Lenders in Greece have increased their shipping activity as rival banks’ positions shrank.
Petrofin Research said in a report cited by Kathimerini that maritime lending increased 12.25% in 2023 among Greek banks.
International banks without a Greek presence saw business drop 9.59%, Petrofin calculated.
Foreign lenders with no presence in the country logged a 2.23% fall in lending.
Greek banks had put on 3.7% in 2022, continuing an upward trend noted since 2017.
Eurobank was leading the way with 16% growth and has the largest shipping portfolio among domestic banks at €4bn ($4.3bn).
The lender comes in second overall to Swiss-based UBS, which has €5.1bn. UBS saw ship financing cut by 7.2%, however, Petrofin said.
Third place was taken by Piraeus Bank, whose lending rose 12.6% to €3.7bn.
Alpha Bank was placed fourth on €3.69bn.
This was up 4.5% from 2022.
National Bank followed on €3.3bn, logging a rise of 19.5% in shipping lending.
New entrant
Petrofin also said the entry of Pancreta into Greek ship finance was “noteworthy”.
The bank has racked up a portfolio of €74m.
In 2022, Thrivest Holding, owned by Dimitris Bakos, Yiannis Kaimenakis and Alexandros Exarchou, invested €65m to buy new shares in Pancreta in a capital increase.
It became the biggest shareholder with a 32.38% stake
Loans to Greek shipowners by banks overall globally dropped 2% last year, Petrofin research showed.
