Athens Macedonian News Agency: News in English, 13-08-30

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From: The Athens News Agency at <http://www.ana.gr/>

CONTENTS

[01] National Bank posts net profits of 317 mln euros in Q2

[02] Overdue tax debt hits all-time high of 60 bln euros in July

[01] National Bank posts net profits of 317 mln euros in Q2

The bank said its profits totaled 344 million euros in the first half of the year, after a loss of 1.894 billion euros in the corresponding period in 2012. Excluding non-repeated profits and losses, net profits totaled 312 million euros in the January-June period.

National Bank said Finansbank, its subsidiary in Turkey, contributed heavily in this performance, with profits of 332 million euros in the six-month period, while its subsidiaries in South-eastern Europe contributed with profits of 6.0 million euros after losses of 13 million euros in the same period last year.

New bad debts totaled 1.2 billion euros in the first half, down from 2.3 billion euros in the same period in 2012 at the height of the bad debt crisis. Bad debt provisions totaled 853 million euros in the six-month period, down from 1.2 billion euros last year.

Deposits grew by 10 pct on an annual basis, while loan portfolio –after provisions- fell by 4.0 pct in the same period, with the bank's cashflow rate rising to 120 pct, from 116 pct in June 2012.

National Bank said its pro-forma Core Tier I index was 9.2 pct following the successful completion of a share capital increase scheme which included the participation of private investors.

Net profits from domestic activities totaled 5.0 million euros in the first half, from a loss of 2.133 billion euros last year.

Alexandros Tourkolias, the bank's chief executive, commenting on the results said that a successful completion of a share capital increase scheme by the bank, with an 11 pct participation of private investors, placed the bank on a new course.

"National Bank will undertake significant initiatives to further restructuring its loan portfolio, boosting its capital base and further improving its efficiency. Achieving these goals will help the bank to contribute in a business recovery in the country," he said.

[02] Overdue tax debt hits all-time high of 60 bln euros in July

A report by the Finance ministry's general secretariat of Revenues showed that overdue debt totaled 60.181 billion euros in July 31, up 407 million euros from the previous month and by around 4.1 billion euros since the start of the year (56.105 billion euros).

The report said that most overdue debt were fines (22.018 billion euros), unpaid VAT (13.463 billion euros) and unpaid income tax (10.662 billion euros), followed by indirect tax fines (2.573 billion euros). Registration duties recorded the biggest percentage increase (up 9.0 pct to 126.371 million euros). The report said that a total of 2.0 million taxpayers and around 170,000 enterprises have overdue debt to the state, while regulated debt totaled 1.55 billion euros

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