Greece’s four systemic banks revised upwards their annual goals for profitability and credit expansion, as well as for the dividend they will distribute over the next two years, receiving a boost from the unprecedented operating results of the nine-month period.
The four credit institutions recorded a combined profit of 3.683 billion euros in the first nine months of 2024, as a result of higher-than-expected credit growth, continued growth in interest and fee income, stabilization of the deposit mix and stable organic costs.
Faster reduction of DTC
The banks took a joint decision to allocate a part of their liquidity towards faster depreciation of deferred tax credit (DTCs) with the aim of eliminating them from their balance sheets by 2032-33.
Dividend up to 50% in 2025
As a result of the strong profitability, banks have revised their estimates for the dividend that they will distribute to their shareholders in 2025 (from the profits of 2024) and 2026 (from the profits of 2025). According to the analysts, Eurobank and National Bank plan to distribute a dividend of up to 50% (from 40%) in 2025, while Alpha Bank and Piraeus set the bar at 35% for the following year and they raise it to 50% for 2026.
Higher grants
The four systemic banks are accelerating their credit expansion by upgrading their estimates for the current year. National Bank announced disbursements of more than 5 billion euros in the nine months. Piraeus Bank is confident that it will achieve the goal of net credit expansion of more than 1.6 billion euros by the end of the year, said Group CEO Christos Megalou. In terms of credit growth, Alpha estimates it will reach 2 billion euros this year, with CEO Vassilis Psaltis reporting that the pace of lending to businesses stood at 10% in 2024, a trend expected to continue in the fourth quarter of year, contributing to a positive growth base for 2025. Finally, Eurobank also recorded a strong performance in the area of credit expansion, which led to an upwards revision of the estimate by 1 billion euros to 3.5 billion euros on an annual basis.
