Bank of Cyprus heading for the Athens Stock Exchange with its stock on the rise

Bank of Cyprus is entering a week of significant developments that are expected to further strengthen the group's profile, as well as its presence in the markets, with eyes on the extraordinary general assembly scheduled for Friday, 13 September.

During the extraordinary general meeting, the bank's shareholders will be asked to position themselves positively or negatively on two resolutions.

The first will concern the listing of Bank of Cyprus shares on the Athens Stock Exchange, with a simultaneous delisting from the London Stock Exchange, and the second - subject to the approval of the first resolution - concerns only procedural changes/amendments to articles in the company’s constitution.

As the Bank itself announced on 19 August, approval of the first resolution will require a majority of more than 50% of the votes of the shareholders who will vote, either in person or by proxy, while the approval of the second will require the positive vote of at least 75 % of the shareholders who will vote at the extraordinary general meeting.

However, as everything shows, both the recommendation of the Bank's board of directors to the shareholders for listing on the Athens Stock Exchange and withdrawal from the London Stock Exchange, as well as the statutory changes will gather a strong majority and therefore will pass smoothly and without problems.

It is noted that based on the Bank of Cyprus' initial plans, the listing of its shares on the Athens Stock Exchange will begin on 23 September at 10.15am, while the cancellation of the shares on the London Stock Exchange will take place on 19 September at 10am.

For the listing of the stock on the Athens Stock Exchange, a relevant decision will have to be taken by the Admissions Committee of the Athens Stock Exchange on 17 September.

Multiple benefits

It is worth mentioning that the Bank's board of directors believes that the benefits of listing on the Athens Stock Exchange and leaving the London Stock Exchange will be multiple for the Bank of Cyprus.

Among other things, the Board of Directors believes that the Athens Stock Exchange is the most appropriate market for the company, as it already focuses on regional banks and other companies active in the Greek and Cypriot markets, factors that act in a complementary way for the company.

In fact, as the Chairman of the Board of Directors, Efstratios-Georgios Arapoglou, explains in his letter to the shareholders, "even though the Athens Stock Exchange is a smaller market than the London Stock Exchange, it can improve the visibility of the company in the market from a potentially more relevant investment base that focuses on companies compatible with the company's profile."

In particular, he underlines, the listing may provide greater access to capital from Greek domestic investment funds, investment funds that focus on the banking sector of Southern Europe and the region, investment funds with an investment policy of investing in the Athens Stock Exchange, as well as private investors with a better knowledge of the company.

Also, and although the listing and delisting are expected to result in the company ceasing to be eligible for certain UK equity indices, the Board of Directors of Bank of Cyprus also expects that over time, it will meet the criteria for to become eligible for inclusion in other stock indices.

At the same time and in view of the fact that some regional banks operating in Greece and Cyprus are already listed on the Athens Stock Exchange, the Board of Directors of the bank considers them as peer banks of the company and believes that the listing of the company on the Athens Stock Exchange will facilitate, in his view, a more direct comparison of the company's performance and other rating metrics against this group of banks.

"Given the group's recent financial performance, the Board of Directors believes that this will allow investors to more easily identify and compare the company's performance and capabilities," Arapoglou said in his letter to shareholders.

In addition to the above, the Board of Directors of the Bank of Cyprus considers that the transactions in the more concentrated market system of the Athens Stock Exchange, the possible inclusion in indices and the increased possibility to compare peer banks, have the potential to attract to the company long-term institutional shareholders who have already invested in companies listed on the Stock Exchange Athens.

The Bank's stock "soared" over one year

It is noted that the extraordinary general assembly of the Bank of Cyprus is taking place at a time when the bank's share value is registering a significant increase and is now trading close to €5, while there were also days when it touched €5.10 euros during trading.

On Friday, 6 September the Bank's share closed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange at €4.87, recording an increase of 64.8% compared to last year, since in the period 4-7 September 2023 it was at €2.955.

In relation to the beginning of the year, the Bank's share on the Cyprus Stock Exchange recorded an increase of 432.4%, since on 2 January 2024 it had closed at €3.42.

On the London Stock Exchange, the Bank's share closed at £395 on Friday 6 September, showing an increase of 56.75% compared to last year.

(Source: InBusinessNews)