Half-year Report -Part 2

Bank of Cyprus Holdings PLC
09 August 2023
 

 


 

Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements for the six months ended 30 June 2023

 


Interim Consolidated Income Statement

 



Six months ended
30 June



 2023

 2022
(restated)


Notes

 €000

 €000

Turnover

7

               646,203                           

                414,996                            

Interest income

8

               403,852                           

                181,470                            

Income similar to interest income

8

                 22,172                           

                    9,518                            

Interest expense

9

              (56,083)                           

               (37,514)                            

Expense similar to interest expense

9

              (11,599)                           

                 (7,752)                            

Net interest income


               358,342                           

                145,722                            

Fee and commission income


                 93,879                           

                  98,086                            

Fee and commission expense


                (4,275)                           

                 (4,447)                            

Net foreign exchange gains


                 15,839                           

                  11,898                            

Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

10

                   5,680                           

               (10,183)                            

Net gains on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost


                   5,861                           

                    1,648                            

Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense)


                      263                           

                    2,653                            

Net insurance service result


                 34,086                           

                  31,268                            

Net reinsurance service result


                (9,788)                           

               (10,197)                            

Net gains/(losses) from revaluation and disposal of investment properties


                      788                           

                 (1,372)                            

Net gains on disposal of stock of property


                   3,906                           

                    8,242                            

Other income


                 12,200                           

                    8,927                            

Total operating income


               516,781                           

                282,245                            

Staff costs

11

              (93,043)                           

               (98,303)                            

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

11

              (18,236)                           

               (16,507)                            

Provisions for pending litigations, claims, regulatory and other matters (net of reversals)

27

              (14,148)                           

                    (594)                            

Other operating expenses

11

              (70,456)                           

               (75,824)                            

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment


               320,898                           

                  91,017                            

Credit losses on financial assets

12

              (36,772)                           

               (24,826)                            

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

12

              (23,206)                           

               (12,157)                            

Profit before tax


               260,920                           

                  54,034                            

Income tax

13

              (39,768)                           

               (11,158)                            

Profit after tax for the period


               221,152                           

                  42,876                            

Attributable to:




Owners of the Company


               220,247                           

                  42,214                            

Non‑controlling interests


                      905                           

                       662                            

Profit for the period


               221,152                           

                  42,876                            





Basic profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company
(€ cent)

14

                     49.4                           

                        9.5                            

Diluted profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company
(€ cent)

14

                     49.3                           

                        9.5                            


Interim Consolidated Statement of Comprehensive Income

 



Six months ended
30 June



 2023

 2022
(restated)


Notes

 €000

 €000

Profit for the period


         221,152

            42,876

Other comprehensive income (OCI)




OCI that may be reclassified in the consolidated income statement in subsequent periods


             3,299

           (20,412)                      

Fair value reserve (debt instruments)


             3,373

          (17,909)

Net gains/(losses) on investments in debt instruments measured at fair value through OCI (FVOCI)


             3,705

          (17,421)

Transfer to the consolidated income statement on disposal


             (332)

              (488)





Foreign currency translation reserve


               (74)

             (2,503)                      

(Losses)/profit on translation of net investments in foreign branches and subsidiaries


               (71)

              1,576

Losses on hedging of net investments in foreign branches and subsidiaries

16

                 (3)

            (4,079)





OCI not to be reclassified in the consolidated income statement in subsequent periods


                 486                      

               (211)                      

Fair value reserve (equity instruments)


              (681)                      

             (2,051)                      

Net losses on investments in equity instruments designated at FVOCI


             (681)

            (2,051)

Property revaluation reserve


                 824                      

                    - 

Fair value gains before tax


                798

                   - 

Deferred tax

13

                  26

                   - 





Actuarial gains on the defined benefit plans


                 343                      

               1,840                      

Remeasurement gains on defined benefit plans


                343

              1,840





Other comprehensive income/(loss) for the period net of taxation


             3,785

          (20,623)

Total comprehensive income for the period


         224,937

            22,253





Attributable to:




Owners of the Company


         224,026

            21,591

Non‑controlling interests


                911

                 662

Total comprehensive income for the period


         224,937

            22,253


 

Interim Consolidated Balance Sheet

 



30 June
2023

31 December
2022 
(restated)

1 January
2022
(restated)

Assets

Notes

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cash and balances with central banks

28

            9,127,429                           

             9,567,258

             9,230,883                            

Loans and advances to banks

28

               431,812                           

                204,811

                291,632                            

Derivative financial assets

16

                 49,302                           

                  48,153

                    6,653                            

Investments at FVPL

15

               138,661                           

                190,209

                199,194                            

Investments at FVOCI

15

               487,806                           

                467,375

                748,695                            

Investments at amortised cost

15

            2,703,240                           

             2,046,119

             1,191,274                            

Loans and advances to customers

18

          10,007,819                           

             9,953,252

             9,836,405                            

Life insurance business assets attributable to policyholders


               587,882                           

                542,321

                551,797                            

Prepayments, accrued income and other assets

20

               609,607                           

                609,054

                583,777                            

Stock of property

19

               945,831                           

             1,041,032

             1,111,604                            

Investment properties


                 74,339                           

                  85,099

                117,745                            

Deferred tax assets

13

               227,953                           

                227,934

                265,942                            

Property and equipment


               267,410                           

                253,378

                252,130                            

Intangible assets


                 47,546                           

                  52,546

                  54,144                            

Non‑current assets and disposal groups held for sale


                         - 

                         -  

                358,951                            

Total assets


          25,706,637                           

           25,288,541

           24,800,826                            

Liabilities





Deposits by banks


               448,713                           

                507,658

                457,039                            

Funding from central banks

21

            2,004,480                           

             1,976,674

             2,969,600                            

Derivative financial liabilities

16

                 18,391                           

                  16,169

                  32,452                            

Customer deposits

22

          19,166,155                           

           18,998,319

           17,530,883                            

Insurance liabilities


               631,917                           

                599,992

                623,791                            

Accruals, deferred income, other liabilities and other provisions

24

               429,585                           

                379,182

                356,697                            

Provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters

27

               128,267                           

                127,607

                104,108                            

Debt securities in issue

23

               291,976                           

                297,636

                302,555                            

Subordinated liabilities

23

               309,348                           

                302,104

                340,220                            

Deferred tax liabilities

13

                 34,618                           

                  34,634

                  39,817                            

Total liabilities


          23,463,450                           

           23,239,975

           22,757,162                            

Equity





Share capital

25

                 44,620                           

                  44,620

                  44,620                            

Share premium

25

               594,358                           

                594,358

                594,358                            

Revaluation and other reserves


                 80,686                           

                  76,939

                  99,541                            

Retained earnings


            1,264,795                           

             1,090,349

             1,062,711                            

Equity attributable to the owners of the Company


            1,984,459                           

             1,806,266

             1,801,230                            

Other equity instruments

25

               235,517                           

                220,000

                220,000                            

Non‑controlling interests


                 23,211                           

                  22,300

                  22,434                            

Total equity


            2,243,187                           

             2,048,566

             2,043,664                            

Total liabilities and equity


          25,706,637                           

           25,288,541

           24,800,826                            













Mr. E.G. Arapoglou

Chairman

Mr. P. Nicolaou

Chief Executive Officer

























Mr. N. Sofianos

Director

Mrs. E. Livadiotou

Executive Director Finance










 

Interim Consolidated Statement of Changes in Equity

 


Attributable to the owners of the Company





Share
capital

(Note 25)

Share
premium

(Note 25)

Treasury shares

(Note 25)

Other
capital reserves

(Note 11)

Retained
earnings

 

Property revaluation reserve

Financial
instruments
fair value reserve

Life insurance in‑force business reserve

Foreign currency translation reserve

Total

Other equity instruments

(Note 25)

Non‑ controlling interests

Total
equity


 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

31 December 2022

      44,620               

     594,358               

    (21,463)               

           322               

  1,041,152               

         74,170                  

        7,142               

        101,301                  

         16,768                  

1,858,370               

     220,000               

       22,300

   2,100,670                  

Impact of retrospective application of IFRS 17 adoption 

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

      49,197               

               - 

            - 

     (101,301)                  

               - 

  (52,104)               

            - 

            -  

     (52,104)                  

31 December 2022 (restated)/1 January 2023

     44,620               

   594,358               

  (21,463)               

          322               

1,090,349               

        74,170                  

       7,142               

               - 

        16,768                  

1,806,266               

   220,000               

     22,300

   2,048,566                  

Profit for the period

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

     220,247               

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

   220,247               

            - 

           905

      221,152                  

Other comprehensive income/(loss) after tax for the period

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

           343               

              818                  

        2,692               

               - 

             (74)                  

       3,779               

            - 

              6

          3,785                  

Total comprehensive income/(loss) after tax for the period

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

     220,590               

              818                  

        2,692               

               - 

             (74)                  

   224,026               

            - 

           911

      224,937                  

Dividends (Note 26)

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

    (22,310)               

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

  (22,310)               

            - 

            -  

     (22,310)                  

Share‑based benefits ‑ cost (Note 11)

            - 

            - 

            - 

           311               

            - 

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

          311               

            - 

            -  

             311                  

Payment of coupon to AT1 holders (Note 25)

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

    (13,750)               

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

  (13,750)               

            - 

            -  

     (13,750)                  

Issue of other equity instruments (Note 25)

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

     (3,530)               

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

    (3,530)               

     220,000               

            -  

      216,470                  

Repurchase of other equity instruments (Note 25)

            - 

            - 

            - 

            - 

     (6,554)               

               - 

            - 

               - 

               - 

    (6,554)               

  (204,483)               

            -  

   (211,037)                  

30 June 2023

     44,620               

   594,358               

  (21,463)               

          633               

1,264,795               

        74,988                  

       9,834               

               - 

        16,694                  

1,984,459               

   235,517               

     23,211

   2,243,187                  


 

 


Attributable to the owners of the Company





Share
capital

(Note 25)

Share
premium

(Note 25)

Treasury shares

(Note 25)

Retained
earnings

 

Property revaluation reserve

Financial
instruments
fair value
reserve

Life insurance
in‑force
business
reserve

Foreign
currency
translation
reserve

Total

Other
equity
instruments

 (Note 25)

Non‑ controlling interests

Total
equity


 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

1 January 2022

         44,620                  

        594,358                  

       (21,463)                  

        986,623                  

         80,060                  

         23,285                  

        113,651                  

         17,659                  

   1,838,793                  

     220,000               

       22,434

   2,081,227                  

Impact of retrospective application of IFRS 17 adoption

               - 

               - 

               - 

         76,088                  

               - 

               - 

     (113,651)                  

               - 

     (37,563)                  

            - 

            -  

     (37,563)                  

Restated balance at 1 January 2022

        44,620                  

      594,358                  

     (21,463)                  

   1,062,711                  

        80,060                  

        23,285                  

               - 

        17,659                  

   1,801,230                  

   220,000               

     22,434

   2,043,664                  

Profit for the period

               - 

               - 

               - 

         42,214                  

               - 

               - 

               - 

               - 

        42,214                  

            - 

           662

        42,876                  

Other comprehensive income/(loss) after tax for the period

               - 

               - 

               - 

           1,840                  

               - 

       (19,960)                  

               - 

        (2,503)                  

     (20,623)                  

            - 

            -  

     (20,623)                  

Total comprehensive income/(loss) after tax for the period

               - 

               - 

               - 

         44,054                  

               - 

       (19,960)                  

               - 

        (2,503)                  

        21,591                  

            - 

           662

        22,253                  

Defence contribution 

               - 

               - 

               - 

        (4,983)                  

               - 

               - 

               - 

               - 

       (4,983)                  

            - 

            -  

       (4,983)                  

Payment of coupon to AT1 holders (Note 25)

               - 

               - 

               - 

       (13,750)                  

               - 

               - 

               - 

               - 

     (13,750)                  

            - 

            -  

     (13,750)                  

30 June 2022

        44,620                  

      594,358                  

     (21,463)                  

   1,088,032                  

        80,060                  

          3,325                  

               - 

        15,156                  

   1,804,088                  

   220,000               

     23,096

   2,047,184                  


 

Interim Consolidated Statement of Cash Flows

 

 



Six months ended
30 June



 2023

 2022
(restated)


Note

 €000

 €000

Profit before tax


         260,920                     

                   54,034                            

Adjustments for:




Depreciation of property and equipment and amortisation of intangible assets


           16,901                     

                   16,908                            

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets


           23,206                     

                   12,157                            

Credit losses on financial assets


           36,772                     

                   24,826                            

Net gains on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost


          (5,861)                     

                  (1,648)                            

Amortisation of discounts/premiums and interest on debt securities


        (24,735)                     

                  (8,767)                            

Dividend income


             (439)                     

                     (368)                            

Net loss on disposal of investment in debt securities measured at FVOCI


                433                     

                     2,826                            

(Gain)/loss from revaluation of financial instruments designated as fair value hedges


          (9,473)                     

                   38,007                            

Interest on subordinated liabilities and debt securities in issue


           13,956                     

                   14,258                            

Negative interest on loans and advances to banks and balances with central banks


                  - 

                   20,104                            

Interest/(negative) interest on funding from central banks


           27,806                     

                 (14,792)                            

Loss on disposal/dissolution of subsidiaries and associates


                  - 

                     (179)                            

Share‑based benefits cost

11

                311                     

                         -  

Net gains on disposal of stock of property and investment properties


          (4,868)                     

                  (8,358)                            

Profit on sale and write offs of property and equipment and intangible assets


               (12)                     

                       (51)                            

Interest expense on lease liability


             1,433                     

                         -  

Premium tax included in net insurance service result as directly attributable expense


             1,070                     

                        955                            

Net losses from revaluation of investment properties


                174                     

                     1,488                            

Net exchange differences


             2,290                     

                 (23,236)                            



         339,884                     

                  128,164                            

Change in:




Loans and advances to banks


             3,696                     

                   36,345                            

Deposits by banks


        (58,945)                     

                   34,983                            

Obligatory balances with central banks


        (23,925)                     

                  (7,883)                            

Customer deposits


         167,836                     

                  919,333                            

Life insurance business assets attributable to policyholders and Insurance liabilities


        (13,636)                     

                 (19,715)                            

Loans and advances to customers


        (82,889)                     

               (356,885)                            

Prepayments, accrued income and other assets


          (4,941)                     

                  (3,760)                            

Provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters


             (110)                     

                        685                            

Accruals, deferred income, other liabilities and other provisions


           12,287                     

                   29,534                            

Derivative financial instruments


             1,073                     

                 (54,464)                            

Investments measured at FVPL


           51,548                     

                   17,876                            

Stock of property


           61,778                     

                   86,519                            



         453,656                     

                  810,732                            

Tax paid


             (764)                     

