National Bank group (NBG) on Tuesday reported 2022 after-tax profits reaching 1.120 billion euros, reflecting a 45-percent jump in the lender’s core profitability to 664 million euros.
NBG cited a strong recovery of net interest revenue, an impressive rise of net revenue from transaction commissions and a de-escalation of credit risk cost to 70 basis points throughout the past year.
NBG said its international activities recorded after-tax profits of 59 million euros in 2022, after a loss of 13 million euros in 2021.
In presenting the ATHEX-listed credit institution’s results to bank analysts, National Bank CEO Pavlos Mylonas said NBG also in talks with the Hellenic Financial Stability Fund (HFSF) over the prospect of a share buyback plan, while he added that a response on the dividend plan was expected by the end of July.
Mylonas said the bank was examining a Tier 2 bond issue in the second half of 2023 and that NBG is also studying other options in the framework of its MREL obligations.
National Bank said core profitability totaled 700 million euros in 2022, up from a guidance of 500 million, while after tax profits were up 29 percent on an annual basis. The bank’s NPE ratio dropped by around 80 bps on a quarterly basis and by around 180 bps on a year-on-year basis to 5.1 percent in Greece (5.2 percent at the Group level).
Domestic NPE coverage rose from 70 bps to a high of 88 percent.
