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Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for standing by. I am Mina, your Chorus Call operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the Piraeus Bank conference call and live webcast to present and discuss Piraeus' Full Year 2025 Financial Results. [Operator Instructions] And the conference is being recorded. [Operator Instructions] At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Piraeus Bank's CEO, Mr. Christos Megalou. Mr. Megalou, you may now proceed.
Christos Megalou: Good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen, and good morning to those joining us from the U.S. This is Christos Megalou, Chief Executive Officer, and I am joined today by Theo Gnardellis, Chryssanthi Berbati and Xenofon Damalas to present and discuss Piraeus' fourth quarter and full year 2025 results. Today, I will take you through the first 2 sections of the presentation, covering the main financial and business achievements for the full year period and demonstrating our standing in the European banking landscape. This will be followed by a Q&A session. Let's begin with our presentation on Slide 4. Piraeus is a leading bank in Greece, ranking first across all major business lines. We serve 4.5 million clients with a workforce of 8,100 employees in Greece. Our total assets stand at EUR 91 billion with EUR 37 billion in client loans and EUR 66 billion in client deposits, representing 28% market share in deposits. We operate an omnichannel distribution platform with 370 branches, 1,500 ATMs and serving 3.2 million digital clients. Our mobile app is top ranked, reflecting our commitment to digital excellence and customer satisfaction. We are a leader in sustainable banking with EUR 5 billion in sustainable financing, EUR 2.2 billion in green bonds outstanding and a strong focus on supporting small businesses and farmers. All these outstanding results have been delivered thanks to our people and our clients. Let's move on to Slide 5 for the key highlights of our full year 2025 performance. We generated normalized return on average tangible book value of 16% or 14% on a reported basis. Our earnings per share reached EUR 0.82 post the AT1 1 coupon, fully absorbing the fast decumulation of base rates. On the back of our strong performance, we increased our payout ratio to 55%. We intend to distribute EUR 0.40 per share cash dividend in Q2 2026 on top of the EUR 100 million share buyback that was completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. In total, we are on track to a total distribution of EUR 592 million out of the 2025 profit, which corresponds to a 7% yield. We have expanded our loan book by a Europe leading growth rate of 11% year-on-year and achieved EUR 4 billion net credit expansion, maintaining pricing discipline at the same time. Importantly, net credit expansion reached EUR 300 million in the retail segment after 15 years of contraction. Our cost-to-core income ratio stands at 33%, among the best in the European banking market, confirming our strong cost discipline. Revenues from services reached EUR 700 million in 2025, up 7% year-on-year. Our revenue diversifying efforts are reflected in our services revenues over total revenues of 26% and fees over assets that exceed 80 basis points. Both metrics are best-in-class in Greece and close to or above average in Europe. We delivered EUR 2.7 billion net revenues in 2025 with net interest income arising in Q4 quarter-on-quarter, and we consider that we are now well past the trough in net interest income. Asset quality dynamics remain solid with the NPE ratio at 2%, while organic cost of risk shaped at 52 basis points. NPE coverage increased to 73% from 65% a year ago, solidifying our balance sheet. Our assets under management increased to EUR 14.5 billion in 2025, up 27% year-on-year with EUR 1.5 billion net inflows. Furthermore, client deposits rose by EUR 3.2 billion annually and are now at EUR 66 billion, practically our deposits almost fully funded our credit expansion in 2025. Our total capital ratio reached 18.7%, absorbing the Ethniki Insurance acquisition, 55% distribution accrual, the strong low growth and DTC amortization. We maintain a buffer of 275 basis points above Pillar 2 guidance with a CET1 ratio standing at 12.7%. Slide 6 presents the details of our fourth quarter and full year operating results. The reported pre-provision income was up 7% quarter-on-quarter. Below pre-provision income, the quarter has some one-offs aimed at further strengthening our balance sheet in the areas of nonperforming assets and non-core participations to lay out a clean backdrop for the new strategy. We sustainably grow our tangible book value per share now at EUR 5.9 per share, which is net of the EUR 0.30 per share cash dividend paid in June '25, the EUR 0.08 per share of share buyback in November '25 and the impact of the Ethniki Insurance acquisition. On Slide 7, we present our strong loan origination dynamics. Performing loans increased by 11% in 2025, driven not only by all business lending segments, but also by an increase in household lending. Importantly, Q4 marked a new cycle record of EUR 250 million for mortgage disbursements. On Slide 8, we present a detailed sector breakdown of our CIB net credit expansion of EUR 3.6 billion in 2025. As you can see, our corporate platform outreach is very granular, reaching all sectors of the Greek economy. Among