Coops see € 15 mln in Q1 profits

The Cooperative Central Bank announced net profits of EUR 15 mln for the first quarter of the year and profits of EUR 196 mln before provisions for impairment of loans and advances for 2013, according to preliminary results.

This follows a EUR 1.5 bln government bailout and subsequent nationalisation as part of the wider economic adjustment programme imposed by the Troika of international lenders to Cyprus.

As a result, the island’s 193 Cooperative Societies have been merged into 18 regional Coop banks, wholly-owned by the Cooperative Central Bank.

CCB Committee President Nicolas Hadjiyiannis spoke of a ‘historic milestone’ and vouched to continue efforts to meet society’s expectations.

Total provisions on December 31 for impairment of loans and advances come to EUR 2.6 bln increasing the coverage ratio of nonperforming loans (NPLs) to 42%.

The new provisions for 2013 come to EUR 1.9 bln in accordance with the sector’s restructuring plan which should have been taken into account years ago since they are related to figures which have been present well in advance of 2013.

Total capital, having taken into consideration the recapitalisation and having taken out predictions for the impairment of the loan portfolio, come to EUR 1.2 bln, with a Core Tier 1 capital of 12.1%, a press release said.

Efforts to reduce expenditure are ongoing with a projection of net savings of EUR 300 mln over the next five years.

At the same time, the Cooperative sector has no dependence on ELA and has sufficient liquidity.

In a statement, Hadjiyiannis spoke of “a historic milestone”, since for the first time in the history of the cooperative movement consolidated accounts abiding by the strict standards of the ECB have been prepared.

He added that the intention is “to shield our balance sheet and at the same time deal with the past in an efficient manner”, something which according to him is ‘clearly illustrated’.