Hellenic Financial Stability Fund

Piraeus Bank was profitable in January-to-March after booking lower loan-loss provisions, Greece's largest lender by assets said on Thursday.

Piraeus, which is 26.2 percent owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF, reported a net profit from continued operations of 18 million euros, excluding one-off items.

National Bank, Greece's second-biggest lender by assets, swung to losses in the second half of the year, while Alpha, Greece's fourth-largest, reported sharply lower profit in April-to-June after taking a loss on the sale of its Serbian subsidiary, despite lower provisions for impaired loans.

Piraeus Bank turned profitable in April-to-June, while Eurobank saw profits rise. Piraeus posted small net earnings from continued operations as provisions for impaired loans were flat compared to the previous quarter, Greece's largest lender by assets said Wednesday.

Piraeus Bank, Greece's largest lender by assets, aims to sell its Balkan businesses and certain other holdings and shrink its bad loans portfolio, its new chief executive told reporters on Wednesday, outlining the group's plans up to 2020.

"Our vision is to be the most credible bank in Greece," said CEO Christos Megalou, who took over in April.

Piraeus Bank, Greece's largest bank by assets, aims to sell its Balkan businesses and certain other holdings and shrink its bad loans portfolio, its new chief executive told reporters on Wednesday, outlining the group's plans up to 2020.

"Our vision is to be the most credible bank in Greece," said CEO Christos Megalou, who took over in April.

Greece picked Austrian banker Martin Czurda as the new chief executive of its bank bailout fund HFSF, an official at the Fund told Reuters on Thursday.

"The appointment was published in the Government Gazette today," the official said.

The Hellenic Financial Stability Fund had been looking to fill the post for months.

Piraeus Bank, Greece's largest lender by assets, tumbled to a fourth-quarter loss after booking higher bad debt provisions, the only one of the country's big four banks that was not profitable in the last three months of 2016.

Former Eurobank chief executive officer Christos Megalou is the new head of Piraeus Bank, completing the administrative changes in the group after more than a year.

The HFSF bank bailout fund may be forced to roll down its shutters on Thursday due to the administrative crisis that has been dogging it since last summer.

Greece has picked two former business leaders to run the fund it set up last year to speed up privatizations and make the best use of the country's assets to comply with its international bailout.