other initiatives, we are increasing our presence in syndicated deals, and we are offering greenhouse technology financing solution. At the same time, we keep focusing on SME clients in Greece, as shown by the top performance in disbursements. Slide 9 demonstrates that we have achieved Europe's strongest corporate loan growth while maintaining pricing discipline, which is a testament to the commercially rigorous approach of all of our teams. We have been able to compete and win business while pricing at par with the market average and keeping risk-adjusted returns at the core of our business credit underwriting. Turning to Slide 10. The key milestone to note is that 2025 is the first year that mortgage loan growth, net of repayments has turned positive with net credit expansion of EUR 110 million. This follows net consumer loan growth, which already turned positive in 2024. Consumer disbursements have been growing since 2021 by 10%, but this growth was previously outweighted by heavy repayments. We now have reached an inflection point that bodes well for future expansion of our loan book and revenue streams. Slide 11 outlines the impressive evolution of our services revenues, which is being supported by loan originations, asset management and bancassurance. Ethniki Insurance contributed for circa 1 month with the growth of the new operating model still to come and expected to elevate services revenues with expansion across all segments of the market, namely life and health protection and P&C protection. More on this during our Capital Markets Day next week. Slide 12 demonstrates the growing trend of assets under management that reached EUR 14.5 billion in December, backed by strong net inflows of EUR 1.5 billion. We have upscaled our investment solutions offering to private banking and retail clients, incorporating robo advisors while our open architecture strategy, combining Piraeus asset management expertise with a wide suite of best-of-breed third-party products is paying off. Slide 13 presents detailed information regarding net interest income intrinsics. In a nutshell, our growing CIB loan book drove NII improvement, along with the stabilization of base rates. Spread erosion was milder in Q4 versus the previous quarter, while deposit costs stabilized. As a result, NII rose by 1% in a quarterly basis indicating that the trough of the cycle is behind us, given current yield curves. Turning to Slide 14. Our cost control efforts kept G&A costs under control while still making extensive IT investments. Overall, we remain cost conscious, maintaining cost-to-core income ratio below 35%. Slide 15 provides a summary of our asset quality indicators. Our NPE ratio stands at 2%, while the organic cost of risk shaped at 51 basis points in the fourth quarter. Our NPE coverage strengthened, reaching 73%, while our Stage 1, Stage 2 and Stage 3 coverage ratios are increasing, standing higher than EU average. Piraeus enjoys a superior liquidity profile presented on Slide 16. Our liquidity ratios remain strong as evidenced by the high balance of deposits at EUR 66 billion and 216% liquidity coverage ratio. Turning to our capital base on Slide 17. Our CET1 ratio stood at 12.7% at the end of December, post the Ethniki Insurance acquisition, absorbing loan growth, 55% distribution accrual and accelerated DTC amortization. Slide 18 depicts Ethniki Insurance performance in 2025. Profitability was significantly improved to EUR 45 million before tax at a recurring level from EUR 26 million in the previous year. With a leading 14% market share and 1.9 million customers, gross written premium posted growth in health and P&C. On Slide 19, we present an update on Snappi, our neobank with its own portable pan-European banking license. Snappi launched commercially in September, it is already gaining significant traction with its fully digital, app-based, branchless, low CapEx model, as it currently has 60,000 app users. Turning to the second section of our presentation for our positioning within the competitive landscape. I want to point out that Piraeus is in a leading position in Greece in terms of performing loans, deposits, equity brokerage and network as highlighted on Slide 21. In addition, Piraeus ranks at par or above average on all major KPIs in the European banking space. In Slides 22 to 27, we present the key metrics for Piraeus versus European bank averages. On Slide 22, Piraeus delivers best-in-class loan growth in Europe, outpacing EU peers by wide margin. On Slide 23, our net interest margin is far above the European average, reflecting our pricing power and effective balance sheet management. Slide 24, net fee and commission income over assets is well above the European average and the best in Greece. Slide 25, our cost-to-core income ratio is best-in-class in Europe, demonstrating our ongoing focus on operational efficiency and cost discipline. On Slide 26, Piraeus' return on tangible book value is well above the EU average, highlighting our ability to generate superior returns for our shareholders. Concluding with Slide 27, despite our strong fundamentals in absolute and relative terms in relation to our European peers, Piraeus trade below EU banks with similar earnings implying significant upside for our shareholders. And with that, let's now open the floor to your questions.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] The first question is from the line of Sevim, Mehmet with JPMorgan.
