Bank results reveal liquidity in the economy with new lending at its peak

Significant liquidity to the economy, as well as to businesses, was provided in the first quarter of the year by the two largest banks in Cyprus, Bank of Cyprus and Hellenic Bank, with total lending exceeding €1.2 billion.

In fact, as the same bank announced, the new lending provided by the Bank of Cyprus broke every record and reached €842 million, while the new lending from the Hellenic Bank amounted to €404 million.

Based on the financial results of the two banks, Bank of Cyprus continues to be the largest loan provider in the country, followed by Hellenic Bank.

• Bank of Cyprus

Specifically, and according to the financial results for the first quarter, Bank of Cyprus' gross loans amounted to €10,600 million as of March 31, 2025, compared to €10,374 million as of December 31, 2024, increased by 2% since the beginning of the year, mainly due to increased demand for loans to businesses and reflecting the seasonality in such demand.

At the same time, the Group's performing loan portfolio increased by 3% since the beginning of the year and amounted to €10.45 billion, in line with the 2025 target of 4% growth on an annual basis.

New lending in Cyprus in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to €842 million, compared to €727 million in the fourth quarter of 2024 and €676 million in the first quarter of 2024, up 16% quarter-on-quarter and 25% year-on-year.

The year-on-year increase comes mainly from loans to large businesses, mortgage loans and loans in the international business sector.

It is noted that the new lending provided during the first quarter consisted of loans to large enterprises of €430 million, loans to individuals (retail banking) of €202 million, of which housing loans of €114 million, loans to small and medium-sized enterprises of €71 million and loans in the international business sector of €139 million.

According to the results, Bank of Cyprus is the largest loan provider in Cyprus, with a market share of 43.1% as of March 31, compared to 43.0% as of December 31, 2024.

• Hellenic Bank

As for Hellenic Bank, total new lending in the first quarter of 2025 amounted to €404 million, of which €75 million concerns total new green lending, representing 19% of the bank's total new lending, marking an increase of 9% compared to new lending in the fourth quarter of 2024 of €370 million.

New lending includes retail loans of €123 million, of which €87 million were mortgage loans, €105 million corporate loans, €48 million commercial loans and €127 million shipping and international credit loans.

Based on the results, Hellenic Bank continued to provide loans to solvent businesses and households, while at the same time focusing on managing early arrears and avoiding new non-performing loans.

It is noted that the bank's new lending market share as of March 31, 2025 was 25.2% compared to 20.3% as of December 31, 2024, while the market share in total loans as of March 31, 2025 was 23.8% compared to 23.9% as of December 31, 2024 and consists of 32.0% loans to households (December 31, 2024: 31.8%) and 19.2% loans to non-financial institutions (December 31, 2024: 19.1%).

Deposits exceed €36 billion

Regarding the deposits of the two banks, based on the results, at the end of the first quarter these exceeded €36 billion, with the Bank of Cyprus maintaining its lead for another quarter.

Specifically, Bank of Cyprus' total customer deposits amounted to €20.7 billion as of March 31, 2025, compared to €20.5 billion as of December 31, 2024 and €19.3 billion as of March 31, 2024, increased by 7% year-on-year and by 1% since the beginning of the year.

As of March 31, 2025, customer deposits are mostly from individuals and 55% of deposits are protected by the deposit guarantee fund.

The bank's market share in deposits in Cyprus stood at 37.5% as of March 31, 2025, compared to 37.2% as of December 31, 2024.

Customer deposits amount to 77% of total assets and 87% of total liabilities as of March 31, 2025, compared to 77% of total assets and 87% of total liabilities as of December 31, 2024.

At the same time, the loan-to-deposit ratio after provisions stood at 50% as of March 31, 2025, compared to 49% as of December 31, 2024 on the same basis, up 1 percentage point since the beginning of the year.

Regarding deposits in Hellenic Bank, they amounted to €15.9 billion on March 31, 2025 compared to €15.7 billion on December 31, 2024, showing an increase of 1%.

The group has a predominantly retail customer deposit base and approximately 66% of total customer deposits are protected by the deposit guarantee scheme as of March 31, 2025.

The bank's deposit market share as of March 31, 2025 stood at 28.5%, compared to 28.1% as of December 31, 2024.

The deposit market share as of March 31, 2025 consisted of 35.3% deposits from households (December 31, 2024: 35.2%) and 19.0% deposits from non-financial institutions (December 31, 2024: 19.1%), while the net loans to deposits ratio was 36.6% as of March 31, 2025 and December 31, 2024.

(Source: InBusinessNews)