National swings to losses as Eurobank adds profits

National Bank of Greece turned loss-making in the second quarter after booking higher bad debt provisions.

National, which is 40 percent owned by the country’s bank rescue fund (HFSF) after its recapitalization last year, on Wednesday reported a net loss of 23 million euros, excluding assets held for sale and discontinued operations, versus a profit of 26 million in the first quarter.

Provisions for impaired credit in Greece rose in April-June as a small number of corporate loans lapsed into default, it said.

Nonperforming credit dropped to 33.3 percent of its loan book in the second quarter from 33.6 percent at the end of March.

Eurobank reported a net profit for the second consecutive quarter in April-June but net earnings shrank due to higher provisions for impaired loans.

Greece’s third-largest lender by assets, which is 2.4 percent owned by HFSF after its recapitalization, reported net earnings of 46 million euros versus a profit of 60 million euros in Q1.

Credit loss provisions rose 27 percent quarter-on-quarter to 222 million euros from 175 million in the first quarter.

Nonperforming loans eased slightly to 34.7 percent of its loan book from 34.8 percent at end-March.

[Reuters]