ATHENS (Reuters) -Greek lender Eurobank, the country’s largest by market capitalisation, said on Thursday that it will distribute an interim dividend of 170 million euros after announcing a strong profit for the first half of the year.
The bank reported adjusted net earnings for the January-June period of 711 million euros ($812.96 million), slightly down from a record profit of 732 million euros a year earlier.
Chief Executive Fokion Karavias told analysts on a call that profit was “progressing according to our expectations”.
“For the full year 2025 we have been committed to at least a 50% payout ratio… meaning that this may be higher than 50%,” Karavias said, pointing to stronger than expected loan growth.
Greek banks are returning to profit after they were nationalised following a financial meltdown in late 2009 amid the country’s debt crisis, requiring several capital injections from the government. They were fully privatised last year.
The European Central Bank (ECB) has approved requests by Greece’s four largest lenders to resume dividend payments for 2024 after 16 years, a further sign of the sector’s recovery and the country’s economic rebound.
Eurobank, which also operates in Bulgaria and Cyprus, said in a statement that its net interest income rose 12% year-on-year to 1.27 billion euros while its non-performing loan exposure (NPE) ratio fell to 2.8% from 3.1% a year earlier.
Net fees jumped 29% to 364 million euros, mainly boosted by network activities and its wealth management business.
($1 = 0.8746 euros)
(Reporting by Lefteris Papadimas; Editing by Kirsten Donovan)
