Eurobank EFG was selected, for the fifth time, as the “Bank of the Year 2007” for Greece by “The Banker”, magazine published the Financial Times Press Group.
The magazine has launched the annual “Bank of the Year” awards in order to select the most successful and best performing banking institution in each country. The distinction awarded to Eurobank EFG comes with the citation that: “In the past year, Eurobank EFG exceeded analysts’ expectations in terms of profitability while conducting a busy expansion campaign in Europe’s promising banking markets. The bank’s plan is to become a leading player in central and southern Europe, which had a very promising beginning in 2006”.
The announcement of The Banker award is accompanied by a statement of the bank’s Chief Executive Officer, Mr. Nicholas Nanopoulos, who notes that: “We are extremely pleased to receive the “2007 Bank of the Year for Greece” award. This was a landmark year for Eurobank EFG, as the Group achieved strong business growth, strengthened its position and recorded superior financial results, by offering top quality services to its clients and applying effective risk management procedures. Especially, outside Greece, the Group continued building its footprint in seven countries of the wider region of Central and Southeastern Europe. Today, Eurobank EFG employs a network of approximately 1,500 branches and points of sale in Greece and abroad and continues its robust and profitable expansion. The successful completion of the share capital increase by €1.2 billion, enables the Group to accelerate its organic growth in the countries that it is already present and expand into new countries that demonstrate significant development prospects. We are on track to meet or exceed the ambitious financial targets that we have announced for the period 2007-2010”.
It should be noted that the evaluation criteria used by The Banker’s special committee include, inter alia, results, growth rates, performance, capital adequacy and assets quality. In addition, the bank’s overall activity during the period under evaluation is also taken into consideration based on its performance and the quality of its operations.