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SEC: Losses from Zachs insignificant compared to BOC’s size

20/05/2003 08:08
The Securities and Exchange Commission considered the potential losses from BOC's investment in the Greek IT company Zachs to be insignificant compared to the size of the Group, and hence, did not ask the Bank of Cyprus to make issue a warning to its shareholders. SEC Chairman told StockWatch that the SEC immediately asked the Bank to provide clarifications on the issue, once it appeared in the press, but after receiving all the necessary information, judged that the potential losses do not affect significantly the Group's annual operations.

On Monday a high ranking BOC official told SW that the losses from the said investment will not exceed CYP 7.5 million including the faulty loans given to Zachs. A large part of losses is included in the financial statements for 2002 and another part in the Q1 results of 2003.

The net profits of the Group for the first quarter of 2003 totaled CYP 6.1 million against CYP 6.7 million in the corresponding period of 2002. The net income from interests increased by 15%.