Intrum

The upward pace of the out-of-court settlement mechanism continued, leading to a new record of 1,952 settlements for July, corresponding to €518 million in debts, according to a statement from the Ministry of National Economy and Finance.

Greek consumers appear trapped in online subscriptions, as subscribing via mobile phone to various services, from TV content to video game platforms, but also marketplaces for purchasing goods or ordering food at the push of a button can be easy. However, at the end of the month the bills come, emptying bank accounts.

Salary increases - and indeed more than usual - are being requested or expected to be requested by employees at 81% of businesses in Greece, in order to recover the purchasing power they lost in previous years, but also during the last two years, due to inflation.

Greece is included in the top five European countries where it takes the longest time to track down debtors.

Intrum, Europe's biggest debt collector, reported on a 66 percent drop in first-quarter profit hit by a writedown and weaker credit management in southern Europe but a mostly stable performance so far this quarter.

The agreement between Piraeus Bank and Swedish group Intrum is one of the biggest foreign investments and the biggest Swedish investment in Greece (410 million euros).

Piraeus Bank has concluded a deal with Sweden's Intrum to create a company to service its bad-loan portfolio, it said on Wednesday.
Bad loans are the biggest challenge facing Greek banks, the legacy of a crippling debt crisis which shrank the economy and sent hundreds of thousands into unemployment, constricting the ability to repay debt.

Change in sentiment toward Greek assets and sizable investor interest reminiscent of the pre-crisis era are the takeaways from our discussion with Christos Megalou, Piraeus Bank's chief executive officer. This comes in the aftermath of the bank's access to debt capital markets for a Tier II bond issuance and the numerous investor meetings Megalou hosted in London.

Piraeus Bank is on Wednesday opening its book for the issue of a Tier II corporate bond, putting off the process from Tuesday due to the particularly high interest by investors that did not allow for the bank to meet with all interested buyers.
The aim of the Greek lender is to raise 300-350 million euros while offering an interest rate of 9-10 percent.

On average, Greek enterprises are forced to wait almost four months before they collect their dues from the state, which is by far the longest period among European Union member-states.