Alpha Bank, the Greek finance group and owner of the country’s largest factor – ABC Factors – has reported a 35 per cent rise in nine-month net profits of Ђ190m, up from Ђ141m in 2002. The bank also announced that its factoring division had a 34 per cent rise in lending, about 4 per cent of Alpha’s total lending.
Total lending rose 15.2 per cent in 2003 and there was a 16 per cent hike in lending to small- and medium-sized enterprises (SME).
Loans to SMEs account for 53 per cent of Alpha’s entire lending portfolio.
Source: Europe Intelligence Wire