Mehmet Sevim: I have just a couple of questions, please. One on the fee income this quarter, which you renamed to revenues for service -- from services. It seems like a very good strong print. I was just wondering if there are any one-offs or anything else to highlight in that print? Or is this a good run rate for us to consider for 2026? And maybe related to that also, it seems like a strong initial contribution from the business in just 1 month. I was wondering how we should think about 2026 when it comes to revenue contribution and integration costs here and maybe anything else that we should be aware of when it comes to modeling the business? And finally, just wanted to ask on the payout ratio, which came in higher than expected with the EUR 0.40 per share dividend payment. But at the same time, your CET1 fell slightly below the target of 13%. So how do you balance this? And going forward, should we think about this level of payout ratio as the base? Or is there anything that you'd like to highlight here as well?
Christos Megalou: Sevim, and thank you for the question. I'll start with the fee income. We had indeed a very strong fourth quarter, and this is highlighting the franchise value of Piraeus. We have always maintained that we are a strong earner in fees over assets and particular areas like asset management, the banking business, the bancassurance are areas of growth for us, and they will continue to be. For the fourth quarter, there were a few, let's call it, highlights, especially on the investment banking side. So I wouldn't extrapolate this number for the whole of the year. But I would just say, and of course, we will come with guidance on next week on our Capital Markets Day in London. I would just say that this is an indication of the strong franchise value that results in fees from services for Piraeus Bank. Now, on the payout ratio and the level of capital, first of all, we thought that we felt very comfortable with the level of capital that we were in, given the balance sheet and given the way the bank has derisked over the years. And therefore, to give an extra return to our shareholders from 50% to 55%, we thought it was more than appropriate given the fact that with the level of CET1 that we are currently at, we are at a total capital level of above 270 basis points above P2G. And of course, this whole exercise was facilitated by the fact that the P2G went down to 1%. So as you can imagine, given the strong fundamentals of the bank, we thought that this reduction on the P2G should be passed to our shareholders. And this is what we did right now rewarding our shareholders with an extra 5% on the payout ratio.
Theodore Gnardellis: On your question, Mehmet about Ethniki, I mean this is really 1 month plus a few days that you're seeing here. Let's just wait for the 5th of March, where we're going to be giving you guys a detailed guidance. We're giving a preview of the solo result. I mean, it's still an audit, and it's going to be published by the end of March, but we're giving you kind of a preview on Page 18. But we'll discuss much more about Ethniki and the accounting effect and the value effect on the group consolidation on March 5. Let's just wait for that.
Operator: The next question is from the line of Caven-Roberts, Benjamin with Goldman Sachs International.
Benjamin Caven-Roberts: Just 2, please. Firstly, could you please provide some further color on the one-offs that were recorded this quarter? And if we should expect any further one-offs going into 2026, for instance, relating to the recent Katseli ruling? And then secondly, on the net credit expansion, just looking through the different categories, as you mentioned, a very positive pickup in mortgages, but large corporate net credit expansion was a little lower in Q4. Could you elaborate on how we should think about that mix and run rate going forward?
Theodore Gnardellis: Ben, indeed, quarter 4, we found the opportunity, and we recorded some one-off expenses, I would say, below the normalized line. What primarily we did was on the cost side, there were some adjustments that we did on VES and some transaction-related costs with the Ethniki trade, valuation adjustments that was done on the equity and the NPA line. And of course, on loans, we're all aware of the Swiss franc legislative actions that happened throughout the quarter. And as a result, there was an additional adjustment there. Given the nature of these adjustments, I would not say that these are to be repeated in the future. We will not have, again, one-offs of that kind going forward. Overall, the guidance and the profitability communication that we will be giving and we have given in the past regarding '25 is on the reported side. So our objective is always to be meeting that, both on a returns ratio perspective and on a nominal perspective. This is what we did. So kind of nothing to write home about there that produces the future.
