Greek banks have expanded their presence in south east Europe in the expectation of boosting their market share, writes Kerin Hope.

The chairman of Alpha Bank says its outlay of E78m to become the official banking sponsor for the Athens Olympics was money very well spent.

A raft of favourable economic conditions has facilitated a long-overdue reversal of fortunes for Greece’s key financial institutions. Stephen Timewell reports from Athens.

South east Europe is growing fast and the major banks in the region, particularly the Greek banks, are rapidly expanding their capital base as they expand their networks into neighbouring countries. This year’s Top 50 South East European banks listing shows that aggregate Tier 1 capital has risen by 33.6% to $32bn from $24bn in last year’s listing. Some of the major Greek banks significantly increased their capital to support future expansion. National Bank of Greece (NBG), the largest bank in the region, increased its Tier 1 capital by 58.8% to $3.71bn at the end of 2003 thereby markedly raising its Tier 1 capital adequacy ratio from 7.4% to 10.3%. Alpha Bank also saw Tier 1 capital rise by a significant 48.9% to $2.64bn. Panayotis Thomopoulos, deputy governor of the Bank of Greece, believes Greek banks have the highest levels of Tier 1 capital in the EU at 10%.

The determination of Spain to maintain normality after March’s attacks in Madrid served to highlight the nation’s strength.

The Madrid bomb blast may have changed the election outcome but Spain’s strong economic performance is unlikely to be affected. Jules Stewart reports.

Spanish banks have had an uphill struggle in Latin America but now the continent is delivering returns at the same time as the domestic market remains buoyant. Jules Stewart reports.
Last month’s terrorist attacks in Madrid may have raised a question mark over Spain’s political agenda, but for the banks it is business as usual, only more so. The outlook for 2004 is for continued growth inoperating profits.

Spain’s public debt market has been strengthened by sound fiscal management, above-average economic growth and improved liquidity.

The big, profit-hungry banks that have emerged from consolidation in Iceland are now hoping to gain a following abroad, reports Michael Imeson.