Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank have changes that will change the balances inside and outside
By Panagiotis Rougalas
September is expected to be full for the two major banks of Cyprus, with developments that will bring big changes. On the one hand, the Bank of Cyprus is leaving London (LSE) in September and entering the Athens Stock Exchange (ATH), and on the other hand, changes are expected in the high offices of the Hellenic Bank, with persons from the major shareholder – Eurobank. They are two events that will change the balance within the banks, for different reasons each.
The Bank of Cyprus will leave the London Stock Exchange after 7.5 years of a “strategic commitment” by the Bank – as it emphasized at the time – to list its shares on a major European stock exchange. Seeing the announcements at the time that accompanied the decisions that had been made for the bank, the visibility of the Group was indeed enhanced, and indeed it gained greater access to international markets. The above was certainly not only from the Bank's inclusion in the LSE, but also the result of the cuts it made and had stalled in the years that followed. It is recalled that, at that time, the Group had left the Athens Stock Exchange to join the London Stock Exchange.
The “Listing” on A.A. of BoC will take place on September 23, 2024 and the Board of the Bank believes that this move will bring a number of benefits for the company and shareholders
Hellenic Bank, on the other hand, will see – in September after the Annual General Meeting (AGM) of September 18 that it will hold – major changes at the level of the Board of Directors, but probably also in its leadership pyramid. Eurobank will gain representation on the Board of Directors of Hellenic Bank, which since the summer of 2021, although it had more than 10% of the bank, had left it in the “flow”. At the same time, it is “heard” that some high-ranking executives – as “K” wrote again – will be replaced, or will see people from Eurobank close to them. The aim is for Eurobank to proceed with the plan it has for Hellenic Bank, as the major shareholder of 55.9%.
Delete from LSE
The Bank of Cyprus announced that on September 13, the approval of its listing on the Athens Stock Exchange (ATH) will proceed, but at the same time, its delisting from the London Stock Exchange (LSE) will also proceed. The Board believes that the listing and delisting have the potential to deliver a number of long-term strategic benefits to both the company and shareholders, and strengthen the company's market presence. In particular, the Board believes that the listing and delisting have the potential to enhance liquidity in the Ordinary Shares and enhance the market visibility of the company to a potentially wider investor base by listing it in a market compatible with its profile. company. Additionally, as the bank emphasizes, transactions in the more centralized system of the AX market. and the increased possibility for comparison with peer banks, may attract long-term institutional shareholders to the company. remain an Irish company and a tax resident of Cyprus, or in the company's subsidiaries and it is clarified that no change is proposed to the listing of the company on the Cyprus Stock Exchange.
The marriage so far
According to Eurobank's results for the first quarter of 2024, the company's adjusted net profits reached 383 million euros for the first quarter of 2024, while 92 million of them came to the Eurobank group from Eurobank Cyprus and Hellenic Bank. From its investment in Hellenic, the Eurobank group made an adjusted net profit of €41 million, while €52 million came from Eurobank Cyprus' operations – which have been consistently profitable.
As it is “heard in the corridors”, Eurobank is expected to return with a new public proposal at the beginning of 2025, as it is legally entitled to. Until then, the two entities, Hellenic and Eurobank Cyprus, will definitely run in parallel, with Hellenic implementing the plan that the parent company has for the bank. In Athens, moreover, at a special press conference held by Eurobank in March, the leaders made it clear that, with the 55 and more than a hundred they already had, they could implement what they had in mind for the bank. It is recalled that one point of Eurobank's plan is to create a representative office (Rep Office) in Mumbai, India and to use Cyprus as a customer base that will attract from India, Israel, and the Gulf. According to the head of Eurobank, as they had emphasized last March, Cyprus can offer significant advantages to companies coming from the above countries and become a “gateway” for their establishment in Cyprus and for the island to be the base operations they want to develop in Europe.
However, in Hellenic Bank ahead of the 50th annual general meeting of Hellenic Bank on September 18, they have resigned, or declared that they will not seek re-election to the new Board of Directors of Hellenic Bank Bank Dimitrios Efstathiou, Christodoulos Hadjistavris, Christos Themistokleous, John Gregory Iossifidis, Marios Maratheftis, Andreas Persianis and Marco Comastri.