                     (441)                            

Net cash from operating activities


         452,892                     

                  810,291                            

Cash flows from investing activities




Purchases of debt, treasury bills and equity securities


      (828,338)                     

               (329,751)                            

Proceeds on disposal/redemption of investments in debt and equity securities


         166,577                     

                  295,856                            

Interest received from debt securities


           18,299                     

                   17,230                            

Dividend income from equity securities


                439                     

                        368                            

Payment for purchase of Velocity 2


          (3,604)                     

                         -  

Deposits on held for sale portfolios


                  - 

                        900                            

Purchases of property and equipment


          (2,246)                     

                     (817)                            

Purchases of intangible assets


          (4,484)                     

                  (6,046)                            

Proceeds on disposals of property and equipment and intangible assets


                167                     

                        109                            

Proceeds on disposals of investment properties


             2,921                     

                   23,384                            

Net cash (used in)/from investing activities


      (650,269)                     

                     1,233                            







Six months ended
30 June



 2023

 2022
(restated)


Note

 €000

 €000

Cash flow from financing activities




Payment of AT1 coupon

25

        (13,750)                     

                 (13,750)

Issue of other equity instruments (net of transaction costs)

25

         216,470                     

                         -  

Repurchase of other equity instruments

25

      (211,037)                     

                         -  

Payment of defence contribution


                  - 

                  (4,983)

Repayments of subordinated liabilities


                  - 

                 (35,605)

Dividend paid


        (16,614)                     

                         -  

Interest on subordinated liabilities


                  - 

                  (3,293)

Interest on debt securities in issue


          (7,500)                     

                  (7,500)

Negative interest on loans and advances to banks and balances with central banks


                  - 

                 (20,104)

Principal elements of lease payments


          (3,430)                     

                  (3,507)

Net cash used in financing activities


        (35,861)                     

                 (88,742)

Net (decrease)/increase in cash and cash equivalents


      (233,238)                     

                  722,782

Cash and cash equivalents 1 January


      9,586,153                     

               9,255,210

30 June

28

      9,352,915                     

               9,977,992

Non‑cash transactions

Repossession of collaterals

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, the Group acquired properties by taking possession of collaterals held as securities for loans and advances to customers of €5,815 thousand (30 June 2022: €23,058 thousand).

Recognition of RoU asset and lease liabilities

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, the Group recognised RoU assets and corresponding lease liabilities of €2,234 thousand (30 June 2022: €136 thousand).


 

Notes to the Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements

1.           Corporate information

Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company (the 'Company') was incorporated in Ireland on 11 July 2016, as a public limited company under company number 585903 in accordance with the provisions of the Companies Act 2014 of Ireland (Companies Act 2014). Its registered office is 10 Earlsfort Terrace, Dublin 2, D02 T380, Ireland. The Company is domiciled in Ireland and is tax resident in Cyprus.

Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company is the holding company of Bank of Cyprus Public Company Limited ('BOC PCL' or the 'Bank') with principal place of business in Cyprus. The Bank of Cyprus Holdings Group (the 'Group') comprises the Company, its subsidiary, BOC PCL, and the subsidiaries of BOC PCL. Bank of Cyprus Holdings Public Limited Company is the ultimate parent company of the Group.

The principal activities of BOC PCL and its subsidiary companies (the 'BOC Group') involve the provision of banking services, financial services, insurance services and the management and disposal of property predominately acquired in exchange of debt.

BOC PCL is a significant credit institution for the purposes of the SSM Regulation and has been designated by the CBC as an 'Other Systemically Important Institution' (O‑SII). The Group is subject to joint supervision by the ECB and the CBC for the purposes of its prudential requirements.

The shares of the Company are listed and trading on the London Stock Exchange (LSE) and the Cyprus Stock Exchange (CSE).

Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements

The Consolidated Condensed Interim Financial Statements of the Company for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (the Consolidated Financial Statements) were authorised for issue by a resolution of the Board of Directors on 08 August 2023.

The Consolidated Financial Statements are available on the Group's website www.bankofcyprus.com (Group/Investor Relations/Financial Results).

2.           Unaudited financial statements

The Consolidated Financial Statements have not been audited by the Group's external auditors.

The Group's external auditors have conducted a review in accordance with the International Standard on Review Engagements 2410 'Review of Interim Financial Information performed by the Independent Auditor of the Entity'.

3.           Summary of significant accounting policies

3.1         Basis of preparation

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared on a historical cost basis, except for properties held for own use and investment properties, investments at fair value through other comprehensive income (FVOCI), financial assets (including loans and advances to customers and investments) at fair value through profit or loss (FVPL) and derivative financial assets and derivative financial liabilities that have been measured at fair value, non‑current assets held for sale measured at fair value less costs to sell and stock of property measured at net realisable value where this is lower than cost. The carrying values of recognised assets and liabilities that are hedged items in fair value hedges, and otherwise carried at cost, are adjusted to record changes in fair value attributable to the risks that are being hedged.

Presentation of the Consolidated Financial Statements

The Consolidated Financial Statements are presented in Euro (€) and all amounts are rounded to the nearest thousand, except where otherwise indicated. A comma is used to separate thousands and a dot is used to separate decimals.

The Group presents its balance sheet broadly in order of liquidity. An analysis regarding expected recovery or settlement of assets and liabilities within twelve months after the balance sheet date and more than twelve months after the balance sheet date is presented in Note 29.

Comparative information

Comparative information was restated following the adoption of IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts' on 1 January 2023 as described further below in Note 3.3.1.


Furthermore, comparative information was restated following certain changes in the presentation of the primary statements first applied in the 2022 annual consolidated financial statements. More specifically, 'Provisions for pending litigations, claims regulatory and other matters (net of reversals)' previously presented within 'Other operating expenses' is now presented separately on the Consolidated Income Statement.

In addition, comparative information was restated in relation to the presentation of segmental analysis as detailed in Note 7 following an internal re‑organisation in the fourth quarter of 2022. This change led to a respective restatement of 'Analysis by Business line' and 'Analysis of total revenue' in Note 7.

3.2         Statement of compliance

The Consolidated Financial Statements have been prepared in accordance with the International Accounting Standard (IAS) applicable to interim financial reporting as adopted by the European Union (EU) (IAS 34), the Transparency (Directive 2004/109/EC) Regulations 2007, as amended, Part 2 (Transparency Requirements) of the Central Bank (Investment Market Conduct) Rules 2019 and the applicable requirements of the Disclosure Guidance and Transparency Rules of the UK's Financial Conduct Authority.

The Consolidated Financial Statements do not comprise statutory financial statements for the purposes of the Companies Act 2014 of Ireland. The Company's statutory financial statements for the purposes of Chapter 4 of Part 6 of the Companies Act 2014 of Ireland for the year ended 31 December 2022, upon which the auditors have expressed an unqualified opinion, were published on 31 March 2023 and are expected to be delivered to the Registrar of Companies of Ireland within 56 days from 30 September 2023.

The Consolidated Financial Statements do not include all the information and disclosures required for the annual financial statements and should be read in conjunction with the Annual Consolidated Financial Statements of Bank of Cyprus Holdings Group for the year ended 31 December 2022, prepared in accordance with International Financial Reporting Standards (IFRS) as adopted by the EU and ESEF requirements, which are available at the Group's website (www.bankofcyprus.com).

3.3         Changes in accounting policies, presentation and disclosures

The accounting policies adopted are consistent with those followed for the preparation of the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022, except for the adoption of new and amended standards and interpretations as explained in Note 3.3.1.

3.3.1      New and amended standards and interpretations

The Group applied for the first time certain standards and amendments, which are effective for annual periods beginning on or after 1 January 2023 and which are explained below. The Group has not early adopted any other standard, interpretation or amendments that has been issued but is not yet effective.

IFRS 17: Insurance Contracts

IFRS 17 'Insurance Contracts' (IFRS 17) became effective on 1 January 2023 and as required by the standard, the Group applied the requirements retrospectively with comparative information restated from the transition date, 1 January 2022 as further explained in the 'Transition application' section below. IFRS 17 establishes the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of insurance contracts, reinsurance contracts and investment contracts with discretionary participation features.

IFRS 17 is a comprehensive new accounting standard for insurance contracts which replaces IFRS 4 'Insurance Contracts'. In contrast to the requirements in IFRS 4, IFRS 17 provides a comprehensive model (the general measurement model or 'GMM') for insurance contracts, supplemented by the variable fee approach ('VFA') for contracts with direct participation features that are substantially investment‑related service contracts, and the premium allocation approach ('PAA') mainly for short duration insurance contracts. The main features of the new accounting standard for insurance contracts are the following:

i.    The measurement of the present value of future cash flows, incorporating an explicit risk adjustment, remeasured every reporting period (the fulfilment cash flows).

ii.    A Contractual Service Margin (CSM) that is equal and opposite to any day one gain in the fulfilment cash flows of a group of contracts. The CSM represents the unearned profitability of the insurance contracts and is recognised in profit or loss over the service period (i.e., the coverage period).


i.    Certain changes in the expected present value of future cash flows are adjusted against the CSM and thereby recognised in profit or loss over the remaining contractual service period.

ii.    The recognition of insurance revenue and insurance service expenses in the consolidated income statement is based on the concept of services provided during the period.

iii.   Insurance service result (earned revenue less incurred claims) is presented separately from the insurance finance income or expense.

iv.   Extensive disclosures to provide information on the recognised amounts from insurance contracts and the nature and extent of the risks arising from these contracts.

Transition application

The standard is applied retrospectively using a fully retrospective approach ('FRA') as if it had always been applied, unless it is impracticable to so, in which case either a modified retrospective approach ('MRA') or a fair value approach ('FVA') can be selected. Impracticability assessments were performed based on the requirements of IFRS 17 and considered the availability of data and systems and the requirement not to apply hindsight within the measurement. Following the completion of impracticability assessments, the Group applied the following approaches:

·             The FRA for all non‑life groups of insurance contracts and non‑individual life groups of insurance contracts, irrespective of issue date.

·             The MRA for groups of life insurance contracts issued between 2016 and 2021.

·             The FVA for groups of life insurance contracts issued prior to 2016.

Modified retrospective approach ('MRA')

The Group is permitted to use the MRA only to the extent that is does not have reasonable and supportable information to apply the FRA. MRA is an approach to achieve the outcome closest to the FRA, with the prescribed modifications to address some of the challenges of retrospective application. Under MRA the below simplifications are permitted:

·             assessments at the date of initial recognition of groups of insurance contracts;

·             contractual service margin for insurance contracts without direct participation features;

·             contractual service margin for insurance contracts with direct participation features; and

·             insurance finance income or expenses.

In applying the MRA, the Group used reasonable and supportable information from its existing reporting systems, with the objective to arrive at the outcome closest to the FRA. The Group applied each of the following modifications:

·             Groups of contracts issued between 2016 and 2021 contain contracts issued more than one year apart. For these groups, the discount rates on initial recognition were determined at 1 January 2022 instead of at the date of initial recognition.

·             For groups of contracts issued between 2016 and 2021, the future cash flows on initial recognition were estimated by considering:

-             the transactions that occurred in the period 2016‑2021, plus

-             the expected future cashflows estimated at 31 December 2021.

·             For groups of contracts issued between 2016 and 2021, the illiquidity premiums applied to the risk‑free yield curves on initial recognition were estimated by determining an average spread between the risk‑free yield curves and the discount rates determined retrospectively for the period between 1 January 2016 and 1 January 2022.

·             For groups of contracts issued between 2016 and 2021, the risk adjustment for non‑financial risk at initial recognition was determined by adjusting the relevant amount at 1 January 2022.

·             The amount of the CSM has been released in the profit or loss before 1 January 2022 was determined by comparing the coverage units provided before 1 January 2022 and the expected coverage units at 1 January 2022.


Determination on transition of the fair value of insurance contract liabilities for which FVA was applied

Under the FVA approach required by IFRS 17, the valuation of insurance liabilities on transition is based on the requirements of IFRS 13 'Fair Value Measurement'. This requires consideration of the price that would be received to sell an asset or paid to transfer a liability in an orderly transaction between market participants at the measurement date (an exit price). Under the FVA, the CSM of the liability for remaining coverage at the transition date is determined as the difference between the fair value of the groups of insurance contracts and the fulfilment cash flows measured as at that date. There is judgement involved in determining an appropriate fair value, as there is a lack of observable data for actual transactions for closed book insurance businesses and a range of possible modelling approaches. In determining the fair value the Group considered the estimated profit margin that a market participant would demand in return for assuming the insurance liabilities, and the discount rate that would be applied within the IFRS 13 calculation. The approach for setting these included the following:

·             The discount rate was derived with an allowance for an illiquidity premium that takes into account the level of 'matching' between the life Insurance assets and related liabilities.

·             Solvency II information (i.e. Best Estimate Liabilities and Risk Margin) has been utilised.

The sections below provide a summary of the significant accounting policies applied under IFRS 17, information on the quantitative impact of transition to IFRS 17, the restated consolidated balance sheet at 1 January 2022 and at 31 December 2022 and the restatement impact on the consolidated income statement for the year ended 31 December 2022 and the six months ended 30 June 2022.

Summary of significant accounting policies

Identifying contracts in the scope of IFRS 17

IFRS 17 establishes the principles for the recognition, measurement, presentation and disclosure of insurance contracts, reinsurance contracts and investment contracts with discretionary participation features.

An insurance contract is a contract under which the Group accepts significant insurance risk from another party by agreeing to compensate that party if it is adversely affected by a specified uncertain future event.

When identifying contracts in the scope of IFRS 17, there is a need to assess whether contracts need to be treated as a single contract and whether embedded derivatives, investment components and goods and services components need to be separated and accounted for under another standard. For the Group's insurance and reinsurance contracts held, there were no significant changes arising from the application of these requirements.

Level of aggregation

Individual insurance contracts that are managed together and are subject to similar risks are identified as a group.

Contracts that are managed together usually belong to the same product line and have similar characteristics such as being subject to a similar pricing framework or similar product management and are issued by the same legal entity. If a contract is exposed to more than one risk, the dominant risk of the contract is used to assess whether the contract features similar risks.

Each group of contracts is then divided into annual cohorts (i.e. by year of issue) and each cohort into three groups, based on expected profitability: (i) contracts that are onerous at initial recognition; (ii) contracts that at initial recognition have no significant possibility of becoming onerous subsequently; and (iii) the remaining contracts.

The groups of insurance contracts are established at initial recognition without subsequent reassessment and form the unit of account at which the contracts are measured.


