Bank of Cyprus CEO expects modest profitability, says LSE listing “right place” for stock

The Bank of Cyprus, the island’s largest lender, expects modest profitability in the coming quarters as its turnaround unfolds but will not resume dividend payment this year, its chief executive said on Thursday.

The bank’s shares make a trade debut on the London stock exchange on Thursday after the group delisted from the Athens bourse.

“We have been making sure that any profit we make has been directed at derisking the balance sheet,” CEO John Hourican told Reuters in a telephone interview.

“We expect to continue to do that through the coming quarters. There wil be modest results in the context of continuing to direct pre-provision operating profit towards balance sheet quality and repair,” he said.

Hourican said the listing of the bank’s shares in London was a vote of confidence in the City and the “right place” for the bank’s shares.

“Our board’s view is that the city of London remains the right place for us to put our bank’s stock, a de facto vote of confidence, the City will prevail,” he 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.