Banks: HFSF to establish a roadmap for corporate NPLs resolution

 Tuesday’s positive reaction proved short lived and the market edged lower yesterday. The general index ended close to the day’s low with losses of 0.83%. Trading activity remained close to recently established levels at EUR83.9mn. Performance of the banking sector was mixed with the indicative index posting soft gains of 0.81% (Alpha Bank +2.30%, Eurobank +0.94%, Piraeus Bank +0.38%, and National Bank -0.33%). Selling pressure was evident among non-financials with Motor Oil (-5.41%), Ellaktor (-5.07%) and OTE (-4.11%) being the main laggards, while Jumbo (+1.37%) and Aegean (+0.57%) managed to end in positive trajectory. Ahead of today’s Eurogroup we would expect price swings to continue.

 Economy // Eurogroup today at 15:00 CET

Today’s Eurogroup meeting – due to kick off at 15:00 CET – has several items on the agenda, including Cyprus, national insolvency frameworks and the economic policy of the euro area for 2016. As far as the Greek issue is concerned, euro zone finance ministers will discuss the state of play in the implementation of the ESM program and the possible timeline for the first program assessment.

Economy // German FinMin reiterates that debt relief can only be discussed after successful conclusion of the current review

The Greek Finance Minister’s six-day tour concluded yesterday with talks with his German counterpart. The meeting was “constructive” according to the German Finance Ministry spokeswoman, with Mr. Schaeuble reiterating the view that Greece needs to continue sticking to its commitments. The German Minister also flagged once more that debt relief measures can only be discussed after the successful conclusion of the first program review.

Banks // HFSF to establish a roadmap for corporate NPLs resolution

According to capital.gr the HFSF is going to hire an advisor in order to support it on the establishment of a roadmap for the resolution of corporate NPLs. The HFSF will determine the framework based on which banks will cooperate in case of syndicated loans as well as the key criteria based on which banks will assess the viability of a borrower. The roadmap will include ‘due diligence’ in banks’ loan portfolios as well as specific targets for NPL resolution and other KPIs based on which the HFSF will monitor banks’ performance.

Piraeus Bank // HFSF requested CEO resignation according to press

Reportedly, the Chairman of the HFSF in a meeting yesterday with Piraeus Bank CEO requested his resignation. According to the same sources this development reflects the dissatisfaction also within the bank for the way he managed the recent capital raising. There are no official announcements so far either from the HFSF or Piraeus Bank.

Alpha Bank // To be added to Stoxx 600 index; effective at today’s close

Reportedly, effective at today’s close Alpha Bank is being added in the Stoxx 600 index replacing Telecity Group which is being deleted. We remind that Alpha was deleted from the index on June 22nd, 2015 (deletion announced in May ‘15).

Economy // 3-month T-bill auction results; yield at 2.70%

The PDMA successfully auctioned yesterday a EUR0.625bn 3-month T-Bill at a 2.70% yield. The issue was oversubscribed 1.30x and the PDMA accepted a total of EUR0.813bn. The previous same term auction (EUR1.0bn) was conducted last in December at a 2.70% yield. The issue was oversubscribed 1.30x and the PDMA had accepted a total of EUR1.3bn.