Bank of Cyprus Q1 falls on state levy, provisions

BANK OF Cyprus posted a 13 per cent drop in first quarter net profit as it jacked up provisioning costs and paid a new levy to the cash-strapped government.

The bank repeated expectations that net profit for the full year would be similar to 2010’s €306m.

First quarter net profit was €71m. Provisions rose 7.0 per cent while tax in Cyprus rose 150 per cent following a €5m payment to the government.

Cyprus imposed a 0.095 per cent tax on deposits of banking institutions this year. Part of the proceeds will go to a bank stability fund with the rest going to the state, struggling to keep a lid on a rising public deficit.

Pre-tax profit was up 2.0 per cent to €93m, the bank said. Net interest income rose 14 per cent to €276m.

The bank concluded a capital building issue last week. BoC said on Friday it had received subscriptions worth around €890m for an enhanced CoCos issue.

The issue raised the Bank’s pro forma total capital adequacy ratio to 12.3 per cent, and its Tier 1 ratio to 11.9 per cent, it said.

The Cyprus Mail is the only English-language daily newspaper published in Cyprus. It was established in 1945 and today, with its popular and widely-read website, the Cyprus Mail is among the most trusted news sites in Cyprus. The newspaper is not affiliated with any political parties and has always striven to maintain its independence. Over the past 70-plus years, the Cyprus Mail, with a small dedicated team, has covered momentous events in Cyprus’ modern history, chronicling the last gasps of British colonial rule, Cyprus’ truncated independence, the coup and Turkish invasion, and the decades of negotiations to stitch the divided island back together, plus a myriad of scandals, murders, and human interests stories that capture the island and its -people. Observers describe it as politically conservative.