The bank said on Friday that it will proceed with a rights issue for its existing shareholders to support the needs of the Group’s business plan, while at the same time reinforce the bank’s common equity tier 1 (CET1).

According to the statement, the bank “aims to proactively strengthen its capital base and raise sufficient capital to enable the bank to pursue business opportunities in the recovering Cypriot environment and utilise its competitive advantages to grow customer numbers and loan book and gain market share.”

Hellenic saw a €105m capital need following the European Central Bank stress tests which the bank aims to cover with this new capital increase.

The bank also aims to further increase its market share as soon as the Cyprus Securities and Exchange Commission (CYSEC) approves the publication of a notice for the exercise of subscription rights and a prospectus.

The company’s two major shareholders are Third Point and Wargaming, each of which holds approximately 20.3% of Hellenic Bank’s total share capital.

Source: Cyprus Mail