Contract boundaries

The measurement of a group of insurance contracts includes all the future cash flows within the boundary of each contract in the group. Cash flows are within the boundary of an insurance contract if they arise from substantive rights and obligations that exist during the reporting period in which the Group can compel the policyholder to pay the premiums, or in which the Group has a substantive obligation to provide the policyholder with services. For multiyear (more than one year) non‑life contracts, the Group has assessed that they are expected to equal their duration as the Group cannot reprice or terminate the insurance contract during the coverage period.

Measurement

IFRS 17 introduces a standard measurement model, the General Measurement Model (GMM) and allows also for a simplified approach, the Premium Allocation Approach (PAA). IFRS 17 also provides for the Variable Fee Approach (VFA), which is mandatory to apply for insurance contracts with direct participation features upon meeting the eligibility criteria. While the GMM is the default measurement model under IFRS 17, the Group applies the VFA primarily to insurance contracts in the unit‑linked life portfolio. The PAA is an optional simplification applicable for measuring the Liability for Remaining Coverage (LRC) for contracts with coverage periods of one year or less, or when doing so approximates the GMM; it is primarily applied by the Group to non‑life insurance contracts and to non‑individual life insurance contracts as well as to reinsurance contracts of the Group except for the individual life reinsurance agreement, for which the GMM was applied. For the rest of the insurance contracts (individual protection life contracts, the acquired portfolio and health long‑term portfolio) and the Liability for Incurred Claims (LIC) of non‑life Insurance contracts, the Group applies the GMM approach.

Initial measurement

Groups of insurance contracts under the GMM or the VFA are initially measured as the total of:

-             Fulfilment cash flows, which comprise:

·             an estimate of the present value of future cash flows that are expected to arise as the Group fulfils its service under the insurance contracts; and

·             an explicit risk adjustment for non‑financial risk (i.e., the risk adjustment held on balance sheet)

-             Contractual Service Margin (CSM) which represents the unearned profit that the Group will recognise as it provides insurance contract services.

The fulfilment cash flows comprise unbiased and probability‑weighted estimates of future cash flows, discounted to present value to reflect both the time value of money and financial risks, plus a risk adjustment for non‑financial risk. The discount rate applied reflects the time value of money, the characteristics of the cash flows, the liquidity characteristics of the insurance contracts and, where appropriate, is consistent with observable current market prices.

The risk adjustment for non‑financial risk for a group of insurance contracts is the compensation required for bearing the uncertainty in relation to the amount and timing of the cash flows that arises from non‑financial risk. The risk adjustment is explicit and determined separately from other fulfilment cash flows.

A CSM arises when, for a group of contracts, the sum of the discounted cash flows and the risk adjustment is a net inflow. If the sum of these is a net outflow, then the group of contracts is onerous and a loss equal to the net outflow is recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Under the PAA, the liability for remaining coverage is initially recognised as the premiums received at initial recognition, minus any insurance acquisition cash flows.

Subsequent measurement

GMM

At the end of each reporting period, IFRS 17 requires that insurance contracts are measured as the sum of:

·             Liability for remaining coverage (LRC), comprising fulfilment cash flows related to future service and the CSM at the reporting date; and

·             Liability for incurred claims (LIC), comprising fulfilment cash flows related to past service at the reporting date (claims and expenses not yet paid, including claims incurred but not yet reported).


The fulfilment cash flows of groups of insurance contracts are measured at the reporting date using current estimates of future cash flows, current discount rates and current estimates of the risk adjustment for non‑financial risk. Changes in fulfilment cash flows are recognised as follows:

-             Changes related to future service are adjusted against the CSM unless the group of contracts is onerous in which case such changes are recognised in the net insurance service result in the consolidated income statement 

-             Changes related to past or current service are recognised in the net insurance service result in the consolidated income statement

-             The effects of the time value of money and financial risk are recognised as net insurance finance income or expense in the consolidated income statement

The amount of CSM recognised in income statement for services in a period is determined by the allocation of the CSM remaining at the end of the reporting period over the current and remaining expected coverage period of the group of insurance contracts based on coverage units. Services provided are estimated using coverage units, which reflect the quantity of benefits and the coverage duration.

VFA

The VFA is applied for contracts with direct participation features (contracts where returns are based on the performance of underlying assets).  For insurance contracts under the VFA, changes in the Group's share of the underlying items, and economic experience and economic assumption changes adjust the CSM, whereas these changes do not adjust the CSM under the GMM but are recognised in profit or loss as they arise.

PAA

Subsequently to initial measurement, the carrying amount of the LRC is increased with premiums received in the period, minus insurance acquisition cash flows, plus amortisation of acquisition cash flows, minus the amount recognised as insurance revenue for coverage provided in that period. The LRC is not discounted, since at initial recognition, it is expected that the time between providing each part of the coverage and the due date of the related premium is not more than a year.

Reinsurance contracts

The Group applies the same accounting policies to measure a group of reinsurance contracts under PAA, with the following modifications to reflect features that differ from those of insurance contracts.  The Group establishes a loss‑recovery component on the carrying amount of the asset for remaining coverage for a group of reinsurance contracts, depicting the recovery of losses, where the Group recognises a loss on initial recognition of an onerous group of underlying insurance contracts or when further onerous underlying insurance contracts are added to a group.

The Group calculates the loss‑recovery component by multiplying the loss recognised on the underlying insurance contracts and the percentage of claims on the underlying insurance contracts the Group expects to recover from the group of reinsurance contracts. The loss‑recovery component adjusts the carrying amount of the asset for remaining coverage.

The subsequent measurement of reinsurance contracts follows the same principles as those for insurance contracts issued and has been adapted to reflect the specific features of reinsurance. Where the Group has established a loss‑recovery component, the Group subsequently reduces the loss‑recovery component to zero in line with reductions in the onerous group of underlying insurance contracts in order to reflect that the loss‑recovery component shall not exceed the portion of the carrying amount of the loss component of the onerous group of underlying insurance contracts that the entity expects to recover from the group of reinsurance contracts.

The measurement of reinsurance contracts under the individual life reinsurance agreement follows the same principles as those for insurance contracts measured under the GMM. The carrying amount of the reinsurance contracts at each reporting date is the sum of the asset for remaining coverage and the asset for incurred claims. The asset for remaining coverage comprises (a) the fulfilment cash flows that relate to services that will be received under the contracts in future periods and (b) any remaining CSM at that date.

The risk adjustment for non‑financial risk will represent the amount of risk being transferred by the Group to the reinsurer.


The CSM of a group of reinsurance contracts represents a net cost or net gain on purchasing reinsurance.  

Contract derecognition

The Group derecognises an insurance contract issued when the obligation specified in the contract expires, is discharged, or is cancelled, or if its terms are modified significantly. When a contract is modified significantly, a new contract based on the modified terms is recognised.

On derecognition of an insurance contract, the Group:

·             -Adjusts the fulfilment cash flows to eliminate the present value of future cash flows and risk adjustment for non‑financial risk relating to the rights and obligations that have been derecognised from the group of contracts,

·             Adjusts the CSM of the group of contracts for the change in the fulfilment cash flows, except where such changes are allocated to a loss component; and

·             Adjusts the number of coverage units for the expected remaining services, to reflect the number of coverage units derecognised from the group of contracts.

Directly attributable expenses

In accordance with IFRS 17, expenses directly attributable to a group of insurance contracts, which include both acquisition and maintenance costs are incorporated in actual and estimated future cash flows and recognised in the net insurance result. Insurance acquisition cash flows are amortised. Expenses that are not directly attributable are excluded from the measurement of insurance contract liabilities and are recognised in profit and loss as incurred.

Significant judgments and estimates

The key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date, that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of insurance and reinsurance assets and liabilities within the next financial year are discussed below. The Group based its assumptions and estimates on parameters available by the reporting date. Existing circumstances and assumptions about future developments, however, may change due to market changes or circumstances arising that are beyond the control of the Group. Such changes are reflected in the assumptions when they occur.

Estimates of future cash flows

In estimating future cash flows, the Group incorporates, in an unbiased way, all reasonable and supportable information that is available without undue cost or effort at the reporting date. This information includes both internal and external historical data about claims and other experience, updated to reflect current expectations of future events.

Cash flows within the boundary of a contract are those that relate directly to the fulfilment of the contract, including those for which the Group has discretion over the amount or timing. These include payments to (or on behalf of) policyholders and other costs that are incurred in fulfilling contracts. These comprise both an allocation of fixed and variable overheads.

The estimates of future cash flows reflect the Group's view of current conditions at the reporting date, as long as the estimates of any relevant market variables are consistent with observable market prices.

The following assumptions were used when estimating future cash flows in relation to life insurance contracts:

·             Mortality and morbidity rates

·             Expenses and inflation

·             Lapse and surrender rates


The table below sets out the percentage assumed to apply to industry mortality and morbidity tables in estimating fulfilment cash flows:

 

Mortality Rates


Mortality rates*

 



30 June 2023

31 December 2022

 

Males

Smokers

68% A67/70

68% A67/70

 


Non‑Smokers

48.25% A67/70

48.25% A67/70

 


Smokers

68% A67/70 rated down by 4 years

68% A67/70 rated down by 4 years

 

Females

Non‑Smokers

48.25% A67/70 rated down by 4 years

48.25% A67/70 rated down by 4 years

 

* The Group uses A67/70 UK standard mortality table in setting the mortality assumption, since the Group's own claim experience is not sufficient to allow the development of its own mortality table. To reflect the Group's  specific  claims  experience  more  accurately,  a  percentage  is  applied  on  the  A67/70  UK  standard mortality table.

Discount rates

Discount rates are applied to adjust the estimates of future cash flows to reflect the time value of money and the financial risks related to those cash flows, to the extent that the financial risks are not included in the estimates of cash flows.

IFRS 17 requires that discount rates should:

·             Reflect the time value of money, characteristics of the cash flows and liquidity characteristics of the insurance contract

·             Be consistent with observable current market prices (if any) for financial instruments with cash flows whose characteristics are consistent with those of the insurance contracts (e.g., timing, currency and liquidity)

·             Exclude the effect of factors that influence such observable market prices, but do not affect the future cash flows of the insurance contracts

IFRS 17 does not require a particular estimation technique for determining discount rates but provides two alternative approaches that may be used to derive discount rates. The determination of discount rates may be derived from a yield curve that reflects the current market rates of return of an actual or reference portfolio of assets, adjusted to eliminate any factors that are not relevant to the insurance contracts (top‑down approach), or discount rates may be derived based on a liquid risk‑free yield curve adjusted for an illiquidity premium (bottom‑up approach). The Group has elected to apply a bottom‑up approach whereby discount rates are derived based on a liquid risk free yield curve adjusted for an illiquidity premium.

The discount rates applied for discounting future cash flows are listed below:









 




Year 1

Year 3

Year 5

Year 10

Year 20


30 June
2023

31 December
2022

30 June
2023

31 December
2022

30 June
2023

31 December
2022

30 June
2023

31 December
2022

30 June
2023

31 December
2022

Life insurance contracts (unit‑linked)

3.8%

2.4%

3.2%

2.8%

3.0%

2.9%

2.9%

3.0%

2.8%

2.7%

Life insurance contracts (non‑linked)

3.9%

2.4%

3.3%

2.8%

3.1%

2.9%

3.0%

3.0%

2.9%

2.7%

Non‑life insurance contracts

3.9%

4.0%

3.3%

4.0%

3.1%

4.0%

3.0%

3.9%

2.9%

3.6%

Risk adjustments for non‑financial risk

 

IFRS 17 provides limited prescriptive requirements as to the methodology to be used to calculate the risk adjustment and allows an entity to apply judgement in determining an appropriate estimation technique.

 














Life Insurance business

The Group has applied judgement in estimating the risk adjustment, in the following areas:

·             Risks included within the risk adjustment calculation ‑ the Group has considered the same risks as under the Solvency II risk margin, specifically for life underwriting and health underwriting risks, as they both use a definition of non‑market risks, apart from specific differences referred to in IFRS 17. The excluded categories are counterparty and operational risks.

·             Method of calculation ‑ the Group calculates a margin, above best estimate assumptions, for each non‑financial risk to which the Group is exposed through issuing insurance contracts. The margins are set so that (in combination) they would cover potential losses from movements in non‑financial risks within a specified confidence level. The total of these margins is the risk adjustment. The Group has applied judgement in setting the confidence level applied in the risk adjustment calculation, based on the Group's appetite for accepting the risk inherent in writing insurance contracts and the compensation required for doing so.

The Group has estimated the risk adjustment using a hybrid of Cost of Capital (CoC) and Value at Risk (VaR) techniques. The Group scales up/down the Risk Adjustment calculated under the CoC technique using the VaR technique to reflect the Group's risk appetite and overall strategy.

To calculate the Risk Adjustment, the Group first uses the CoC technique to derive a calibrated normal distribution with a mean that is equal to Best Estimate Liabilities (BEL) at Best Estimate Assumptions and percentile at 99,5% equal to BEL + Solvency Capital Requirements (SCR) (t=0). A 6% CoC rate is applied to the additional capital requirement in future reporting periods to calculate the return required by the Group to compensate for the exposure to non¬financial risk. The CoC method results to a confidence level of 60%.

Using the VaR methodology, to allow for the Group's risk appetite and overall strategy the confidence level is then scaled up to 90% which is the desired confidence level of the Group. The Risk Adjustment is then calculated using the normal distribution and a confidence level of 90%.

Non‑life Insurance business

For non‑life insurance business the risk adjustment forms a key component of the LIC.

The risk adjustment for LRC forms part of the loss component calculation which is used to determine the groupings of contracts that are expected to be onerous.

Risk adjustment for non‑financial risk is determined to reflect the compensation that the Group would require for bearing non‑financial risk and its degree of risk aversion. It is determined separately for each non‑life line of business and allocated to groups of contracts based on the total premiums for each group. It reflects the effects of the diversification benefits between the different lines of business, which are determined using a correlation matrix technique available from EIOPA.

The risk adjustment for non‑financial risk is determined using a confidence level technique which stems from a hybrid Cost of Capital and Value at Risk approach. To determine the risk adjustment for non‑financial risk for non‑life reinsurance contracts, the Group applies this technique to the gross amounts and then by using gross to net ratios it derives the amount of risk being transferred to the reinsurer as the difference between the two results.

The Group estimates the probability distribution of the expected present value of the future cash flows from the contracts at each reporting date and calculates the risk adjustment for non‑financial risk at value at risk of the target confidence level. The Group uses a target 75% percentile for the confidence level.


CSM

The CSM of a group of contracts is recognised in the income statement to reflect services provided in each year, by identifying the coverage units in the group, allocating the CSM remaining at the end of the year equally to each coverage unit provided in the year and expected to be provided in future years, and recognising in income statement the amount of the CSM allocated to coverage units provided in the year. The number of coverage units is the quantity of services provided by the contracts in the group, determined by considering for each contract the quantity of the benefits and its expected coverage period. The coverage units are reviewed and updated at each reporting date.

