Banks have their recovery work cut out

The bank stock slump has gone on for too long and valuations are now exceptionally low, say senior credit sector officials. However, analysts questioned on the issue by Kathimerini say the problems that Greek lenders are facing will not be overcome quickly, justifying the pounding the sector has sustained on the Athens stock exchange.

In the last month alone the banks index has dropped 27 percent, or 65 percent of the stock value of the four systemic lenders (National, Alpha, Eurobank and Piraeus) after the most recent recapitalization in 2015, and 88 percent of that following the 2010 share capital increase.

This storm of pressure on Greek banks in recent months has seen their total stock value shrink to just 5.7 billion euros.

The key issue for local lenders is their very high ratios of nonperforming exposures (NPEs), according to the head analyst of a major...