Assets of the EFG Eurobank Group for 1999

The total assets of the EFG Eurobank Group for 1999 amounted to GRD 2.8 trillion. On the basis of the financial year 1999 balance sheet, total loans reached GRD 1.1 trillion and total deposits GRD 2.1 trillion.
The year 1999 saw completion of the process of absorption of the Bank of Athens and Cretabank, and the full integration of their branch networks, which since October have been operating with a uniform structure and product base. It was also a year of complete remediation of the balance sheet. At the end of December 1999, the Bank's net position was GRD 330 billion, free of the goodwill involved in the acquisitions and of doubtful debts of all kinds. The remediation of the balance sheet, which involved write-offs and provisions of a total of GRD 70 billion, and the high-level net position after remediation, fully reflect the Bank's strong capital base. It should be borne in mind that a comparison between the 1999 and 1998 balance sheet figures is not representative of the true picture of the Bank, since the 1998 balance sheet did not include Cretabank, and the results of 1998 do not include the results of Cretabank nor do they include some EFG Eurobank profits. As a result, balance sheet figures show an impressive growth in performance indices which are not invariably representative of actual developments. Organic results, which are representative of the Bank's true dynamic growth, increased at a particularly significant rate. Thus, the real annual increase in total assets, measured in comparable terms, was 58 percent in 1999 - a rate which also reflects the general growth of the Bank's business. Similar rates of business growth, in excess of 50 percent (on an annualised basis), also characterise the first two months of the current year. The total operating revenue of the EFG Eurobank Group amounted to GRD 190 billion. Net profit, before tax and other provisions, and after the deduction of minority rights, was GRD 97 billion, with net operating profit recording a real increase of the order of 140 percent. The Bank's high rates of business growth also led to an increase in staff, with the recruitment of 600 additional employees over the past year. By the end of 1999, the Bank's overall network comprised 188 points of sale.
The Board of Directors will be proposing to the shareholders' Annual General Assembly that a dividend of 100 drachmas per share be paid out. Furthermore, in view of the merger of EFG Eurobank and Ergobank, the Board will propose that all shareholders of the new bank receive, free of charge, three new shares for every ten old shares. This is expected to be decided by the new bank's first General Assembly to take place after the merger.