Significant accounting policy choices

The significant accounting policy choices applicable to the Group are in relation to:

·             Disaggregation of insurance finance income or expenses: The Group has elected to recognise total insurance finance income or expenses in the consolidated income statement in the period in which they arise i.e no disaggregation is applied.

·             Deferral of acquisition expenses: The Group has elected to defer insurance acquisition cash flows, in applying the premium allocation approach for which IFRS 17 provides an election to be made.

·             Disaggregation of change in risk adjustment for non‑financial risk: The Group has elected to disaggregate the change in risk adjustment for non‑financial risk between the net insurance service result and net insurance finance income/(expense).

Presentation

The amounts presented in the consolidated income statement under IFRS 17 include:

i.    Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense), that comprises of:

·             Net insurance finance income/(expense) which represents the finance related change in the carrying value of a group of insurance contracts comprising interest effects of changes in interest rates and other financial assumptions and the effect of changes in the fair value of underlying items for direct participating contracts

·             Net finance income/(expense) from reinsurance contracts held is the finance related change in the carrying value of a group of reinsurance contracts comprising interest accreted and effects of changes in interest rates and other financial assumptions.

ii.    Net insurance service result, that comprises of:

·             Insurance revenue that reflects the consideration to which the Group expects to be entitled in exchange for the provision of coverage and other insurance contract services (excluding any investment components) and includes among others CSM released during the period, revenue for insurance contracts under the PAA and changes in risk adjustment related to current service period and experience variance.

·             Insurance service expenses that comprise the incurred claims and other incurred insurance service expenses (excluding any investment components), and losses on onerous groups of contracts and reversals of such losses.

iii.   Net reinsurance service result, that comprises of amounts recovered from reinsurers and reinsurance expenses.

Transition impact

On transition on 1 January 2022, consistent with the disclosures in the 2022 Annual Financial Report, the Group's Total Equity and Equity attributable to the owners of the Company were reduced by €37,563 thousand, reflecting the aggregate impact of the present value of in‑force life insurance business (PVIF) elimination and remeasurement of insurance assets and liabilities, both net of associated tax impact. Similarly, adjusting for the impact of IFRS 17 on the profit for the year ended 31 December 2022, the Group's Total Equity and Equity attributable to the owners of the Company at 31 December 2022 as reported under IFRS 4 were reduced by €52,104 thousand, as analysed below.


 


At 1 January
2022

At 31 December
2022


 €000

 €000

IFRS 4 Total Equity

       2,081,227                        

       2,100,670                        

IFRS 4 Equity attributable to the owners of the Company

       1,838,793                        

       1,858,370                        

Removal of PVIF asset

         (129,890)                        

         (115,776)                        

Contractual service margin

           (43,731)                        

           (41,863)                        

Removal of IFRS 4 assets and liabilities and recording of IFRS 17 fulfilment cash flows and risk adjustment

            129,255                        

              97,028                        

Tax effect (incl. PVIF tax effect)

                7,079                        

                9,601                        

Other

                (276)                        

             (1,094)                        

Total impact of IFRS 17 restatements

            (37,563)                         

            (52,104)                         

IFRS 17 Equity attributable to the owners of the Company

       1,801,230                        

       1,806,266                        

IFRS 17 Total Equity

       2,043,664                        

       2,048,566                        

The reduction of the Group's equity by €52 million as at 31 December 2022 comprises the elimination of the in‑force life insurance business asset (PVIF) and the associated deferred tax liability, resulting in a net decrease of €101 million and the remeasurement of insurance assets and liabilities (including the impact of the contractual service margin) resulting in a net increase in equity by €49 million.

On transition on 1 January 2022, the Group's Tangible Equity attributable to the owners of the Company was increased by €92,327 thousand.  Adjusting for the impact of IFRS 17 on the profit for the year ended 31 December 2022, the Group's Tangible Equity attributable to the owners of the Company as at 31 December 2022 as restated under IFRS 17 was increased by €63,672 thousand as analysed below.

 


At 1 January
2022

At 31 December
2022


 €000

 €000

IFRS 4 Group's Tangible Equity attributable to the owners of the Company

         1,654,759                        

         1,690,048                        

Contractual service margin

           (43,731)                        

           (41,863)                        

Removal of IFRS 4 assets and liabilities and recording of IFRS 17
fulfilment cash flows and risk adjustment

            129,255                        

              97,028                        

Tax effect (incl. PVIF tax effect)

                7,079                        

                9,601                        

Other

                (276)                        

             (1,094)                        

Total impact of IFRS 17 restatements

               92,327                         

               63,672                         

IFRS 17 Group's Tangible Equity attributable to the owners of the Company

       1,747,086                        

       1,753,720                        


Consolidated Income Statement for the year ended 31 December 2022, as restated for IFRS 17 and as previously reported under IFRS 4 is presented below.

 


Year ended
31 December 2022


IFRS 17
(restated)

IFRS 4
(as previously
presented)


 €000

 €000

Interest income

               428,849                           

                428,849                            

Income similar to interest income

                 22,119                           

                  22,119                            

Interest expense

              (65,721)                           

               (65,821)                            

Expense similar to interest expense

              (14,840)                           

               (14,840)                            

Net interest income

               370,407                           

                370,307                            

Fee and commission income

               202,583                           

                202,583                            

Fee and commission expense

              (10,299)                           

               (10,299)                            

Net foreign exchange gains

                 31,291                           

                  31,291                            

Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

                   (614)                           

                  10,052                            

Net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost

                   5,235                           

                    5,235                            

Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense)

                   4,075                           

                         -  

Net insurance service result

                 60,530                           

                         -  

Net reinsurance service result

              (20,039)                           

                         -  

Income from assets under insurance and reinsurance contracts

                         - 

                114,681                            

Expenses from liabilities under insurance and reinsurance contracts

                         - 

               (43,542)                            

Net losses from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

                   (999)                           

                    (999)                            

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

                 13,970                           

                  13,970                            

Other income

                 16,681                           

                  16,681                            

Total operating income

               672,821                           

                709,960                            

Staff costs

            (285,154)                           

             (294,361)                            

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

              (38,492)                           

               (38,492)                            

Provisions for pending litigations, regulatory and other provisions (net of reversals)

              (11,880)                           

               (11,880)                            

Other operating expenses

            (157,916)                           

             (166,365)                            

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment

               179,379                           

                198,862                            

Credit losses on financial assets

              (59,087)                           

               (59,529)                            

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

              (29,549)                           

               (29,549)                            

Profit before tax

                 90,743                           

                109,784                            

Income tax

              (31,312)                           

               (35,812)                            

Profit after tax for the year

                 59,431                           

                  73,972                            

Attributable to:



Owners of the Company

                 56,565                           

                  71,106                            

Non‑controlling interests

                   2,866                           

                    2,866                            

Profit for the year

                 59,431                           

                  73,972                            




Basic and diluted profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company
(€ cent)

                     12.7                           

                      15.9                            


Consolidated Balance Sheet at transition date and at 31 December 2022 as restated under IFRS 17 and as previously reported under IFRS 4 is presented below.

 


IFRS 17
(restated)

IFRS 4
(as previously presented)


31 December
2022

1 January
2022

31 December
2022

1 January
2022

Assets

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cash and balances with central banks

            9,567,258                           

             9,230,883                            

            9,567,258                           

             9,230,883                            

Loans and advances to banks

               204,811                           

                291,632                            

               204,811                           

                291,632                            

Derivative financial assets

                 48,153                           

                    6,653                            

                 48,153                           

                    6,653                            

Investments at FVPL

               190,209                           

                199,194                            

               190,209                           

                199,194                            

Investments at FVOCI

               467,375                           

                748,695                            

               467,375                           

                748,695                            

Investments at amortised cost

            2,046,119                           

             1,191,274                            

            2,046,119                           

             1,191,274                            

Loans and advances to customers

            9,953,252                           

             9,836,405                            

            9,953,252                           

             9,836,405                            

Life insurance business assets attributable to policyholders

               542,321                           

                551,797                            

               542,321                           

                551,797                            

Prepayments, accrued income and other assets

               609,054                           

                583,777                            

               639,765                           

                616,219                            

Stock of property

            1,041,032                           

             1,111,604                            

            1,041,032                           

             1,111,604                            

Investment properties

                 85,099                           

                117,745                            

                 85,099                           

                117,745                            

Deferred tax assets

               227,934                           

                265,942                            

               227,521                           

                265,481                            

Property and equipment

               253,378                           

                252,130                            

               253,378                           

                252,130                            

Intangible assets

                 52,546                           

                  54,144                            

               168,322                           

                184,034                            

Non‑current assets and disposal groups held for sale

                         - 

                358,951                            

                         - 

                358,951                            

Total assets

          25,288,541                           

           24,800,826                            

          25,434,615                           

           24,962,697                            

Liabilities





Deposits by banks

               507,658                           

                457,039                            

               507,658                           

                457,039                            

Funding from central banks

            1,976,674                           

             2,969,600                            

            1,976,674                           

             2,969,600                            

Derivative financial liabilities

                 16,169                           

                  32,452                            

                 16,169                           

                  32,452                            

Customer deposits

          18,998,319                           

           17,530,883                            

          18,998,319                           

           17,530,883                            

Insurance liabilities

               599,992                           

                623,791                            

               679,952                           

                736,201                            

Accruals, deferred income, other liabilities and other provisions

               379,182                           

                356,697                            

               384,004                           

                361,977                            

Provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters

               127,607                           

                104,108                            

               127,607                           

                104,108                            

Debt securities in issue

               297,636                           

                302,555                            

               297,636                           

                302,555                            

Subordinated liabilities

               302,104                           

                340,220                            

               302,104                           

                340,220                            

Deferred tax liabilities

                 34,634                           

                  39,817                            

                 43,822                           

                  46,435                            

Total liabilities

          23,239,975                           

           22,757,162                            

          23,333,945                           

           22,881,470                            

Equity





Share capital

                 44,620                           

                  44,620                            

                 44,620                           

                  44,620                            

Share premium

               594,358                           

                594,358                            

               594,358                           

                594,358                            

Revaluation and other reserves

                 76,939                           

                  99,541                            

               178,240                           

                213,192                            

Retained earnings

            1,090,349                           

             1,062,711                            

            1,041,152                           

                986,623                            

Equity attributable to the owners of the Company

            1,806,266                           

             1,801,230                            

            1,858,370                           

             1,838,793                            

Other equity instruments

               220,000                           

                220,000                            

               220,000                           

                220,000                            

Non‑controlling interests

                 22,300                           

                  22,434                            

                 22,300                           

                  22,434                            

Total equity

            2,048,566                           

             2,043,664                            

            2,100,670                           

             2,081,227                            

Total liabilities and equity

          25,288,541                           

           24,800,826                            

          25,434,615                           

           24,962,697                            


Transition impact on the Consolidated Balance Sheet at 1 January 2022

The adjustments to the Group's balance sheet at 1 January 2022 arising on the adoption of IFRS 17 are presented below.

 


Balance
IFRS 4

Removal of
PVIF and
IFRS 4
assets and
liabilities

IFRS 17
fulfilment
cash flows
incl. Risk
adjustment*

IFRS 17
CSM

Tax
effect

Other

Balance
IFRS 17

Total
movements

Assets

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Prepayments, accrued income and other assets

      616,219                

     (70,121)                

           37,676                   

             -  

             -  

               3                

      583,777                

     (32,442)                

Deferred tax assets

      265,481                

             -  

                -  

             -  

            461                

             -  

      265,942                

            461                

Intangible assets

      184,034                

   (129,890)                

                -  

             -  

             -  

             -  

        54,144                

   (129,890)                

All other assets

  23,896,963                

             -  

                -  

             -  

             -  

             -  

  23,896,963                

             -  

Total assets

  24,962,697                

   (200,011)                

           37,676                   

             -  

            461                

               3                

  24,800,826                

   (161,871)                

Liabilities









Insurance liabilities

      736,201                

   (735,143)                

         579,002                   

        43,731                

             -  

             -  

      623,791                

   (112,410)                

Accruals, deferred income, other liabilities and other provisions

      361,977                

       (5,559)                

                -  

             -  

             -  

            279                

      356,697                

       (5,280)                

Deferred tax liabilities

        46,435                

             -  

                -  

             -  

       (6,618)                

             -  

        39,817                

       (6,618)                

All other liabilities

  21,736,857                

             -  

                -  

             -  

             -  

             -  

  21,736,857                

             -  

Total liabilities

  22,881,470                

   (740,702)                

         579,002                   

        43,731                

       (6,618)                

            279                

  22,757,162                

   (124,308)                

* includes reinsurance assets and liabilities adjustments

Transition drivers

Removal of PVIF and IFRS 4 assets and liabilities

The present value of in‑force business ('PVIF') which was previously reported under IFRS 4 within 'Intangible assets' and that arose from the upfront recognition of future profits associated with in‑force insurance contracts, is no longer recognized under IFRS 17. The estimated future profits are included in the measurement of the insurance contract liability as the contractual service margin ('CSM'), representing the unearned profit, which will be gradually recognized over the duration of a contract. Other IFRS 4 insurance assets and insurance contract liabilities are removed on transition, to be replaced with IFRS 17 insurance assets and liabilities.

Recognition of the IFRS 17 fulfilment cash flows and risk adjustment

The measurement of insurance contract liabilities under IFRS 17 is based on groups of insurance contracts and includes a liability for fulfilling the contractual obligations associated with the insurance contract, such as premiums, expenses, insurance benefits and claims. These are recorded within the fulfilment cash flow component of the insurance contract liability, together with the risk adjustment.

Recognition of the IFRS 17 CSM

In contrast to IFRS 4 accounting, where profits were recognised upfront, under IFRS 17 they are deferred within the CSM which is systematically recognized in revenue, as services are provided over the coverage period of groups of insurance contracts.

Tax effect

The removal of deferred tax liability primarily results from the removal of the associated PVIF intangible, and new deferred tax assets and liabilities are reported, where appropriate, on temporary differences between the new IFRS 17 accounting balances and their associated tax bases.


Transition impact on the Consolidated Income Statement

A summary of the impact of implementing IFRS 17 on the Group's consolidated income statement for the year ended 31 December 2022 is presented below.

