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Hellenic Bank

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Hellenic Bank Public Company
(Ελληνική Τράπεζα)
Native name
Ελληνική Τράπεζα Δημόσια Εταιρεία Λτδ
Company typePublic limited company
CSE: HB
IndustryBanking, financial services
Founded1976
HeadquartersNicosia, Cyprus
Number of locations
53 branches (Q4 2023)
Area served
Republic of Cyprus
Key people
Petros Christodoulou (Chairman)
Michalis Louis (CEO)
Revenue€680.3 million (2023)[1]
€405.2 million (2023)[2]
€365.4 million (2023)[3]
Total assets€20.1 billion (2023)[4]
Total equity€1.506 billion (2023) [5]
OwnerEurobank (68.81%)
Demetra Holdings Plc (21.3%)
[6][7]
Number of employees
2,255 (Q1 2024)
SubsidiariesPancyprian Insurance, Hellenic Life, CNP Asfalistiki
Capital ratioCapital Ratio: 22.8% fully loaded CET1 (2023)
Websitewww.hellenicbank.com

Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd (Greek: Ελληνική Τράπεζα Δημόσια Εταιρία Λτδ; CSE: HB) is a bank in Cyprus. It has been designated as a Significant Institution since the entry into force of European Banking Supervision in late 2014, and as a consequence is directly supervised by the European Central Bank.[8][9]

History

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The bank was founded in 1976 with technical assistance from Bank of America and in 1996 it bought the local operations of Barclays Bank.[citation needed] A major shareholder (29%) was traditionally and for many years, the Church of Cyprus. Between November 2013 and December 2014, the Church's shareholding shrank to 0.3% making it a small shareholder, after Greek bank Eurobank Ergasias holding 68.81% and Cyprus based Demetra Holdings Plc with 21%, (Logicom Plc the owner of Demetra Holdings Plc also holds c 4% direct shareholding in the bank).[10] The board is composed of representatives of the top two shareholders.

In January 2011, Hellenic Bank started operating in Russia but later, in 2014, sold the Russian operation[11][12] The bank also had representative offices in Kyiv (Ukraine), St Petersburg and Moscow (Russia) as well as South Africa but later shut them down. It was also opening a representative office in Athens, Greece in 2017.[13]

On 25 March 2013 Hellenic Bank sold its Greek branches to Piraeus Bank. As of 27 March 2013, former Hellenic Bank customers could use the ATMs of all Piraeus Bank Group banks (Piraeus Bank & ATEbank, Geniki Bank and former Bank of Cyprus and CPB Bank networks) free of charge. The process of merging the operations of the former Hellenic Bank network in Greece into Piraeus Bank was completed in mid-July 2013. This was followed by the closure of the vast majority of the former Hellenic Bank branches and the dismissal of its personnel.[14]

In 2015 EBRD acquired a 5.4% share in Hellenic Bank.[15]

In 2016, Hellenic Bank received a Global Finance Magazine award for the third consecutive year as the Best Digital Bank in Cyprus [16] and was upgraded to B rating by Fitch.[17]

In July 2017, Hellenic Bank sold 51% of its Arrears Management Division (2.3bn Euro in Non Performing Exposures and 150mn Euro in property), including its Debt Recovery Unit and Property Management Unit to Czech specialised firm APS Holdings a.s and created a new company in which it is a minority 49% shareholder: APS Debt Servicing Cyprus Ltd. 129 Hellenic Bank employees will move to the new company.[18]

In July 2018, Hellenic Bank purchased the performing loans and deposits of the Cyprus Cooperative Bank, including 75 branches and 1,100 staff, raising €150mn in new capital and making it the second largest Cypriot Bank with a 31% share of the Cypriot deposit market and 20% of the loans market. Youssef Nasr became chairman of the board of Directors.

In August 2019, Evripides Polycarpou became chairman of the board of Directors. In July 2021 German Oliver Gatzke became CEO.[19]

On the 30th of November 2022, Wargaming Group Limited announced that it reached an agreement to sell a holding of 13.41% (55,337,721 Shares) of Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd to Eurobank for a consideration of €70 million.[20] If the agreement goes through by the supervisory authorities in Frankfurt, Eurobank will be the major shareholder of the bank with a 26.1% ownership.[21]

Early in January 2023, Eurobank announced the acquisition of a 3.2% holding (13,230,000 shares) in Hellenic Bank Public Company Limited from funds managed by Senvest Management LLC, for a consideration of €16.74m, therefore increasing the total holding to 29.2%.[22]

The Bank's NPLs dropped after the completion of Starlight Project. The project was a transaction package that included the securitization of NPLs amounting to approximately €1.4 billion (Starlight Portfolio) on December 31, 2022, and the sale of the Bank's platform, APS Debt Servicer. APS was sold to Themis Portfolio Management Ltd, an indirect subsidiary of Oxalis Holding S.A.R.L., which is managed and advised by PIMCO. The Bank's NPL Ratio, excluding NPLs covered by the Asset Protection Program (APP) dropped to 3.6% from 13.5%.[23] In June 2023 Christos Themistocleous became interim chairman. In August 2023 Antonis Rouvas became interim CEO. In January 2024 Greek banker Petros Christodoulou was approved by the European Central Bank as Chairman. Christos Themistocleous returned to the Vice Chairman role. In September 2024 Michalis Louis became CEO.