Christos Megalou: Robert, also on the loan growth, as we were going into the fourth quarter, we were well above our target of EUR 3.5 billion by some margin. And therefore, there was no real urgency on pushing forward. So naturally, we have been slowing down a little bit in the fourth quarter so that we will be in a position to have a very strong Q1. So nothing to think about the Q4 credit expansion, especially on the CIB other than that the trend is very strong. We have a very strong pipeline. And as we will come up with a new guidance on the 5th of March on our Capital Markets Day, you will see this coming through.
Operator: The next question is from the line of Kemeny, Gabor with Autonomous Research.
Gabor Kemeny: I have a question on your capital distribution. If you could comment on how you think about the mix of cash dividends and buybacks going forward in light of the strong performance of the shares recently? That's the first one. And the second question on the net interest margin. Do you see the NIM stabilizing going forward? Is this -- is Q4 a good run rate for the coming quarters? Or do you see any additional headwinds coming through?
Christos Megalou: Gabor, I mean, on capital distribution, the way we are right now, we think cash. So that's what we were planning for, for '26, and this is how we strategically look to conduct ourselves in the future.
Theodore Gnardellis: And on the NIM, Gabor, indeed, I think we're reaching a point given the interest rate status and what we're seeing on spreads where NIM is finding its lows. There are some tailwinds actually on the ratio that we'll be discussing next week. But I'll refer you to the 5th of March for those.
Gabor Kemeny: Right. Just a quick -- another quick one on your capital ratio. I think you had a valid case for increasing your payout, the CET1 ratio, slightly dropped below 13%. How would you think about steering your capital going forward? Are you looking to built it up to 13% or above? Or is there now a possibility that you stay maybe a little bit below that?
Christos Megalou: Gabor, look, I think this is a franchise that generates earnings. It's a high-yielding one, high distribution one and generates capital as well. We have been talking about our strategic direction and philosophy on distributions and rewarding our shareholders. In the future, as we generate more capital, we will be following the same strategic direction. We will come with specific guidance on the Capital Markets Day. But our philosophy is this is capital accretive franchise, and we have to be delivering back capital to our shareholders.
Operator: The next question is from the line of Nellis, Simon with Citibank.
Simon Nellis: First question would be on the losses from participations or impairments. Can you just elaborate on what the nature of those one-offs are? Second question would be on the increase in bancassurance fees. I guess that's with existing insurance partners. How do you see that transition from existing insurance partners to Ethniki occurring and the impact it might have on that line? Those will be my 2 questions.
Theodore Gnardellis: Simon, yes, the one-off part of the adjustments on associates had to do with one of a particular case that exists in our book. We saw some market intrinsic, some market information that led us to do a one-off valuation adjustment on the particular exposure. As I said, this is a very one-off situation. This does not prelude to any further such one-offs. It was something that we found an opportunity to do now so that we can have a kind of clean horizon ahead with no kind of gray areas or question marks.
Simon Nellis: And how much was that, if I could ask?
Theodore Gnardellis: EUR 35 million was the one-off adjustment that we have done on the equity side. You can find it on Page, I believe, 52. So on the banca fees, yes, it was a strong quarter. I mean, generally, banca as a franchise, we know that Piraeus is running the strongest banca sales. Quarter 4 was particularly strong. It is with the existing partners that we've got. The arrangements that we've got with the 2 bancassurance partners are, of course, active, and it's a testament of how the network continues to produce insurance regardless of other things that might be happening on the side. The particular line, I think, we will see it next week in conjunction with a lot of other things that are affecting the future overall of the group when it comes to insurance sales and insurance revenue. So let's just hold on for another week.
Operator: The next question is from the line of Novosselsky, Ilija with Bank of America.
Ilija Novosselsky: So one question on your interest expense paid on deposits. So I can see that it's constant in the quarter. So as far as I know, that relates to both the actual expenses on deposits and also the hedge impact, and both of them seem to be constant. I would kind of expect both of them to have a positive impact. So maybe if you can tell us how we should see interest expenses on customer deposits developing from here, maybe split between the 2 impacts? And then again, if I stay on the hedges, if I look into the Excel data set on the NII section, I see big changes in the non-maturing deposit hedging cost, which is kind of offset by a similar change in the IRS liability side. So maybe if you can tell us what has caused that because the change is around EUR 90 million in each of the lines. And maybe finally, one more on the hedges. So you started with EUR 10 billion. You have about EUR 9 billion now. So how can we expect the portfolio to develop throughout this year?