 


For the year ended 31 December 2022


IFRS 4

Removal of
IFRS 4 and
reclassifi‑cations

Net
insurance
finance
income/
expense

IFRS 17
CSM

IFRS 17
insurance
revenue‑
other than
CSM

IFRS 17
insurance
expense

Net
expense
from
reinsurance

Attributable
expenses
(reclassifi‑cation
to net
insurance
service result)

Tax
effect

IFRS 17
(restated)


 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Interest income

   428,849             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

    428,849                

Income similar to interest income

    22,119             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

      22,119                

Interest expense

  (65,821)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

            100                

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (65,721)                

Expense similar to interest expense

  (14,840)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (14,840)                

Net interest income

   370,307             

             -  

          -  

             -  

            100                

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

    370,407                

Fee and commission income

   202,583             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

    202,583                

Fee and commission expenses

  (10,299)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (10,299)                

Net foreign exchange gains

    31,291             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

      31,291                

Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

    10,052             

     (10,666)

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

        (614)                

Net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost

      5,235             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

        5,235                

Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense)

          -  

             -  

      4,075             

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

        4,075                

Net insurance service result

          -  

             -  

          -  

         5,031                

      130,061                

  (74,562)             

             -  

                -  

          -  

      60,530                

Net reinsurance service result

          -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

     (20,039)                

                -  

          -  

   (20,039)                

Income from assets under insurance and reinsurance contracts

   114,681             

   (114,681)

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

n/a

Expenses from liabilities under insurance and reinsurance contracts

  (43,542)             

        43,542

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

n/a

Net losses from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

      (999)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

        (999)                

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

    13,970             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

      13,970                

Other income

    16,681             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

      16,681                

Total operating income

   709,960             

     (81,805)

      4,075             

         5,031                

      130,161                

  (74,562)             

     (20,039)                

                -  

          -  

    672,821                

Staff costs

(294,361)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

            9,207

          -  

(285,154)                

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

  (38,492)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (38,492)                

Provisions for pending litigations, regulatory and other provisions (net of reversals)

  (11,880)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (11,880)                

Other operating expenses

(166,365)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

            8,449

          -  

(157,916)                

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment

   198,862             

     (81,805)

      4,075             

         5,031                

      130,161                

  (74,562)             

     (20,039)                

           17,656

          -  

    179,379                

Credit losses on financial assets

  (59,529)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

            442                

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (59,087)                

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

  (29,549)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                -  

          -  

   (29,549)                

Profit before tax

   109,784             

     (81,805)

      4,075             

         5,031                

      130,603                

  (74,562)             

     (20,039)                

           17,656

          -  

      90,743                

Income tax

  (35,812)             

             -  

          -  

             -  

             -  

          -  

             -  

                 77

      4,423             

   (31,312)                

Profit after tax for the year

    73,972             

     (81,805)

      4,075             

         5,031                

      130,603                

  (74,562)             

     (20,039)                

           17,733

      4,423             

      59,431                


The Consolidated Income Statement for the six months ended 30 June 2022, as restated for IFRS 17 and as previously reported under IFRS 4 is presented below:

 


Six months ended 30 June 2022


IFRS 4
(as previously
presented)

IFRS 17
(adjustments)

IFRS 17
(restated)


 €000

 €000

 €000

Turnover

               414,996                           

                         - 

                414,996

Interest income

               181,470                           

                         - 

                181,470

Income similar to interest income

                   9,518                           

                         - 

                    9,518

Interest expense

               (37,541)                           

                        27                           

              (37,514)

Expense similar to interest expense

                 (7,752)                           

                         - 

                (7,752)

Net interest income

               145,695                           

                        27                           

                145,722

Fee and commission income

                 98,086                           

                         - 

                  98,086

Fee and commission expense

                 (4,447)                           

                         - 

                (4,447)

Net foreign exchange gains

                 11,898                           

                         - 

                  11,898

Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

                 (2,060)                           

                 (8,123)                           

              (10,183)

Net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost

                   1,648                           

                         - 

                    1,648

Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense)

                         - 

                   2,653                           

                    2,653

Net insurance service result

                         - 

                 31,268                           

                  31,268

Net reinsurance service result

                         - 

               (10,197)                           

              (10,197)

Income from assets under insurance and reinsurance contracts

                 29,859                           

               (29,859)                           

                         -  

Expenses from liabilities under insurance and reinsurance contracts

                   3,010                           

                 (3,010)                           

                         -  

Net losses from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

                 (1,372)                           

                         - 

                (1,372)

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

                   8,242                           

                         - 

                    8,242

Other income

                   8,927                           

                         - 

                    8,927

Total operating income

               299,486                           

               (17,241)                           

                282,245

Staff costs

             (103,135)                           

                   4,832                           

              (98,303)

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

               (16,507)                           

                         - 

              (16,507)

Provisions for pending litigations, regulatory and other provisions (net of reversals)

                    (594)                           

                         - 

                   (594)

Other operating expenses

               (79,799)                           

                   3,975                           

              (75,824)

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment

                 99,451                           

                 (8,434)                           

                  91,017

Credit losses on financial assets

               (24,965)                           

                      139                           

              (24,826)

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

               (12,157)                           

                         - 

              (12,157)

Profit before tax

                 62,329                           

                 (8,295)                           

                  54,034

Income tax

               (11,579)                           

                      421                           

              (11,158)

Profit after tax for the period

                 50,750                           

                 (7,874)                           

                  42,876

Attributable to:




Owners of the Company

                 50,088                           

                 (7,874)                           

                  42,214

Non‑controlling interests

                      662                           

                         - 

                       662

Profit for the period

                 50,750                           

                 (7,874)                           

                  42,876





Basic profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company (€ cent)

                     11.2                           

                     (1.7)                           

                        9.5

Diluted profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company (€ cent)

                     11.2                           

                     (1.7)                           

                        9.5


Analysis of new insurance line items included in the consolidated income statement for the year ended 31 December 2022

 


Year ended
31 December 2022


 €000

Insurance finance income and expense and reinsurance finance income and expense

              41,429                        

Return on assets backing insurance liabilities

           (37,354)                        

Net insurance finance income/(expense) and net reinsurance finance income/(expense)

                4,075                         

Insurance revenue

            135,495                        

Insurance service expenses

           (74,562)                        

Other insurance related income/(expense)

                (403)                        

Net insurance service result

             60,530                         

Allocation of reinsurance premiums

           (36,170)                        

Amounts recoverable from reinsurers for incurred claims

              16,131                        

Net reinsurance service result

          (20,039)                         

Net insurance result

            44,566                        

IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements and IFRS Practice Statement 2: Disclosure of Accounting policies (amendments)

The amendments to IAS 1 require companies to disclose their material accounting policy information rather than their significant accounting policies. The amendments to IFRS Practice Statement 2 provide guidance on how to apply the concept of materiality to accounting policy disclosures. These amendments did not have an impact on the Group's results and financial position.

IAS 8 Accounting Policies, Changes in Accounting Estimates and Errors: Definition of Accounting Estimates (amendments)

The amendments introduce the definition of accounting estimates and include other amendments to IAS 8 to help entities distinguish changes in accounting estimates from changes in accounting policies. These amendments did not have an impact on the Group's financial results and financial position.

IAS 12 Income Taxes: Deferred Tax related to Assets and Liabilities arising from a Single Transaction (amendments)

The amendments require companies to recognise deferred tax on transactions that, on initial recognition, give rise to equal amounts of taxable and deductible temporary differences. The amendments typically apply to transactions such as leases for the lessee and decommissioning obligations. These amendments did not have an impact on the Group's results and financial position.

IAS 12 Income Taxes: International Tax Reform - Pillar Two Model Rules (amendments)

The amendments require an entity to disclose that it has applied the exception to recognising and disclosing information about deferred tax assets and liabilities related to Pillar Two income taxes.  An entity is required to separately disclose its current tax expense (income) related to Pillar Two income taxes, in the periods when the legislation is effective. The amendments require, for periods in which Pillar Two legislation is (substantively) enacted but not yet effective, disclosure of known or reasonably estimable information that helps users of financial statements understand the entity's exposure arising from Pillar Two income taxes. To comply with these requirements, an entity is required to disclose qualitative and quantitative information about its exposure to Pillar Two income taxes at the end of the reporting period.  The legislation has not been substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and the Group will continue to monitor the evolving national legislation including any disclosures required, or exemptions available, under IAS 12 in the year ending 31 December 2023.


3.3.2      Standards and Interpretations that are issued but not yet adopted

The IASB has issued a number of minor amendments to IFRSs effective 1 January 2024 (including IAS 1 Presentation of Financial Statements, IAS 7 Statement of Cash Flows and IFRS 7 Financial Instruments: Disclosures, and IFRS 16 Leases). These amendments are not expected to have a significant impact on the Group.

4.           Going concern

The Directors have made an assessment of the ability of the Group, the Company and BOC PCL to continue as a going concern for a period of 12 months from the date of approval of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

The Directors have concluded that there are no material uncertainties which would cast a significant doubt over the ability of the Group, the Company and BOC PCL to continue to operate as a going concern for a period of 12 months from the date of approval of these Consolidated Financial Statements.

In making this assessment, the Directors have considered a wide range of information relating to present and future conditions, including projections of profitability, cash flows, capital requirements and capital resources, taking also into consideration, the Group's Financial Plan approved by the Board in February 2023 (the 'Plan') and the operating environment as well as any reforecast exercises performed. The Group has sensitised its projection to cater for a downside scenario and has used reasonable economic inputs to develop its medium‑term strategy. The Group is working towards materialising its Strategy.

Capital

The Directors and Management have considered the Group's forecasted capital position, including the potential impact of a deterioration in economic conditions. The Group has developed capital projections under a base and an adverse scenario and the Directors believe that the Group has sufficient capital to meet its regulatory capital requirements throughout the period of assessment.

Funding and liquidity

The Directors and Management have considered the Group's funding and liquidity position and are satisfied that the Group has sufficient funding and liquidity throughout the period of assessment. The Group continues to hold a significant liquidity buffer at 30 June 2023 that can be easily and readily monetised in a period of stress.

5.           Economic and geopolitical environment

The economic environment in 2023 and over the medium term is now subject to a high degree of uncertainty, with the continuation of the war in Ukraine, rising tensions in US‑China relations, more persistent inflation and tighter monetary conditions threatening a significant slowdown in the global economy, particularly in Europe. A combination of supply shocks, including rising protectionism, the green transition, persistently low productivity growth, slowing population growth as well as more widespread labour shortages following the pandemic, could potentially result in average inflation over the next few years being higher than over the past years.

Headline inflation has decelerated significantly in the first half of 2023, but core inflation, once the volatile energy and food items are excluded, remains stubbornly sticky. As a result, central banks in advanced countries remain focused on fighting inflation and are likely to continue to raise their policy rates into the third quarter of the year. Interest rates are thus likely to stay higher for longer, subduing growth and extending debt pressures in emerging markets.

Government debt levels in relation to GDP in the advanced economies, fell in 2021‑2022 following steep increases in 2020, due to a stronger recovery and higher inflation. However, governments' fiscal space will narrow again in the medium term due to higher interest rates and slower economic growth, limiting their ability to deal with future economic emergencies and potentially increasing the risk of financial instability, especially in more vulnerable countries.

The International Monetary Fund in its Spring World Economic Outlook released in April 2023, predicts slower growth for the global economy and increased financial and other vulnerabilities under tighter monetary conditions.


Cyprus demonstrates relative strength and resilience in this environment with a growth outlook that outweighs average growth in EU and with inflation dropping at a faster pace in comparison. Economic momentum is expected to continue in 2023 at a slower pace, driven mainly by the expected deterioration of external demand, as well as slowing domestic demand caused by still high consumer price inflation.

Cyprus' risk profile has improved significantly, but substantial risks remain in the domestic environment and in the external environment on which it depends. The most important factor weighing on Cyprus' sovereign risk is the high level of public debt. Banks have weathered the pandemic crisis well, with their liquidity and capital buffers intact. Non‑performing loans continued their downward trend, mainly due to the sale packages of the two largest banks. However, in an uncertain environment, asset quality remains a focus for bank management and supervisors.

The Group believes it is reasonably well positioned to withstand volatility that may arise from a deterioration in the geopolitical and global economic environment.

Group's Direct exposure to Russia

Russia's invasion of Ukraine has triggered disruptions and uncertainties in the markets and in the global economy. The coordinated implementation of sanctions by the EU, the UK and the U.S., joined by several other countries, imposed against Russia, Belarus and certain regions of Ukraine and certain Russian entities and nationals. The Group's policy is to comply with all applicable laws, including sanctions and export controls.

Overall, the Group's direct exposure to Russia and Belarus remains limited. In summary, the Group has direct lending exposure to Russia and Belarus of a gross book value of approximately €82 million (31 December 2022: approximately €86 million) across its business divisions as at 30 June 2023, of which €74 million (31 December 2022: €76 million) were classified as performing and secured mainly with residential collateral located in Cyprus. The basis of the exposure is expanded compared to the country risk exposure as included in Note 30.2 of the Consolidated Financial Statements which is disclosed by reference to the country of residency/country of registration, to also include exposures for loans and advances to customers with passport of origin in these countries and/or business activities within these countries and/or where the UBO has passport of origin or residency in these countries.

Customer deposit balances with customers with UBO primary passport of origin in these countries amounts to approximately 3.74% of total deposits as at 30 June 2023 as disclosed in Note 22 of the Consolidated Financial Statements.

With respect to the Group's Russian subsidiary, the net exposure is being run down and as a result the net assets included on the Group's balance sheet as at 30 June 2023 are less than €1 million (31 December 2022: less than €1 million).

6.           Significant and other judgements, estimates and assumptions

The preparation of the Consolidated Financial Statements requires the Company's Board of Directors and management to make judgements, estimates and assumptions that can have a material impact on the amounts recognised in the Consolidated Financial Statements and the accompanying disclosures, as well as the disclosures of contingent liabilities. Uncertainty about these assumptions and estimates could result in outcomes that require a material adjustment to the carrying amount of assets or liabilities affecting future periods.

The key assumptions concerning the future and other key sources of estimation uncertainty at the reporting date that have a significant risk of causing a material adjustment to the carrying amounts of assets and liabilities are described below. The Group based its assumptions and estimates on parameters available when the Consolidated Financial Statements were prepared. Existing circumstances and assumptions about future developments may, however, change due to market changes or circumstances beyond the control of the Group. Such changes are reflected in the assumptions when they occur.

The most significant judgements, estimates and assumptions relate to the calculation of expected credit losses (ECL), the estimation of the net realisable value of stock of property and the provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters, which are presented in Notes 6.1 to 6.4 below. Other judgements, estimates and assumptions are disclosed in Notes 5.5 to 5.13 of the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.


6.1         Classification of financial assets

The Group exercises judgement upon determining the classification of its financial assets, in relation to business models and future cash flows.

