Greek Postal Savings Bank H1 net up 25 pct, beats expectations

Greek Postal Savings Bank said its first-half group net profits rose 25 pct to 100 mln eur on solid lending growth, trading gains and improved cost control.

A poll of analysts by Thomson Financial News had forecast flat net profits at 80 mln eur.

First-half net interest income was up 20 pct to 144.5 mln eur which was ahead of analysts forecasts of 140 mln eur. The net interest margin for the second quarter settled at 2.45 pct which was better than forecasts of 2.3 pct.

The bank said that it had trading gains of 70.9 mln eur compared to 81.5 mln eur for the same time last year.

Fee and commission income for the six-month period was down about 50 pct to 5.2 mln eur slightly lower than expectations of 5.5 mln eur while operating expenses were down 11.6 pct to 102.4 mln eur from 115.4 mln eur for the same time last year.

The loan to deposit ratio rose to 50.5 pct from 39.5 pct a year ago.

The president of the bank Panos Tsoupidis said that the bank continued to widen its market share in retail banking and is making strides in its restructuring program.

Tsoupidis added that total loans rose to 5.61 bln eur from 4.04 bln eur from the same time last year.