Alpha Bank reports lower Q3 profit, upbeat for 2023

Alpha Bank, Greece’s third-largest lender by market value, reported lower net earnings in July-to-September compared with the second quarter on weaker fees and commissions but stronger net interest income.

Alpha Bank, which is 9% owned by Greece’s HFSF bank rescue fund, reported net earnings of 92.7 million euros ($93.01 million) versus a net profit of 117.3 million euros in the second quarter.

Alpha Bank delivered nine-month 2022 net earnings of 335.4 million euros ($336.71 million) after a loss of 2.498 billion in the same period a year earlier.

“This strong performance allows us to upgrade our profitability outlook for 2022 to 7% (from 6%),” Chief Executive Vassilis Psaltis said. “Net interest income increased by 12% quarter-on-quarter, to a large extent driven by loan growth.”

With Greece’s economy projected to expand by 2.0% next year, well above the EU average, the outlook for Alpha is “equally positive,” he said.

Improvements in the economy and lower problem loans prompted ratings agency Moody’s to upgrade Greek banks earlier this week.

Loan growth and a positive impact from higher interest rates helped Alpha increase its net interest income by 12% to 339 million euros in the third quarter. Net fee and commission income fell 6.2% quarter-on-quarter to 92.9 million euros.

Loan impairment provisions fell 34.7% quarter-on-quarter to 58.3 million euros with the bank’s stock of so-called non-performing exposures (NPEs) in Greece flat at 3.2 billion euros.

Alpha Bank’s NPE ratio at a group level declined 20 basis points from the second quarter to 8.0% with clients’ payment behaviour “relatively resilient despite persistent inflation and higher energy costs,” it said. 

[Reuters]