Greek shipping lender Eurobank has received offers for portfolios worth EUR 9.5bn ($10.7bn) as it continues to restructure.
It said sales have been provisionally arranged for a EUR 2bn securitisation of residential mortgage non-performing exposures (NPEs), code name Pillar, and for the first multi-asset- class NPE securitisation of EUR 7.5bn, known as Cairo.
It will also sell a majority stake in its NPE loan servicing company FPS.
"Having secured keen investor interest, we are moving forward in the next phase to get binding offers for Cairo and FPS within July and to select the preferred bidder for all three transactions," it said.
Loan provisions were cut to EUR 165m in the first quarter, down from EUR 167m in the same period of 2018.
Assets stood at EUR 58.83bn from EUR 57.98bn, while net profit was EUR 27m, versus EUR 57m in 2018.
Its NPE stock was cut by EUR 150m year-on-year, bringing the NPE ratio lower to 36.7%, the smallest figure among local peers.
“Full and timely implementation of our accelerated plan for the cleanup of our balance sheet remains our top priority," said CEO Fokion Karavias.
Liquidity improving
"Liquidity continued to improve, as we added a further EUR 340m to our deposit base, mainly driven from the Greek market and our international activities which are a constant contributor to the bank’s profitability."
He added: "As our accelerated plan for the cleanup of our balance sheet is executed in a timely manner, the focus will gradually shift more and more towards the financing of the economy, the growth of our loan book, business development across all areas which support fee and commission income and further cost containment.”
Net interest income dropped 3.4% to EUR 343m.
Last week the bank said Canadian tycoon Prem Watsa's Fairfax Financial Holdings became its biggest shareholder.
It increased its stake to 33.5%.
The bank said it had been told that the fund had lifted its stake from below 25%.
It now has 1.22bn voting rights in the bank's ordinary shares.
The holding is worth EUR 1.02bn.
