EFG Eurobank Ergasias: 1st Half-Year 2000 Results

The procedures for the legal merger of EFG Eurobank and Ergobank were completed today, Thursday, 7 September 2000. The new bank resulting from the merger trades under the name EFG Eurobank Ergasias S.A. Following the completion of the legal merger, EFG Eurobank Ergasias announces net profits before tax, for the group, of GRD 76.5 billion for the first half of 2000.
In the comparisons that follow, figures relating to 30 June 1999 represent the combined figures of EFG Eurobank and Ergobank, which gives a better picture of the organic development of the new EFG Eurobank Ergasias. The results for the first six months of 2000 confirm the continuing dynamic development of the Group, despite the intense occupation of both banks' staff with merger-related work. The Management of EFG Eurobank Ergasias anticipates a significant increase in profitability as of 2001, in line with the rapid organisational convergence of the two banks currently under way. The detailed results of EFG Eurobank Ergasias for the first half of 2000, compared with the corresponding period of 1999, are as follows:

Total assets of the Group amounted to GRD 5,561 bn, representing a 31 per cent increase. Total deposits came to GRD 4,098 bn, an increase of 25 per cent. Loans and advances saw an even more significant increase, of 48 per cent, rising to GRD 2,436 bn.

The Group's net earnings from interest increased 30 per cent to reach GRD 90,4 bn, which is indicative of the Group's ability to realise organic revenues, in spite of growing competition. It is worth noting that EFG Eurobank Ergasias maintained the net interest margin at a particularly high level, namely 3.4 per cent, confirming its leading position in the fields of consumer and housing credit, as well as in the area of loans and advances to small- and medium-sized enterprises.

In addition, and related to the Bank's expansion into new and relatively high-yield areas, revenues from investment-banking business have already exceeded revenues from that area for the whole of the financial year 1999.

The Group's net profits before tax (excluding extraordinary revenues and results), notwithstanding the unfavourable conditions that prevailed on the Athens Stock Exchange, amounted to GRD 76.3 bn, an increase of approximately 8 per cent over the corresponding period of 1999, thus maintaining the pre-tax yield on assets at the particularly high level of 2.9 per cent.

At Group level, the equity of EFG Eurobank Ergasias exceeds GRD 772 bn, even after deducting the goodwill arising from recent acquisitions, which results in the second largest net capitalisation among Greek banks. At the same time, the solvency index of the Bank is over 18 per cent, much higher than the 8 per cent minimum required by the Bank of Greece. This will permit the unimpeded growth of the new bank at even higher rates, once the merger process is completed.
The merger will also bring about a change in the weighting of EFG Eurobank Ergasias in the MSCI Greece index. It is expected that EFG Eurobank Ergasias will participate in the adjusted index with a 9 per cent coefficient, which reflects the actual weight of EFG Eurobank Ergasias on the Athens Stock Exchange.