Judgement is also required to determine the appropriate level at which the assessment of business models needs to be performed. In general, the assessment for the classification of financial assets into the business models is performed at the level of each business line. Further, the Group exercises judgement in determining the effect of sales of financial instruments on its business model assessment.

The Group also applies judgement upon considering whether contractual features including interest rate could significantly affect future cash flows. Furthermore, judgement is required when assessing whether compensation paid or received on early termination of lending arrangements results in cash flows that are not SPPI.

6.2         Calculation of expected credit losses

The calculation of ECL requires management to apply significant judgement and make estimates and assumptions, involving significant uncertainty at the time these are made. Changes to these estimates and assumptions can result in significant changes to the timing and amount of ECL to be recognised. The Group's calculations are outputs of models, of underlying assumptions on the choice of variable inputs and their interdependencies.

It has been the Group's policy to regularly review its models in the context of actual loss experience and adjust when necessary.

Elements of ECL models that are considered accounting judgements and estimates include:

Assessment of significant increase in credit risk (SICR)

IFRS 9 does not include a definition of significant increase in credit risk. The Group assesses whether significant increase in credit risk has occurred since initial recognition using predominantly quantitative and in certain cases qualitative information. The determination of the relevant thresholds to determine whether a significant increase in credit risk has occurred, is based on statistical metrics and could be subject to management judgement. The relevant thresholds are set, monitored and updated on a yearly basis by the Risk Management Division and endorsed by the Group Provisions Committee.

Determining the probability of default (PD) at initial recognition requires management estimates in particular cases. Specifically, in the case of exposures existing prior to the adoption of IFRS 9, a retrospective calculation of the PD is made in order to quantify the risk of each exposure at the time of the initial recognition. In certain cases, estimates about the date of initial recognition might be required.

For the retail portfolio, the Group uses a PD at origination incorporating behavioural information (score cards) whereas, for the corporate portfolio, the Group uses the internal credit rating information. For revolving facilities, management estimates are required with respect to the lifetime and hence a behavioural maturity model is utilised, assigning an expected maturity based on product and customer behaviour.

Scenarios and macroeconomic factors

The Group determines the ECL, which is a probability weighted amount, by evaluating a range of possible outcomes. Management uses forward looking scenarios and assesses the suitability of weights used. These are based on management's assumptions taking into account macroeconomic, market and other factors. Changes in these assumptions and in other external factors could significantly impact ECL. Macroeconomic inputs and weights per scenario are monitored by the Economic Research Department and are based on internal model analysis after considering external market data supplemented by expert judgement.

In a challenging international environment, the Cypriot economy has shown considerable resilience. Growth remained strong in 2022 averaging 5.6% which is well above the euro area average, driven almost entirely by services on the supply side. Tourist activity recovered strongly during the year 2022 with arrivals reaching 80% and receipts 90% of their levels in 2019. On the demand side, growth was driven by private consumption and investment, especially inventory accumulation, while the external sector made a negative contribution due to faster growth in imports.


First quarter growth for 2023 was 3.4% according to the Cyprus Statistical Service, which was largely as expected. For the year the growth forecast is around 2.8% according to the Ministry of Finance. This follows strong growth of 6.9% and 5.6% respectively in 2021‑22 driven by a strong recovery in tourism toward pre‑pandemic levels, and also strong growth in other services sectors. GDP growth will be materially supported in 2023 by EU funding in the form of grants and loans from the Recovery and Resilience Facility (RRF). Cyprus has already received €157 million as pre‑financing in September 2021 and the first payment of €85 million in December 2022 after achieving the 14 milestones being linked to the first instalment. Cyprus is broadly on track in the implementation of its National Recovery and Resilience Plan.

Harmonised inflation in Cyprus was on average 8.1% in 2022, compared to 8.4% in the Euro area. Inflation peaked in July 2022 at 10.6% and has been decelerating since, reaching 2.8% in June 2023. In the first half of 2023, total harmonised inflation was 4.9% and is expected to moderate further but only gradually. For Cyprus, the European Commission forecasts harmonised inflation of 3.8% in 2023 and 2.5% in 2024.

Developments in 2022 were favourable for public finances. The IMF forecasts fiscal surpluses of 1.9% and 1.7% of GDP and gross debt to GDP of 79.5% and 71.9% for 2023 and 2024 respectively in each case.

The sovereign risk ratings of the Cypriot government have improved significantly in recent years, reflecting reduced banking sector risks, improved economic resilience and consistent fiscal outperformance. Cyprus has demonstrated policy commitment to correcting fiscal imbalances through reform and restructuring of its banking system.

Banks managed to weather the pandemic crisis well, with their liquidity and capital buffers intact. Non‑performing exposures continued their declining trend, mostly to sales packages by the two largest banks. Total NPEs at the end of April 2023 were €2.2 billion or 9% of gross loans. About 44.8% of total non‑performing exposures are restructured facilities and the coverage ratio was 54.2%. Private debt, as measured by loans to residents on bank balance sheets, excluding the government, dropped to €20.8 billion at the end of May 2023, or about 77% of GDP.

However, substantial risks remain in terms of the domestic operating environment, as well as the external environment on which it depends. The large stock of public debt weighs heavily on Cyprus' sovereign credit risk. In the banking sector non‑performing exposures need to drop further. While the current account deficit will be narrowing as exports services recover in the medium term, it will remain sizable. The monetary policy of the European Central Bank can remain tight for longer if inflation pressures persist. The extent of the crisis in Ukraine can lead to elevated tensions for a considerable period of time.

For the ECL, the Group updated its forward looking scenarios, factoring in updated macroeconomic assumptions and other monetary and fiscal developments at the national and the EU level based on developments and events as at the reporting date 30 June 2023.

The tables below indicate the most significant macroeconomic variables as well as the scenarios used by the Group as at 30 June 2023 and 31 December 2022 respectively. The Group uses three different economic scenarios in the calculation of default probabilities and provisions. The Group has used the 30‑50‑20 probability structure for the adverse, base and favourable scenarios respectively compared to the 25‑50‑25 structure derived using the method described in Note 2.19.5 of the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022. This reflects management's view of specific characteristics of the Cyprus economy that render it more vulnerable to external and internal shocks. Given the added uncertainties of the outlook for 2023 and downside risks, a global slowdown and the continuing war in Ukraine with the risk of escalation rising, as well as the tighter monetary environment in the fight against inflation, management decided to maintain an elevated weight on the adverse scenario.


30 June 2023

 

        Year     

    Scenario  

   Weight % 

Real GDP (% change)    

Unemployment rate (% of labour force)    

       Consumer Price Index (average %
change)         

    RICS House Price Index (average %
change)         

2023           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

‑0.7

7.7

2.8

‑1.8


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.9

7.0

3.5

3.0


Favourable  

               20.0                     

3.7

6.9

3.9

3.4

2024           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

‑1.2

8.4

2.4

0.2


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.6

6.9

2.7

3.1


Favourable  

               20.0                     

3.3

6.7

2.9

3.5

2025           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

1.3

8.2

2.6

1.1


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.8

6.4

2.5

2.9


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.8

6.2

2.6

3.1

2026           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

3.0

8.2

2.4

2.5


Baseline      

               50.0                     

3.0

6.2

2.5

2.9


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.9

5.9

2.4

3.0

2027           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

3.8

7.7

2.5

3.5


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.9

5.8

2.5

2.9


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.9

5.3

2.4

3.0

31 December 2022

 

        Year     

    Scenario  

   Weight % 

Real GDP (% change)    

Unemployment rate (% of labour force)    

       Consumer Price Index (average %
change)         

    RICS House Price Index (average %
change)         

2023           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

‑2.0

7.0

3.7

‑2.2


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.8

6.3

4.7

2.8


Favourable  

               20.0                     

3.6

5.9

5.1

3.3

2024           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

‑0.7

6.8

3.0

‑0.8


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.4

6.0

3.2

2.5


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.8

5.8

3.3

2.8

2025           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

1.4

6.7

2.4

1.1


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.5

5.7

2.3

2.5


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.6

5.6

2.4

2.6

2026           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

2.8

6.7

2.4

2.7


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.8

5.5

2.4

2.5


Favourable  

               20.0                     

3.1

5.3

2.4

2.6

2027           

Adverse      

               30.0                     

3.5

6.5

2.5

3.5


Baseline      

               50.0                     

2.6

5.2

2.5

2.5


Favourable  

               20.0                     

2.6

4.9

2.4

2.6

The adverse scenarios may outpace the base and favourable scenarios after the initial shock has been adjusted to and the economy starts to expand from a lower base. Thus, in the adverse scenario GDP will follow a growth trajectory that will ultimately equal and surpass the baseline before converging. Property prices are determined by multiple factors with GDP growth featuring prominently. However, the relationship between GDP growth and property prices entails a lag.

The baseline scenario was updated for the 30 June 2023 reporting, considering available information and relevant developments until then, and is described next. Economic activity continued to recover strongly in 2022 driven by a steep recovery in the tourism sector after the steep contraction of 2020, and a strong growth in private consumption, despite an aggressive monetary contraction and steep increases in interest rates. Economic momentum is expected to continue in 2023 at a slower pace. Real GDP increased by 5.6% in 2022 and is projected to rise by 2.8% in 2023 according to the Ministry of Finance. Consumer price inflation averaged 8.1% in 2022 and is expected to decelerate to 3.8% in 2023 according to the European  Commission's Spring forecasts. The unemployment rate will continue to drop steadily in the medium term. Property prices will continue to rise modestly in 2023 as domestic residential demand remains relatively strong.


The adverse scenario is consistent with assumptions for a global economic slowdown driven by the war in Ukraine, elevated inflation and continued tight monetary policies. The Cypriot economy relies on services, particularly on tourism, international business, and information services with an outward orientation. This makes the Cypriot economy more exposed than other economies to the international environment and terms of trade shocks. Weaker external demand and more restricted domestic demand as a result of higher interest rates will lead to a slow‑down of economic activity. The adverse scenario assumes a deeper impact of these conditions on the real economy than under the baseline scenario. Real GDP is expected to contract modestly by 0.7% in 2023 with the recovery remaining weak in the medium term. In the labour market the unemployment rate will rise only modestly and inflation while elevated, will be lower than under the baseline scenario. House prices will also contract in line with the contraction in real GDP.

Since 1 January 2018, the Group has reassessed the key economic variables used in the ECL models consistent with the implementation of IFRS 9. The Group uses actual values for the input variables. These values are sourced from the Cyprus Statistical Service, the Eurostat, the Central Bank of Cyprus for the residential property price index, and the European Central Bank for interest rates. Interest rates are also sourced from Bloomberg. In the case of property prices, the Group additionally uses data from the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. For the forward reference period, the Group uses the forecast values for the same variables, as prepared by the BOC PCL's Economic Research Department. The results of the internal forecast exercises are consistent with publicly available forecasts from official sources including the European Commission, the International Monetary Fund, the European Central Bank and the Ministry of Finance of the Republic of Cyprus.

Qualitative adjustments or overlays are occasionally made when inputs calculated do not capture all the characteristics of the market. These are reviewed and adjusted, if considered necessary, by the Risk Management Division, endorsed by the Group Provisions Committee and approved by the joint Risk and Audit Committee. Qualitative adjustments or overlays are described in the below sections as applicable.

For Stage 3 customers, the calculation of individually assessed provisions is the weighted average of three scenarios: base, adverse and favourable. The base scenario focuses on the following variables, which are based on the specific facts and circumstances of each customer: the operational cash flows, the timing of recovery of collaterals and the haircuts from the realisation of collateral. The base scenario is used to derive additional either more favourable or more adverse scenarios. Under the adverse scenario, operational cash flows are decreased by 50%, applied haircuts on real estate collateral are increased by 50% and the timing of recovery of collaterals is increased by 1 year with reference to the baseline scenario, whereas under the favourable scenario applied haircuts are decreased by 5%, with no change in the recovery period with reference to the baseline scenario. Assumptions used in estimating expected future cash flows (including cash flows that may result from the realisation of collateral) reflect current and expected future economic conditions and are generally consistent with those used in the Stage 3 collectively assessed exposures.

For collectively assessed customers the calculation is also the weighted average of three scenarios: base, adverse and favourable.

Assessment of loss given default (LGD)

A factor for the estimation of loss given default (LGD) is the timing and net recoverable amount from repossession or realisation of collaterals which mainly comprise real estate assets.

Assumptions have been made about the future changes in property values, as well as the timing for the realisation of collateral, taxes and expenses on the repossession and subsequent sale of the collateral as well as any other applicable haircuts. Indexation has been used as the basis to estimate updated market values of properties, supplemented by management judgement where necessary, given the difficulty in differentiating between short‑term impacts and long‑term structural changes and the shortage of market evidence for comparison purposes. Assumptions were made on the basis of a macroeconomic scenario for future changes in property prices and qualitative adjustments or overlays were applied to the projected future property value increases to restrict the level of future property price growth to 0% for all scenarios for loans and advances to customers which are secured by property collaterals.

At 30 June 2023, the weighted average haircut (including liquidity haircut and selling expenses) used in the collectively assessed provisions calculation for loans and advances to customers is approximately 32% under the baseline scenario (31 December 2022: approximately 32%).


The timing of recovery from real estate collaterals used in the collectively assessed provisions calculation for loans and advances to customers has been estimated to be on average seven years under the baseline scenario (31 December 2022: average of seven years).

For the calculation of individually assessed provisions, the timing of recovery of collaterals as well as the haircuts used are based on the specific facts and circumstances of each case. For specific cases judgement may also be exercised over staging during the individual assessment.

The above assumptions are also influenced by the ongoing regulatory dialogue the Group maintains with its lead regulator, the ECB, and other regulatory guidance and interpretations issued by various regulatory and industry bodies such as the ECB and the EBA, which provide guidance and expectations as to relevant definitions and the treatment/classification of certain parameters/assumptions used in the estimation of provisions.

Any changes in these assumptions or differences between assumptions made and actual results could result in significant changes in the estimated amount of expected credit losses of loans and advances to customers.

Expected lifetime of revolving facilities

The expected lifetime of revolving facilities is based on a behavioural maturity model for revolving facilities based on BOC PCL's available historical data, where an expected maturity for each revolving facility based on the customer's profile is assigned. The behavioural model was updated in the second quarter of 2022 to reflect updates in customers profile whilst maintaining the same model components.

Modelling adjustments

Forward looking models have been developed for ECL parameters PD, EAD, LGD for all portfolios and segments sharing similar characteristics. Model validation (initial and periodic) is performed by the independent validation unit within the Risk Management Division and involves assessment of a model under both quantitative (i.e. stability and performance) and qualitative terms. The frequency and level of rigour of model validation is commensurate to the overall use, complexity and materiality of the models, (i.e. risk tiering). In certain cases, judgement is exercised in the form of management overlay by applying adjustments on the modelled parameters. Governance of these models lies with the Risk Management Division, where a strong governance process is in place around the determination of the impairment measurement methodology including inputs, assumptions and overlays. Any management overlays are prepared by the Risk Management Division, endorsed by the Group Provisions Committee and approved by the joint Risk and Audit Committee. 