Theodore Gnardellis: Ilija, overall, the deposit cost, as you saw, we have netted out and well pointed out with the NMDs. It's on 29 basis points right now. It is a flat situation. There's multiple, I would say, minor movements there. But for the future -- I know we're trying to keep the line, but you guys keep coming back on guidance for the future. But for the future right now, what we can tell you is that it's a stable outlook. So if you want to make an assumption, I think that's a fair one. My answer to your hedging question from a strategy perspective, it depends a little bit on our outlook on interest rates. So we will be discussing that next week. I've said many times when one believes that when one believes that you have reached a terminal level of interest rates and those positions stop having value or you can -- you're free to kind of materialize and monetize the value that these carry. But again, let's discuss this more next week.
Operator: The next question is from the line of Souvleros, Andreas with Eurobank Equities.
Andreas Souvleros: And congratulations for the results. I have 1 quick question, which is regarding the calendar provisioning that is around EUR 300 million, if I'm not wrong. And you mentioned a meaningful drag on the common equity Tier 1 ratio. So could you please clarify under what timeline or condition this is expected to be reversed?
Theodore Gnardellis: Andreas, thank you for the question. Indeed, it is, of course, part of the capital reduction that you use for -- following the calendar provisioning guidance. It will reduce over time. The expectation is that -- I would say with growth rapidly, probably around the 50% mark over the next 5 years. Part of the recovery strategy, that's the way calendar works, you front load, and then, eventually, as recovery, hopefully, you release.
Operator: The next question is from Gil Santivanes, Fernando with Intesa Sanpaolo.
Fernando Gil Santivanes: This is a very general one regarding the latest Supreme Court ruling the last period of February on interest payments. Can you give us some color or some views on the balances the bank has? What potential impact might we see? And if this ruling is to be adhered by banks or not? Any color would be very helpful.
Christos Megalou: Let me start on the Katseli Law by saying that the Katseli Law served its purpose, I would say, when it was legislated in 2010. If you look at the exposures that we have in our book right now and feel we will follow up with the numbers. All the Katseli Law exposures that we have in our balance sheet are Stage 1 paying loans and performing, which means that there was some good work done out of this law. And we are monitoring this decision. And also, we have to wait, I'm afraid, for the final script because details matter, but we can give you an outlook of what we have in our books and what that could potentially mean. So, Theo?
Theodore Gnardellis: So Fernando, the overall book that we've got right now on the balance sheet of such loans is about EUR 50 million. Obviously, depending on how the decision will be scripted, there might have to be adjustments there, which is a percentage of that. We have hypothesis, obviously, which is being budgeted within 2026. That will be included in any guidance -- in the guidance we give out next week, but you understand it's a percentage of EUR 50 million, so actually excluding the margin of error of any cost of risk estimation for the future.
Operator: [Operator Instructions] The next question is from Potgieter, Stephan with UBS.
Stephan Potgieter: You've answered most of my questions. So just on follow-up on the Katseli loans, the ruling there. Obviously, you're outlining your own exposure, but do you have any views of what this could mean for the industry? I suppose most of these loans are sitting in the securitization structures, the regular scheme, if you have any views on that?
Theodore Gnardellis: Stephan, again, we need to wait for the actual detailing because the impact might range a lot, obviously. It's a cash recovery question of the securitizations. It doesn't concern Piraeus Bank or the banks overall given the fact that these loans are derecognized. But in terms of the overall recovery, the outlook of HAPS and what that means, this is to be seen as we see the details. Overall, the outfits are producing cash reserves. We've -- the overall recoveries that come out of these loans are a percentage. I would say a small percentage of the expected recoveries. We'll see that -- what that means for this phase for the future. But overall, I think, for the bank's balance sheet, no effect.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, there are no further questions at this time. I will now turn the conference over to Mr. Megalou for any closing comments.
Christos Megalou: Thank you all for participating in our full year 2025 results conference call. We now want to welcome you to our Piraeus Capital Markets Day, which will be held in London on Thursday, the 5th of March, where we will be presenting our strategic plan from 2026 to 2030. As already communicated, before the strategic presentation, we will hold an analyst-only session to discuss any questions and any technical aspects of the new business plan. We look forward to seeing you all next week in London. Thank you.
Operator: Ladies and gentlemen, the conference has now concluded, and you may disconnect your telephone. Thank you for calling, and have a good afternoon.