Turkish arm helps Greece’s NBG post Q3 profit

ATHENS-Reuters

Pedestrians walk past a sculpture outside a Greek National Bank branch in Pyrgos, Peloponnese, Greece, Sunday, Oct. 26, 2014. AP Photo

National Bank of Greece (NBG) reported a third-quarter profit on Nov. 6, helped by strong results at its Turkish business, lower funding costs and lower bad-debt provisions.

The country’s biggest bank by assets said it made net earnings of 30 million euros ($37 million) in the quarter. It did not provide figures for the comparable period a year ago.

Net earnings in the nine months to September rose to 1.18 billion euros from 262 million euros in the same period in 2013, boosted by a deferred tax benefit booked in the second quarter.

The group’s cash cow, Finansbank in Turkey, contributed 109 million euros to group earnings in the third quarter, growing its profit by 36 percent from a year ago.

NBG failed the European Central Bank’s (ECB) stress test last month based on its balance sheet at the end of 2013, but has no capital gap after taking into account funds raised earlier this year and its EU-approved restructuring plan.