Large profit increase for National Bank

An increase of 14% was noted during the first half of 2003 in the pretax profits of the Group of the National Bank of Greece, which came to 261.6 million euro. The organizational profits of the Group during the first 6 months of 2003 came to 183.5 million euro, increased by 88% when compared to the first half of 2002. Profits also increased for the second quarter of 2003 in comparison to the previous one, with pretax profits coming to 148.6 million euro, 33% higher than the first quarter.