The CEO of National Bank of Greece (NBG), Pavlos Mylonas, spoke about a dividend of 25%-30% during the presentation of the 2023 results.
Mylonas explained that after the approval for the bank’s dividend is completed and the Financial Stability Fund decides to sell the 18% of NBG’s share capital that it still owns, then the bank’s management will discuss buy back scenarios.
He also predicted interest rates of 3% for 2024 and 2.25% for 2025 based on the ECB’s estimated moves. However, he sees interest income unchanged for next year as the bank’s hedging totals 5 billion euros, while he expects an increase in financial expansion, a reduction in MREL costs, and a repricing of the bank’s fees.
The MREL target is 27.5% for 2025.
In response to a related question, Mylonas noted that in relation to the bank’s future investments, these mainly concern synergies in areas that the bank does not have expertise in, but he does not rule out that if there is a special and interesting project, this could be considered.
