Thrivest’s plans for Attica
The shareholders of Thrivest, which will participate with 30 million euros in the Attica Bank capital increase by acquiring, in this phase, 4.93% of its share capital, aim to create a single bank. This will be achieved through the merger of Attica with Pancreta – after the absorption of HSBC and the Cooperative Bank of Central Macedonia – enabling the creation of a so-called fifth pillar, which will expand competition in the banking system.
The success of the venture will be judged in the coming months, as the banks involved under the directions of the new shareholder and the watchdog must effectively manage a heavy portfolio of bad loans of almost €3.8 billion.
Attica’s management has already announced it has reached an agreement to buy back the Metexelixis securitization bond, so as to realize the bank’s complete disinvestment from that securitization.
For its part, Pancreta has a loan portfolio of €1.7 billion, of which €1.1 billion is classified as overdue (64%). In addition to the high percentage of bad loans, the bank has a low percentage of coverage, at 35%, while together with the coverage, the percentage of provisions is around 88%.
