ATHENS, Nov 19 (Reuters) - Alpha Bank posted lower net profit in the third quarter on the back of higher provisions for bad loans and weaker net interest income, Greece’s fourth-largest lender by assets said on Tuesday.
Alpha, 11 percent owned by the country’s bank rescue fund HFSF, reported a net profit from continuing operations of 4.8 million euros ($5.31 million) after net earnings of 59.4 million euros in the second quarter.
The bank said it plans to launch a 12 billion euro securitisation of soured loans or so-called non-performing exposures (NPEs), aiming to cut its NPE ratio to 20% from 44%.
The bank’s non-performing loans ratio dropped to 30% of its book from 32.7% at the end of June. Provisions for bad debt rose 6.3% quarter-on-quarter to 261.5 million euros.
$1 = 0.9033 euros Reporting by George Georgiopoulos
