ATHENS--Greece's Eurobank Ergasias SA (EUROB.AT), the country's
third-largest lender by assets, said Wednesday its top priorities
are preserving its capital strength and liquidity after deposit
outflows picked up in recent months due to concerns about the
country's financial stability.
The bank reported a fourth-quarter net loss of 523.7 million
euros ($560 million), broadly in line with market expectations,
down from a loss of EUR913.1 million in the same period a year
earlier. Loan loss provisions reached EUR741.7 million, down from
EUR647.1 million.
"The macroeconomic and financial environment in Greece remains
particularly challenging and uncertain," said Eurobank Chairman
Nikolaos Karamouzis in a statement. "Our priority is to preserve
the capital strength of the bank, to ensure sufficient liquidity
for the group and support our customers."
Greek banks have been hit hard by the country's protracted
financial crisis and are being squeezed by both rising bad loans,
due to Greece's six-year long recession, and a greatly shrunken
deposit base as savers have either drawn down their accounts or
else sent their money abroad out of concern over the stability of
the banking system.
Eurobank said its deposits were down EUR1.8 billion at the end
of the year at EUR40.9 billion. Although deposit outflows have
subsided since the end of February, when Greece clinched a
four-month extension to its bailout from international creditors,
the downward trend has yet to be reversed, the lender said.
Additionally, its reliance on eurosystem funding rose to EUR12.5
billion from EUR9.1 billion at the end of September.
For the last three months of the year, its net interest rose
4.1% on a quarterly basis to EUR394 million due to a lower cost of
deposits.
Write to Stelio Bouras at stelios.bouras@wsj.com
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