ECL allowances also include allowances on off‑balance sheet credit exposures represented by guarantees given and by irrevocable commitments to disburse funds. Off‑balance sheet credit exposures of the individually assessed assets require assumptions on the probability, timing and amount of cash outflows. For the collectively assessed off‑balance sheet credit exposures, the allowance for provisions is calculated using the Credit Conversion Factor (CCF) model.

Overlays in the context of current economic conditions

The two overlays introduced in 2022 in response to uncertainties from the consequences of the Ukrainian crisis, in the collectively assessed population for exposures that were considered to be the most vulnerable to the implications of the crisis, continued to be in effect during the six months ended 30 June 2023. These were introduced to address the increased uncertainties from the geopolitical instability, trade restrictions, disruptions in the global supply chains, increases in the energy prices and their potential negative impact on the domestic cost of living. The impact on the ECL from the application of these overlays was approximately €3.7 million ECL release for the six months ended 30 June 2023 (following an update of the assessment of the sectors classified as High Risk and/or Early Warning) and a net transfer of €22 million loans from Stage 1 to Stage 2 as at 30 June 2023.


Specifically, the first overlay relates to private individuals that are expected to be affected by the increased cost of living in order to reflect the future vulnerabilities to inflation, where a scenario with higher percentage increase is applied for the cost of living. A one‑notch downgrade is applied to the identified portfolio, reflecting the expected impact of inflation to their credit quality. The second overlay relates to sectors that have been classified as High Risk or Early Warning to reflect the expected Gross Value Added (GVA) outlook of these sectors, where this has deteriorated. Specifically, the sector risk classification is carried out by comparing the projected GVA outlook of each sector with its past performance (intrinsic) and its performance vis‑a‑vis other sectors (systemic). In cases where both systemic and intrinsic indicators are found to have deteriorated, the relevant sector is classified as High Risk, whereas if only one of the two has deteriorated, then the sector is classified as Early Warning. A one‑notch downgrade is applied to Early Warning sectors whereas for High Risk sectors a more severe downgrade is applied accordingly.

In addition, the overlay on the probability of default (PD), introduced in the fourth quarter of 2022 to address specifically the high inflation environment affecting the economy, continued to be in effect during the six months ended 30 June 2023. With this overlay the PDs were floored to the maximum of 2018/2019 level, on the basis that these years are considered as closer to a business‑as‑usual environment in terms of default rates. The impact on the ECL from the application of this overlay was €3.9 million charge for the six months ended 30 June 2023, as a result of multiple components including updated ratings, PD and thresholds calibrations and stage migrations.

In addition, in the six months ended 30 June 2023, for the LGD parameter, the overlay has been integrated through reduced curability period for Stage 2 and Stage 3 exposures (i.e., the maximum period that a customer is considered to cure has been reduced). The impact on the ECL was €8.4 million charge for the six months ended 30 June 2023.

The Group has exercised critical judgement on a best effort basis, to consider all reasonable and supportable information available at the time of the assessment of the ECL allowance as at 30 June 2023. The Group will continue to evaluate the ECL allowance and the related economic outlook each quarter, so that any changes arising from the uncertainty on the macroeconomic outlook and geopolitical developments, impacted by the implications of the Russian invasion of Ukraine, are timely captured.

Portfolio segmentation

The individual assessment is performed not only for individually significant assets but also for other exposures meeting specific criteria determined by management. The selection criteria for the individually assessed exposures are based on management judgement and are reviewed on a quarterly basis by the Risk Management Division and are adjusted or enhanced, if deemed necessary. The selection criteria were further enhanced in 2022 to include significant exposures to customers with passport of origin or residency in Russia, Ukraine or Belarus and/or business activity within these countries.

Further details on impairment allowances and related credit information are set out in Note 30.

6.3         Stock of property ‑ estimation of net realisable value

Stock of property is measured at the lower of cost and net realisable value. The net realisable value is determined through valuation techniques, requiring significant judgement, taking into account all available reference points, such as expert valuation reports, current market conditions, the holding period of the asset, applying an appropriate illiquidity discount where considered necessary, and any other relevant parameters. Selling expenses are deducted from the realisable value. Depending on the value of the underlying asset and available market information, the determination of costs to sell may require professional judgement which involves a high degree of uncertainty due to the relatively low level of market activity.

More details on the stock of property are presented in Note 19.


6.4         Provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters

The accounting policy for provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters is described in Note 2.37 of the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022. Judgement is required in determining whether a present obligation exists and in estimating the probability, timing and amount of any outflows. Provisions for pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters usually require a higher degree of judgement than other types of provisions. It is expected that the Group will continue to have a material exposure to litigation and regulatory proceedings and investigations relating to legacy issues in the medium term. The matters for which the Group determines that the probability of a future loss is more than remote will change from time to time, as will the matters as to which a reliable estimate can be made and the possible loss for such matters can be estimated. Actual results may prove to be significantly higher or lower than the estimated possible loss in those matters, where an estimate was made. In addition, loss may be incurred in matters with respect to which the Group believed the probability of loss was remote.

For a detailed description of the nature of uncertainties and assumptions and the effect on the amount and timing of pending litigation, claims, regulatory and other matters refer to Note 27.

7.           Segmental analysis

The Group's activities are mainly concentrated in Cyprus. Cyprus operations are organised into operating segments based on the line of business. The results of the overseas activities of the Group, namely Greece, Romania and Russia, are presented within segment 'Other', given the size of these operations which are in a run‑down mode and relate to legacy operations of the Group. Further, the results of certain small subsidiaries of the Group are allocated to the segments based on their key activities.

As from the fourth quarter of 2022, following an internal re‑organisation, the Large Corporate and the International Corporate business lines, which were previously reported together as one business line namely Global Corporate, have been separated, and Large Corporate is presented and monitored together with Corporate, while International Corporate Banking, Project Finance & Loan Syndication and Shipping Center are presented and monitored under International Corporate. Comparative information in 'Analysis by business line' and 'Analysis of total revenue' were restated to account for this change, which was reflected in the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022. Comparative information in 'Analysis by business line' and 'Analysis of total revenue' was also restated to account for the retrospective application of IFRS 17 as described in Note 3.3.1.

The operating segments are analysed below:

i.    The Corporate and Large Corporate, Small and Medium‑sized Enterprises (SME) and Retail business lines are managing loans and advances to customers. Categorisation of loans per customer group is detailed below.

ii.    International Corporate comprises of International Corporate Banking, Project Finance & Loan Syndication and Shipping Center. International Corporate Banking provides financing from Cyprus in respect of projects based overseas with main focus being Greece and the United Kingdom. Project Finance & Loan Syndication act as arranger or participant in large international loan syndication transactions. Shipping Center provides shipping financing primarily for ocean‑going cargo vessels.

iii.   Restructuring and Recoveries is the specialised unit which was set up to tackle the Group's loan portfolio quality and manages exposures to borrowers in distress situation through innovative solutions.

iv.   International Business Unit (IBU) specialises in the offering of banking services to the international corporate customers based in Cyprus, particularly international business companies whose ownership and business activities lie outside Cyprus, and non‑resident individual customers of BOC PCL.

v.   Wealth Management oversees the provision of private banking and wealth management, market execution and custody along with asset management and investment banking. This business line also includes subsidiary companies of the Group, whose activities relate to investment banking and brokerage, investment holding and management, administration and safekeeping of UCITS units.

vi.   The Real Estate Management Unit (REMU) manages properties acquired through debt‑for‑property swaps and properties acquired through the acquisition of certain operations of Laiki Bank in 2013, and executes exit strategies in order to monetise these assets. REMU also includes other subsidiary property companies of the Group.

vii.  Treasury is responsible for liquidity management and for overseeing operations to ensure compliance with internal and regulatory liquidity policies and provide direction as to the actions to be taken regarding liquidity availability.

viii. The Insurance business line is involved in both life and non‑life insurance business.


i.    The business line 'Other' includes central functions of BOC PCL such as finance, risk management, compliance, legal, Information Technology services, corporate affairs and human resources. These functions provide services to the operating segments. 'Other' includes also other subsidiary companies in Cyprus (excluding the insurance subsidiaries, property companies under REMU and subsidiary companies under Wealth), as well as the overseas activities of the Group.

BOC PCL broadly categorises its loans per customer group, using the following customer sectors:

i.    Retail - all physical person customers, regardless of the facility amount, and legal entities with facilities from BOC PCL of up to €500 thousand, excluding business property loans and/or annual credit turnover up to €1 million.

ii.    SME - any company or group of companies (including personal and housing loans to the directors or shareholders of a company) with facilities from BOC PCL in the range of €500 thousand to €4 million and/or annual credit turnover of €1 million up to €10 million.

iii.   Corporate - any company or group of companies (including personal and housing loans to the directors or shareholders of a company) with available credit lines with BOC PCL of over €4 million and/or having a minimum annual credit turnover of over €10 million. These companies are either local larger corporations or international companies or companies in the shipping sector. Lending includes direct lending or through syndications.

Management monitors the operating results of each business segment separately for the purposes of performance assessment and resource allocation. Segment performance is evaluated based on profit after tax and non‑controlling interests. Inter‑segment transactions and balances are eliminated on consolidation and are made on an arm's length basis.

Operating segment disclosures are provided as presented to the Group Executive Committee.

Income and expenses associated with each business line are included for determining its performance. Transfer pricing methodologies are applied between the business lines to present their results on an arm's length basis. Income and expenses incurred directly by the business lines are allocated to the business lines as incurred. Indirect income and expenses are re‑allocated from the central functions to the business lines. For the purposes of the Cyprus analysis by business line, notional tax at the 12.5% Cyprus tax rate is charged/credited to profit or loss before tax of each business line.

The loans and advances to customers, the customer deposits and the related income and expense are generally included in the segment where the business is managed, instead of the segment where the transaction is recorded.


Analysis by business line

 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

Six months ended 30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Net interest income/(expense)

      77,412              

      14,093              

        25,803                

         167,683                   

            9,360                   

       57,091                

         8,180                

(19,315)            

             - 

    19,334            

   (1,299)            

    358,342                

Net fee and commission income/(expense)

      10,342              

          586              

         5,325                

          30,617                   

            1,369                   

       26,537                

         2,566                

       (75)            

      (4,332)                

        844            

    15,825            

      89,604                

Net foreign exchange gains/(losses)

          475              

           (5)              

            291                

            1,206                   

                20                   

         2,692                

             79                

          - 

             - 

    11,211            

      (130)            

      15,839                

Net (losses)/gains on financial instruments

           (9)              

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             34                

          - 

         1,746                

      2,651            

      1,258            

        5,680                

Net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost

        3,839              

          108              

         (924)                

            (314)                   

            3,195                   

           (65)                

             81                

          - 

             - 

       (41)            

       (18)            

        5,861                

Net insurance result

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

       24,509                

          - 

          52            

      24,561                

Net gains/(losses) from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

        889            

             - 

          - 

      (101)            

           788                

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

      3,704            

             - 

          - 

        202            

        3,906                

Other income

            10              

            - 

               8                

                84                   

                64                   

               2                

             83                

      3,937            

         5,121                

          12            

      2,879            

      12,200                

Total operating income

      92,069              

      14,782              

        30,503                

         199,276                   

          14,008                   

       86,257                

       11,023                

(10,860)            

       27,044                

    34,011            

    18,668            

    516,781                

Staff costs

     (3,707)              

        (814)              

       (2,578)                

        (25,104)                   

         (4,596)                   

      (5,767)                

      (2,650)                

   (2,120)            

      (1,370)                

   (1,061)            

(43,276)            

   (93,043)                

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

     (1,756)              

        (132)              

         (908)                

        (11,064)                   

              (32)                   

      (3,762)                

         (582)                

          - 

             - 

          - 

          - 

   (18,236)                

Provisions for pending litigations, regulatory and other provisions (net of reversals)

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

             - 

          - 

(14,148)            

   (14,148)                

Other operating (expenses)/income (excluding advisory and other transformation costs)

   (18,422)              

     (3,275)              

       (6,852)                

        (40,233)                   

         (5,364)                   

      (5,795)                

         (861)                

   (7,241)            

      (1,528)                

   (3,868)            

    25,240            

   (68,199)                

Other operating expenses ‑ advisory and other transformation costs

        (467)              

         (96)              

         (214)                

            (778)                   

            (203)                   

         (212)                

           (32)                

      (182)            

             - 

       (73)            

          - 

     (2,257)                

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment

      67,717              

      10,465              

        19,951                

         122,097                   

            3,813                   

       70,721                

         6,898                

(20,403)            

       24,146                

    29,009            

(13,516)            

    320,898                

Credit losses on financial assets

     (3,795)              

        (284)              

            547                

         (8,473)                   

        (18,185)                   

           (35)                

               4                

   (6,131)            

         (112)                

      (375)            

          67            

   (36,772)                

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

(22,836)            

             - 

          - 

      (370)            

   (23,206)                

Profit/(loss) before tax

      63,922              

      10,181              

        20,498                

         113,624                   

        (14,372)                   

       70,686                

         6,902                

(49,370)            

       24,034                

    28,634            

(13,819)            

    260,920                

Income tax

     (7,990)              

     (1,273)              

       (2,562)                

        (14,203)                   

            1,797                   

      (8,836)                

         (886)                

      5,186            

      (1,962)                

   (3,579)            

   (5,460)            

   (39,768)                

Profit/(loss) after tax

      55,932              

        8,908              

        17,936                

          99,421                   

        (12,575)                   

       61,850                

         6,016                

(44,184)            

       22,072                

    25,055            

(19,279)            

    221,152                

Non‑controlling interests‑profit

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

             - 

          - 

      (905)            

        (905)                

Profit/(loss) after tax attributable to the owners of the Company

    55,932              

      8,908              

      17,936                

         99,421                   

      (12,575)                   

      61,850                

        6,016                

(44,184)            

      22,072                

  25,055            

(20,184)            

    220,247                


 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

Six months ended 30 June 2022 (restated)

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Net interest income/(expense)

      49,572              

        9,629              

        14,495                

          43,703                   

          16,294                   

       10,234                

            578                

(12,354)            

             - 

    13,573            

         (2)            

    145,722                

Net fee and commission income/(expense)

      11,157              

          771              

         5,587                

          29,562                   

            4,252                   

       27,928                

         2,569                

       (90)            

