Contacts and presentations shortly after the “Cyprus Confidential” revelations, a period when the name Cyprus “played” so much
Asking Ms. Pavlou to do a “namedropping” of the investment funds that the Group met with the intention of “Long” investments, she indicated three names, Amundi, Schroder and Fidelity.
By Panagiotis Rougalas
The Bank of Cyprus is back in London for investment contacts, just two months after its last visit to the core of investment interest. This time at the “Greek Investment Conference” organized in the British capital by the Athens Stock Exchange and Morgan Stanley, the management team of the Bank of Cyprus proceeded with contacts and presentations shortly after the revelations of “Cyprus Confidential” by ICIJ journalists, period that the name Cyprus “played” so much. And not of course with positive coloring. The management team of the Bank of Cyprus, which is the only bank representing Cyprus at this conference, consists of the CEO of BoC, Mr. Panikos Nikolaou, the executive director of the Bank's Finance Department, Eliza Livadiotou and the director of the Investor Relations Department and The bank's ESG, Ms. Annita Pavlou, is convincingly trying to promote the bank and by extension Cyprus.
Focusing on the Bank of Cyprus, the management team had meetings on the two days of the conference (November 27 and 28) with 16 “Long only” investment funds. As the director of the Investor Relations and ESG Department of the bank, Mrs. Annita Pavlou, commented to “K”, the discussions with “Long only” investment funds are a very important aspect, as they had the opportunity to present the investment history of the Bank of Cyprus to the largest investment funds. funds that focus on the region. Ms. Pavlou in the short communication she had with “K” said that the investment history of the Bank of Cyprus compares favorably with Greek banks, therefore she considers that it was also an excellent opportunity to present herself. Asking to make a “namedropping” of the investment funds with the intention of “Long” investments, he indicated three names, Amundi, Schroder and Fidelity. The aim of the Bank's contacts with investment funds with the direction of “Long” investments is to enter either for shares or for bonds. Finally, regarding the bank, the Athex conference – Morgan Stanley – liked the investment “story” of the Bank of Cyprus, what remains now is for there to be projects and for the interested investors not to be left with words. It is recalled that, the Bank expects the Return on Tangible Equity (ROTE) for 2023 to exceed the 17% target it set for 2023, even though the ROTE for the 4th quarter of 2023 is projected to decrease slightly compared to the nine-month levels of 2023. ROTE Performance for the nine months of 2023 was at 24.6% and 25.6% for the 3rd quarter.
The management team met on both days of the conference (November 27 and 28 ) with 16 “Long only” investment funds.
Zero disclosure questions
As said, the contacts and presentations to the investors were made a few days after the revelations of “Cyprus Confidential”, that the name of Cyprus appeared everywhere with a negative sign. What was conveyed to “K” is that despite the negative reports of Cyprus, there was not a single question from the foreign investors that focused on this context, with the questions strictly focused on the development of the bank and the projects it has achieved.< /p>
Interest was also shown in the economic indicators presented by the country, such as the rate of growth, unemployment, public debt and others. As can be seen, the aim is to explore the investment opportunities in Cyprus on an expanded basis.
Investment grade
As the Bank of Cyprus notes in its recent results for the nine months of 2023, which presented profits of 349 million euros, the financial performance of the Group is directly linked to the economic and operational environment in Cyprus. In November 2023, Fitch Ratings upgraded the Bank's long-term rating to BB from B+, while maintaining a positive outlook. The two-notch upgrade reflects a combination of the improved assessment of the Cypriot operating environment by Fitch Ratings as well as the continued improvement of the Bank's credit profile, strengthened capital, reduced stock of old non-performing assets and improved profitability.
In October 2023, Moody's Investors Service upgraded the Bank's long-term credit rating to investment grade Baa3 from Ba1, maintaining the positive outlook. As recorded, the main factors for this upgrade are the continued resilience of the Cypriot Economy and lending conditions as well as the continued improvement in the Bank's solvency, the further steady improvement in the quality of the loan portfolio and capital ratios, as well as the significant improvement of the Bank's profitability resulting from net banking activities.
In April 2023, S&P Global Ratings affirmed the Bank's long-term credit rating at BB- and revised the outlook to positive from stable. The revised outlook reflects the possibility of further progress in Cyprus' operating environment, and in particular with a substantial reduction in financing risks.
