Bank Of Cyprus

Description:

Founded in 1899, the Bank of Cyprus Group (the Group) is the leading Cypriot banking and financial services group. In addition to its core business of retail and commercial banking, the Group's activities include finance, factoring, investment banking, brokerage, fund management, custody, life and general insurance. Bank of Cyprus Limited (the Bank) has a dominant position in its home market and, since the early 1990s, the Bank has been expanding rapidly in Greece. The Bank's operations in Greece are ranked 7th in terms of loans and deposits in the Greek Market. Internationally the Group seeks to serve the expatriate Greek and Cypriot communities. The Group has an established banking presence in the United Kingdom and expanded to Australia in late 2000. The Group currently operates through a total of 280 banking outlets, of which 181 are in Cyprus, 80 in Greece, seven in the United Kingdom, eight in Australia and one in the Channel Islands. Bank of Cyprus Limited also has representation in the United States of America, Canada, South Africa, Russia and Romania. At 30 September 2003, the Group employed 5,624 staff worldwide. The Bank of Cyprus Group's total assets at 30 September 2003 were C£8.51bn (14.57bn Euro) and Shareholders' funds were C£510mn (872.0mn Euro). The Group's capital adequacy ratio was 12.1% at 30 June 2003. Moody's Investor Services, Inc. has given Bank of Cyprus a long-term credit rating of A3 (stable outlook). Fitch Ratings has given the Bank of Cyprus a long-term credit rating of A- (stable outlook). The Bank of Cyprus shares are listed on the Cyprus and the Athens Stock Exchanges. At 31 December 2003, the Bank of Cyprus shares represented approximately 23.8% of the Cyprus Stock Exchange's total market capitalisation.