris Mandzounis took the floor and stressed that following the acquisition of Emporiki Bank, the merged bank has increased its market share to 21% in terms of deposits and to 23% in terms of loans. The bank has more than 1,200 branches in total, 700 of which are in Greece and 500 abroad, and 18,000 employees, including 11,500 in Greece. Since the merger has been completed in legal terms, the process of integration is in progress. The branch network is being integrated and the business activities are being carried out in accordance with the new plan which has been approved by the board. Mandzounis stated that after the successful increase and strengthening of the capital due to the acquisition of Emporiki Bank, which has brought capital to the amount of 2.5 billion euro, the basic private capital of Alpha Bank has amounted to 7.9 billion euro which is 13.7% according to the private capital index and 14.4% according to the capital adequacy indicator. According to the manager, these indicators exceed the minimum requirements of the supervisory authorities.

Attica Bank, which was the first bank that was able to implement the recapitalization without the support of the Financial Stability Fund, has successfully completed the process. According to the official message, the issue of new shares and bonds totalling 400 million has been fully covered.

The increase in the share capital through cash payments with preferential rights as regards the old shares to the amount of 199,406,822.10 euro took place between 11-25 June. After exercising the preferential right, 65.76% of the requirements were covered through the payment of a total of 131,121,386.4 euro, equalling 437,071,288 new registered shares.

Bearing in mind the investor interest in covering the unsold shares, the final percentage of the share capital increase exceeds 100%. On the other hand, 54.07% of the issued bond loan to the amount of 199,406,822.10 euro or 664,689,407 bonds were covered through the payment of 107,813,673.6 euro. The strong investor interest shows that the coverage of the bond issue will exceed 100%. Considering all this, the management board of Αttica Bank has announced a meeting on 2 July, Tuesday, to ascertain the number of unsold shares and bonds and to take the actions planned.

 

Tags: RecapitalizationYiannis KostopoulosPost BankAlpha BankAttica Bank
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