After remaining two years at the helm of Hellenic Bank, the lender announced unexpectedly on Thursday the departure of its top executive Bert Pijls and his replacement by Ioannis Matsis as the bank’s new chief executive officer.
“Pijls’ decision to resign is based strictly on personal and family reasons and he will advise the Bank on specific strategic issues,” Hellenic said in an emailed statement. The Dutch banker who oversaw Hellenic’s return to profitability following the banking crisis and laid the foundations for the reduction of the bank’s non-performing loans, informed the bank and his colleagues that he needed to spend more time with his family after one of its members was diagnosed with a serious illness.
“Pijls took up his duties at a time when challenges laid ahead both for the bank and banking sector, as well as the Cypriot economy at large,” Hellenic said. “His hard work and perseverance has put the bank back on a stable track, building solid pillars for the bank to further develop and achieve its goals”.
The appointment of Matsis is subject to approval of the European Central Bank’s Single Supervisory Mechanism which supervises Hellenic. Pijls joined Hellenic in late 2014 and his appointment was the first the SSM had to approve.
“In the meantime the duties of the chief executive officer (CEO) will be officiated by Phivos Stasopoulos, group general manager, business and Insurance,” the bank said.
Matsis, currently a member of Hellenic’s board and chairman of the risk management committee, “is best placed to assume the position of CEO and drive the implementation of the core strategies of the bank, as he has long-standing international experience in the financial sector and in-depth knowledge of the bank as well as the Cypriot economic and business environment,” the bank said.
Matsis, a Cambridge graduate, worked between 1994 and 2008 at the investment banking sector of ING Barings, Chase Manhattan and Mizuho International in London, according to Hellenic.
In a letter to the bank’s staff in which he announced his departure, Pijls said that Hellenic “proved remarkably resilient and despite all the difficulties that arose as a result of the economic downturn”.
Cyprus’s third largest bank, mainly owed by the U.S.-based hedge fund Third Point and the Cyprus-based entertainment software developer Wargaming.net, acquired a key role in Cyprus’s banking sector, Pijls said. “Hellenic Bank has managed to not only strengthen its capital adequacy, but also to ensure sound liquidity and rational management of its assets,” he said.
Hellenic posted a €5m profit in January to September. Last year, it generated an after-tax profit of €13m compared to a €117.6m loss the year before. The bank’s non-performing loans ratio dropped in September to 57.1 per cent from 61.2 per cent in September 2015.
“I believe that the nine-month results for 2016, published a couple of weeks ago, prove that we are on the right track,” he said. “Furthermore, we have embarked on a digital technology journey and enhancement of our customer service, as well as simplification of procedures and processes”.
The chairwoman of Hellenic, Irena Georgiadou, commented on her Twitter account that with Matsis at its helm, the bank “ensures a steady course ahead of future challenges and opportunities”.
