Moody’s hails Alpha plan as a credit positive

Moody’s said in a note on Monday that Alpha Bank’s plan for the reduction of its bad-loan stockpile to about 3.5 billion euros by end-2022 from 19.2 billion in September is a “credit positive,” as it tackles the biggest challenge the lender currently faces through the securitization of its nonperforming exposures portfolio.

Although it leads to a reduction of its core tier capital ratio by 350 basis points, from 18.3 percent in September, the Alpha blueprint will release significant resources and increase its market financing, according to Moody’s.