On Wednesday 17 April, Astrobank announced its results for 2024. The financial institution has made significant progress, demonstrating sustainable growth and management efficiency.
In particular, its net profit after all taxes totalled €41.8 million, up from €39.4 million in 2023.
Net interest income from January to December 2024 increased by 14.3% to € 36.2 million, compared to 13.9% or € 30.4 million in the previous year. Non-interest income in 2024 was € 23.3 million compared to € 22.5 million in 2023. Total operating income increased to € 97.6 million from € 97.2 million in 2023. This amount mainly includes rental income, dividends from fund investments and income from the sale of the property fund. Total expenses decreased by 8.7% to €46.5 million in 2024 from €50.9 million in 2023.
Personnel expenses totalled € 26.5 million, a decrease of 2.1% compared to the previous year. Depreciation and amortisation decreased to € 3.2 million. Depreciation and amortisation decreased to € 3.2 million. Under the voluntary redundancy programme, 25 employees were terminated in 2024 with total benefits of € 3.6 million. The total number of employees at 31 December 2024 was 365, compared to 392 in the previous year.
Financial results:
- Revenue before provisions increased by 10.3% to € 51.2 million.
- Impairment losses on assets totalled € 5.8 million, compared to € 6.7 million in 2023.
- Total assets amounted to € 2.609 billion, down from € 2.725 billion in 2023, mainly due to the repayment of central bank funding.
- Loans after provisions decreased to € 773 million from € 933 million in the previous year.
- Customer deposits increased by 2.0% to € 2.216 billion.
Capital development:
- Equity totalled € 271.4 million.
- The capital adequacy ratio increased from 23.7% to 31.1%.
- The core Tier 1 capital ratio (CET1) was 29.3%, up from 22.1% a year earlier.
- The liquidity ratio was 467%, well above the regulatory minimum of 100%.
- The problem loan ratio fell to 10.6% from 14.9% in 2023, with provision coverage at 43.3%.
In 2024, sales of properties listed in Astrobank's portfolio amounted to approximately EUR 40 million, of which direct sales accounted for EUR 34.2 million. Total sales over the last four years amounted to approximately €180 million.
On 27 February 2025, Astrobank entered into a binding agreement with Alpha Services and Holdings SA, the parent company of Alpha Bank SA, for the sale of substantially all of the banking assets, liabilities and personnel of Alpha Bank Cyprus Ltd. The value of the transaction will be at least €205 million. It is expected to be completed in the fourth quarter of 2025. Upon completion, Alpha Bank Cyprus will become the third largest bank in Cyprus with a market share of approximately 10%.
2024 will be an excellent year for AstroBank. Systematic efforts over the past few years to create a focused business model aimed at operational rationalisation and process simplification, reform and balance sheet risk mitigation, combined with a favourable interest rate and macroeconomic environment, have contributed to strong financial results. The decisive actions of our management and staff over the last 4 years have led to the successful transaction announced on 27 February 2025 to merge the operations of AstroBank with those of Alpha Bank Cyprus to create an enlarged banking group in Cyprus,' commented Aristides Vourakis, CEO of AstroBank..