By Hamza Hendawi
THE BANK of Cyprus yesterday announced a hefty 45.6 per cent increase in its half- yearly profits and forecast an equally impressive result for the whole of 1999, barring unforeseen developments.Addressing a news conference at the bank’s Nicosia headquarters, the group’s executive chairman, Solon Triantafyllides, said plans for the Bank of Cyprus to be listed on the Athens Stock Exchange were on track. An extraordinary meeting of shareholders was scheduled for October 13 to ratify a 12 per cent issue of the group’s share capital in Greece, he said.Triantafyllides said pre-tax profits in the January 1-June 30, 1999 period was £31.43 million, up from £21.58 million in the same period last year. Operating profits amounted to £40.1 million, up 41.1 per cent on the first six months of 1998.The group’s impressive showing was the result of what Triantafyllides called an improved business climate in Cyprus and continuing satisfactory results from operations in Greece and Britain. He also gave credit to the group’s insurance arms, particularly EuroLife, and investment banking and stock brokerage subsidiary CISCO.He said it was difficult to predict with accuracy the group’s results for the whole of 1999, “but it is expected to be even better than that of the first six months.”Triantafyllides’ announcement that 12 per cent of the group’s share capital would be issued in Greece appeared to be an upward revision of the figure of 10 per cent given by the bank earlier this year. The revision followed meetings earlier this month between the Bank of Cyprus chairman and top officials from the Athens Stock Exchange.”I cannot say precisely when (the Athens listing will take place). It does not depend solely on us. Our efforts aim for the bank to be on the Athens exchange at the beginning of 2000,” he told yesterday’s news conference.Greece’s Alpha Finance, he said, were advising the bank on its Athens listing, while the National Bank of Greece and Alpha Credit Bank would underwrite the issue.Underlining the bank’s interest to develop operations in Greece, Triantafyllides said that expanding there was the group’s “main strategic goal.” A plan was being considered to upgrade and develop operations in Greece, he said, and a large number of branches would be opened in the next two to three years. He gave no figures.Triantafyllides put the bank’s share capital at £2.5 billion, a figure that is more than twice the bank’s market capitalisation at the end of last June. The meteoric rise in the share capital reflects the more than 300 per cent gains made by the Cyprus Stock Exchange’s all-share index so far in 1999, a surge in which the Bank of Cyprus titles played a key role since they account for nearly 40 per cent of the bourse’s entire capitalisation.The bank’s two-for-one share split, which came into effect last month to set the market on fire, has also contributed to the increased share capital of the bank, together with the introduction of 1999-2003 centenary warrants.Triantafyllides’ announcement of the six-monthly results and the latest on the bank’s course for an Athens listing came as the three-week closure of the Cyprus stock market neared its mid-way point.”It is disappointing that the stock exchange had to close for three weeks, but it was necessary to prevent a worsening situation,” he said. The Bank of Cyprus and other listed companies, he added, would work together to prevent a repeat of the closure, decreed by market authorities to allow brokerages time to clear a mountain of delayed transactions. The issue of the backlog has soured relations between the brokers and the market authorities and was beginning to threaten the bourse’s stability.”The Cyprus economy cannot not have an active stock market. We must guard this institution as we guard our eyesight.”Triantafyllides owned up to the Bank of Cyprus Group’ share of the blame for the backlog, saying CISCO had been unable fully to service its clients despite what he called the self-sacrifice and hard work of its staff.A reorganisation of CISCO, one of the island’s largest brokerages, was planned to upgrade services to investors, he promised.
