(Alliance News) - Bank of Cyprus Holdings PLC on Wednesday reported a jump in half-year profit, helped by interest income more than doubling due to higher base rates.
The Nicosia-based lender said pretax profit in the six months to June multiplied to EUR260.9 million from EUR54.0 million a year prior. Total income grew 56% to EUR646.2 million from EUR415.0 million.
Notably, interest income surged to EUR403.9 million from EUR181.5 million, buoyed by rising interest rates. The bank's annualised net interest margin rose to 3.17% in the first half of 2023, from 1.32% a year ago.
Return on tangible equity jumped to 24% from 4.9%. In the second quarter of 2023, it improved to nearly 27% from 21% in the first quarter.
Looking ahead, Bank of Cyprus expects return on tangible equity to be over 17% during for 2023, up from 4.3% in 2022, and to be over 14% in 2024 and over 13% in 2025.
Further, the bank cited expected strong economic growth for Cyprus, with 2.8% growth expected in 2023, after growing 3.4% in the first quarter of 2023.
Bank of Cyprus shares rose 6.4% to 268.00 pence each on Wednesday morning in London.
By Tom Budszus, Alliance News reporter
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Bk. Cyprus Hldg (BOCH)