The Bank of Cyprus Thursday, August 30, announced better than anticipated half-yearly results with pre-tax profits reaching 46.1 million Cypriot pounds ($72.8 million), up from 43 million pounds over the same period last year.
The island's biggest bank said it was pleased with the performance, in view of the downturn on both the Nicosia and Athens stock exchanges where it has dual listings. A cash-strapped Cyprus Stock Exchange has lost over 35 percent of its value since the start of the year. Senior bank official Yiannis Kypri said the half-year results were "very satisfactory".
"The group is perhaps the only bank in Greece to report profits this year," he added.
Projected profits for 2001 are also expected to be up on last year's. The group made its results public, two days after disappointing half-yearly results from rival banking group Laiki. Laiki reported a decrease in profits.
By contrast, Bank of Cyprus said after-tax profits for the half-year were 32.4 million pounds, an increase of 12 percent over the first half of 2000. Total turnover reached 296.9 million pounds, up from 284.4 million pounds.
The group's total assets rose by 700 million pounds or 11.2 percent from the start of the year to total seven billion pounds by the end of June, said the bank. There was a significant increase in client deposits in Greece which rose by some 50 percent in the first six months of the year to total of 1.2 billion.
The bank said the group had invested heavily in the opening of a number of new branches in Greece and in the setting up of a full-fledged bank in Australia. — (AFP, Nicosia)
© Agence France Presse 2001
© 2001 Mena Report (www.menareport.com)