See also

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References

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  1. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/content/api/contentstream-id/ba122ca0-b615-4054-878e-cf272e6e3254/80561a4c-c994-44da-be07-442e8bc50753/PDF/Announcements/2021/Annual%20Financial%20Results%20for%202020/Annual%20Financial%20Report%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2031%20December%202020-EN-new.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  2. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/content/api/contentstream-id/ba122ca0-b615-4054-878e-cf272e6e3254/80561a4c-c994-44da-be07-442e8bc50753/PDF/Announcements/2021/Annual%20Financial%20Results%20for%202020/Annual%20Financial%20Report%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2031%20December%202020-EN-new.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  3. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/content/api/contentstream-id/ba122ca0-b615-4054-878e-cf272e6e3254/80561a4c-c994-44da-be07-442e8bc50753/PDF/Announcements/2021/Annual%20Financial%20Results%20for%202020/Annual%20Financial%20Report%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2031%20December%202020-EN-new.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  4. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/content/api/contentstream-id/ba122ca0-b615-4054-878e-cf272e6e3254/80561a4c-c994-44da-be07-442e8bc50753/PDF/Announcements/2021/Annual%20Financial%20Results%20for%202020/Annual%20Financial%20Report%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2031%20December%202020-EN-new.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  5. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/content/api/contentstream-id/ba122ca0-b615-4054-878e-cf272e6e3254/80561a4c-c994-44da-be07-442e8bc50753/PDF/Announcements/2021/Annual%20Financial%20Results%20for%202020/Annual%20Financial%20Report%20for%20the%20year%20ended%2031%20December%202020-EN-new.pdf [bare URL PDF]
  6. ^ "Η Eurobank ανακοινώνει τη σύναψη συμφωνίας για την απόκτηση ποσοστού 13,41% στην Ελληνική Τράπεζα".
  7. ^ https://www.hellenicbank.com/portalserver/hb-en-portal/en/about-us/investor-relations/show-me/stock-information [bare URL]
  8. ^ "The list of significant supervised entities and the list of less significant institutions" (PDF). European Central Bank. 4 September 2014.
  9. ^ "List of supervised entities" (PDF). European Central Bank. 1 January 2023.
  10. ^ "Phileleftheros dot com - Hellenic: The 55 largest shareholders (list) in Greek". Philenews.com. Retrieved 30 March 2019.
  11. ^ "Cypriot Bank to Enter Russian Market in 2011 | Business | the Moscow Times". Archived from the original on 2010-06-28. Retrieved 2010-06-25.
  12. ^ "Announcement Variation". Oam.cse.com.cy. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  13. ^ "Hellenic Bank Public Company Ltd - Representative Offices". Archived from the original on 2016-10-21. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  14. ^ "Sale of the branches of the three Cypriot banks in Greece - Central Bank of Cyprus". Archived from the original on 2016-10-02. Retrieved 2016-09-29.
  15. ^ "EBRD acquires 5.4% share in Hellenic Bank". Sigmalive.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  16. ^ "Ελληνική Τράπεζα: Καλύτερη Ηλεκτρονική Τράπεζα Ιδιωτών & Επιχειρήσεων στην Κύπρο". Stockwatch.com. 24 August 2016. Archived from the original on 21 October 2016. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  17. ^ "Fitch upgrades two Cyprus banks' ratings to 'stable' - News". Sigmalive.com. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  18. ^ "HB: Νέα εταιρεία για NPLs €2,4 δισ". Stockwatch.com. 11 January 2017. Archived from the original on 16 January 2017. Retrieved 13 August 2018.
  19. ^ "Hellenic Bank appoints German finance specialist Oliver Gatzke CEO | Cyprus Mail". cyprus-mail.com/. 2021-03-23. Retrieved 2023-06-16.
  20. ^ "Wargaming Group announces agreement to sell Hellenic Bank share to Eurobank". Cyprus-Mail.com. 2 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  21. ^ "Eurobank to become Hellenic Bank main shareholder". Cyprus-Mail.com. 1 December 2022. Retrieved 20 December 2022.
  22. ^ "Eurobank further increases its stake in Hellenic Bank". stockwatch.com.cy. 2 January 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
  23. ^ "Hellenic Bank: Completion of Starlight Project". stockwatch.com.cy. 31 March 2023. Retrieved 12 May 2023.
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