      (3,889)                

      1,003            

    14,789            

      93,639                

Net foreign exchange gains

          450              

            34              

            279                

            1,137                   

                52                   

         2,947                

             86                

          - 

             - 

      5,809            

      1,104            

      11,898                

Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

          171              

            - 

             -  

                - 

         (2,230)                   

             - 

         (102)                

          - 

      (9,737)                

      1,899            

      (184)            

   (10,183)                

Net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost

        1,036              

          108              

           (20)                

               116                   

            1,523                   

             13                

         (269)                

          - 

             - 

      (867)            

            8            

        1,648                

Net insurance result

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

       23,724                

          - 

          - 

      23,724                

Net losses from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

      (415)            

         (307)                

          - 

      (650)            

     (1,372)                

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

      7,894            

             - 

          - 

        348            

        8,242                

Other income

              8              

            - 

              10                

                43                   

               186                   

            (3)                

            155                

      4,867            

             37                

            1            

      3,623            

        8,927                

Total operating income

      62,394              

      10,542              

        20,351                

          74,561                   

          20,077                   

       41,119                

         3,017                

       (98)            

         9,828                

    21,418            

    19,036            

    282,245                

Staff costs

     (3,413)              

        (661)              

       (2,902)                

        (30,007)                   

         (5,677)                   

      (6,240)                

      (1,825)                

   (2,055)            

      (1,337)                

   (1,108)            

(43,078)            

   (98,303)                

Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions

     (1,506)              

        (134)              

         (806)                

        (10,448)                   

              (45)                   

      (3,272)                

         (295)                

          - 

             - 

         (1)            

          - 

   (16,507)                

Provisions for pending litigations, regulatory and other provisions (net of reversals)

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

             - 

          - 

      (594)            

        (594)                

Other operating (expenses)/income (excluding advisory and other transformation costs)

   (16,951)              

     (3,081)              

       (7,652)                

        (39,183)                   

        (11,197)                   

      (5,055)                

      (1,170)                

   (8,215)            

      (1,588)                

   (5,142)            

    30,085            

   (69,149)                

Other operating expenses ‑ advisory and other transformation costs

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

         (1,053)                   

             - 

             - 

      (351)            

             - 

          - 

   (5,271)            

     (6,675)                

Operating profit before credit losses and impairment

      40,524              

        6,666              

         8,991                

         (5,077)                   

            2,105                   

       26,552                

         (273)                

(10,719)            

         6,903                

    15,167            

        178            

      91,017                

Credit losses on financial assets

     (6,206)              

          219              

            569                

               293                   

        (16,577)                   

            285                

         (226)                

      (323)            

             38                

      (167)            

   (2,731)            

   (24,826)                

Impairment net of reversals on non‑financial assets

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

   (7,203)            

             - 

          - 

   (4,954)            

   (12,157)                

Profit/(loss) before tax

      34,318              

        6,885              

         9,560                

         (4,784)                   

        (14,472)                   

       26,837                

         (499)                

(18,245)            

         6,941                

    15,000            

   (7,507)            

      54,034                

Income tax

     (4,290)              

        (860)              

       (1,195)                

               598                   

            1,809                   

      (3,355)                

               3                

      2,429            

         (888)                

   (1,875)            

   (3,534)            

   (11,158)                

Profit/(loss) after tax

      30,028              

        6,025              

         8,365                

         (4,186)                   

        (12,663)                   

       23,482                

         (496)                

(15,816)            

         6,053                

    13,125            

(11,041)            

      42,876                

Non‑controlling interests‑profit

            - 

            - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

          - 

             - 

          - 

      (662)            

        (662)                

Profit/(loss) after tax attributable to the owners of the Company

    30,028              

      6,025              

        8,365                

        (4,186)                   

      (12,663)                   

      23,482                

        (496)                

(15,816)            

        6,053                

  13,125            

(11,703)            

      42,214                


Analysis of total revenue

Total revenue includes net interest income, net fee and commission income, net foreign exchange gains, net gains/(losses) on financial instruments, net gains/(losses) on derecognition of financial assets measured at amortised cost, net insurance result, net gains/(losses) from revaluation and disposal of investment properties, net gains/(losses) on disposal of stock of property and other income. There was no revenue deriving from transactions with a single external customer that amounted to 10% or more of Group revenue.

 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

Six months ended 30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Revenue from third parties

      107,136                

       21,286                

          27,362                   

      113,280                

          14,341                   

          39,745                   

            3,787                   

         8,271                

       31,099                

      131,374                

       19,100                

       516,781                   

Inter‑segment (expense)/revenue

     (15,067)                

      (6,504)                

            3,141                   

       85,996                

            (333)                   

          46,512                   

            7,236                   

     (19,131)                

      (4,055)                

     (97,363)                

         (432)                

                - 

Total revenue

      92,069                

      14,782                

         30,503                   

    199,276                

         14,008                   

         86,257                   

         11,023                   

   (10,860)                

      27,044                

      34,011                

      18,668                

       516,781                   

 

Six months ended 30 June 2022 (restated)













Revenue from third parties

       70,241                

       12,505                

          21,749                   

       77,546                

          21,454                   

          37,163                   

            3,275                   

       12,102                

       14,463                

      (6,315)                

       18,062                

       282,245                   

Inter‑segment (expense)/revenue

      (7,847)                

      (1,963)                

         (1,398)                   

      (2,985)                

         (1,377)                   

            3,956                   

            (258)                   

     (12,200)                

      (4,635)                

       27,733                

            974                

                - 

Total revenue

      62,394                

      10,542                

         20,351                   

      74,561                

         20,077                   

         41,119                   

           3,017                   

          (98)                

        9,828                

      21,418                

      19,036                

       282,245                   

Analysis of assets and liabilities

 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

 30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Assets













Assets

   3,631,474                

      693,952                

         980,135                   

   4,265,210                

         258,551                   

         131,417                   

          74,992                   

   1,015,859                

      864,065                

  12,749,946

   1,412,229                

  26,077,830                   

Inter‑segment assets

             - 

             - 

                - 

             - 

                - 

                - 

         (9,155)                   

     (38,017)                

     (21,995)                

             -  

     (36,506)                

    (105,673)                   


3,631,474                

    693,952                

       980,135                   

4,265,210                

       258,551                   

       131,417                   

         65,837                   

    977,842                

    842,070                

12,749,946                

1,375,723                

  25,972,157                   

Assets between Cyprus and overseas operations

                                 

                                 

                                       

                                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                 

                                 

    (265,520)                   

Total assets

                                 

                                 

                                       

                                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                 

                                 

  25,706,637                   


 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

 31 December 2022  (restated)

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Assets













Assets

   3,556,475                

      684,696                

      1,020,727                   

   4,193,741                

         313,657                   

         137,399                   

          72,438                   

   1,115,788                

      852,892                

  12,291,132

   1,408,357                

  25,647,302                   

Inter‑segment assets

             - 

             - 

                - 

             - 

                - 

                - 

         (9,313)                   

     (35,214)                

     (18,807)                

             -  

     (25,938)                

      (89,272)                   


3,556,475                

    684,696                

    1,020,727                   

4,193,741                

       313,657                   

       137,399                   

         63,125                   

1,080,574                

    834,085                

12,291,132                

1,382,419                

  25,558,030                   

Assets between Cyprus and overseas operations

                                 

                                 

                                       

                                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                 

                                 

    (269,489)                   

Total assets

                                 

                                 

                                       

                                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                 

                                 

  25,288,541                   

 


Corporate and Large corporate

International corporate

Small and medium‑sized enterprises

Retail

Restructuring and recoveries

International business unit

Wealth management

REMU

Insurance

Treasury

Other

Total

 30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Liabilities













Liabilities

   1,964,893                

      131,044                

         962,581                   

  11,667,105

          34,989                   

      3,848,653                   

         575,888                   

       16,335                

      735,553                

   3,178,231                

      720,496                

  23,835,768                   

Inter‑segment liabilities

             - 

             - 

                - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

   (105,673)                

             - 

    (105,673)                   


1,964,893                

    131,044                

       962,581                   

11,667,105                

         34,989                   

    3,848,653                   

       575,888                   

      16,335                

    735,553                

3,072,558                

    720,496                

  23,730,095                   

Liabilities between Cyprus and overseas operations

                                 

                                 

                                       

                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

    (266,645)                   

Total liabilities

                                 

                                 

                                       

                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

  23,463,450                   

 

 31 December 2022  (restated)













 

Liabilities













 

Liabilities

   1,915,300                

      139,898                

      1,007,555                   

  11,333,783

          33,806                   

      3,957,050                   

         628,578                   

       10,049                

      690,757                

   3,183,550                

      699,535                

  23,599,861                   

 

Inter‑segment liabilities

             - 

             - 

                - 

             -  

                - 

                - 

                - 

             - 

             - 

     (89,272)                

             - 

      (89,272)                   

 


1,915,300                

    139,898                

    1,007,555                   

11,333,783                

         33,806                   

    3,957,050                   

       628,578                   

      10,049                

    690,757                

3,094,278                

    699,535                

  23,510,589                   

 

Liabilities between Cyprus and overseas operations

                                 

                                 

                                       

                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

    (270,614)                   

 

Liabilities

                                 

                                 

                                       

                 

                                       

                                       

                                       

                                 

                                 

                                 

                                 

  23,239,975                   

 

Segmental analysis of customer deposits and loans and advances to customers is presented in Note 22 and Notes 30.2 and 30.4 respectively.


Analysis of turnover

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022


 €000

 €000

Interest income and income similar to interest income

        426,024                     

         190,988

Fees and commission income

          93,879                     

           98,086

Net foreign exchange gains

          15,839                     

           11,898

Gross insurance premiums

        116,773                     

         105,591

Losses of investment properties and stock of properties

       (18,512)                     

              (494)

Other income

          12,200                     

             8,927


        646,203                     

         414,996

The analysis of 'Losses of investment properties and stock of properties' is provided in the table below:

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022


 €000

 €000

Net gains/(losses) from revaluation and disposal of investment properties

                788                     

           (1,372)

Net gains on disposal of stock of property

            3,906                     

             8,242

Impairment of stock of property (Note 12)

       (23,206)                     

           (7,364)


       (18,512)                     

              (494)

8.           Interest income and income similar to interest income

Interest income

 


Six months ended
30 June


2023

2022


 €000

 €000

Financial assets at amortised cost:

                                           

                      

‑ Loans and advances to customers

        237,519                     

         152,151

‑ Loans and advances to banks and central banks

        132,500                     

             1,446

‑ Debt securities

          20,742                     

             3,781

‑ Other financial assets (Note 20)

            9,098                     

             4,314

Debt securities at FVOCI

            3,993                     

             4,986

Negative interest on funding from central banks

                   - 

           14,792


        403,852                     

         181,470

Income similar to interest income

 


Six months ended
30 June


2023

2022


 €000

 €000

Loans and advances to customers measured at FVPL

            6,263                     

             5,999

Derivative financial instruments

          15,909                     

             3,519


          22,172                     

             9,518


9.           Interest expense and expense similar to interest expense

Interest expense

 


Six months ended
30 June


2023

 2022
(restated)

Financial liabilities at amortised cost:

 €000

 €000

‑ Customer deposits

          10,671                     

             2,363

‑ Funding from central banks and deposits by banks

          31,301                     

                783

‑ Debt securities in issue

            3,878                     

             3,843

‑ Subordinated liabilities

          10,078                     

           10,415

Negative interest on loans and advances to banks and balances with central banks

                   - 

           20,104

Interest expense on lease liabilities

                155                     

                    6


          56,083                     

           37,514

Expense similar to interest expense

 


Six months ended
30 June


2023

2022


 €000

 €000

Derivative financial instruments

          11,599                     

             7,752

10.         Net gains/(losses) on financial instruments

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022  (restated)


 €000

 €000

Trading portfolio:



‑ derivative financial instruments

                  16                     

                  37

Other investments at FVPL:



‑ debt securities

                980                     

              (367)

‑ mutual funds

            1,780                     

           (9,839)

‑ equity securities

            1,962                     

              (166)

Net losses on disposal of FVOCI debt securities

            (433)                     

           (1,959)

Net losses on loans and advances to customers at FVPL

                 (9)                     

           (2,059)

Revaluation of financial instruments designated as fair value hedges:



‑ hedging instruments

         (8,843)                     

           49,687

‑ hedged items

          10,227                     

         (45,517)


            5,680                     

         (10,183)


11.         Staff costs and other operating expenses

Staff costs

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Salaries

          69,571                     

           77,324

Employer's contributions to state social insurance

          11,355                     

           12,411

Variable compensation

             3,761                      


  of which: accrual for non‑deferred cash award

            3,450                     

                   - 

  of which: share‑based benefits expense

                311                     

                   - 

Retirement benefit plan costs

            5,556                     

             5,438

Exit cost and other termination benefits (2022:Voluntary Exit Plan)

            2,800                     

             3,130


          93,043                     

           98,303

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, an amount of €851 thousand (30 June 2022: €831 thousand) relating to staff costs has been capitalised as internally developed computer software.

The number of persons employed by the Group as at 30 June 2023 was 2,902 (31 December 2022: 2,889 and 30 June 2022: 3,422). In July 2022, the Group completed a VEP through which 559 of the Group's full‑time employees were approved to leave at a total cost of €101,195 thousand.

In January 2022, the Group's subsidiary company, JCC Payment Systems Ltd, proceeded with a VEP for its employees, through which 15 employees were approved to leave at a total cost of €3,130 thousand.

Share‑based benefits expense represents the cost for the period in relation to the Long‑Term Incentive Plan established in 2022, under which annual LTIP awards may be granted, and which provides for an award in the form of ordinary shares of the Company based on certain non‑market performance (driven by both delivery of the Group's Strategy as well as individual performance) and service vesting conditions. The eligible participants are the members of the Extended Executive Committee of the Group.

Non‑deferred cash award refers to a Short‑Term Incentive Plan established by the Group in 2023. This involves variable remuneration in the form of cash to selected employees, and will be driven by both delivery of the Group's Strategy, as well as individual performance.


Other operating expenses

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Repairs and maintenance expenses

          16,263                     

           17,420

Other property‑related costs

            5,058                     

             5,518

Consultancy, legal and other professional services fees

            8,224                     

             8,220

Insurance

            4,203                     

             4,197

Advertising and marketing

            2,646                     

             3,458

Depreciation of property and equipment

            6,660                     

             6,930

Amortisation of intangible assets

            7,974                     

             7,806

Communication expenses

            3,010                     

             3,374

Printing and stationery

                794                     

                869

Cash transfer expenses

            1,417                     

             1,630

Other operating expenses

          11,950                     

             9,727


          68,199                     

           69,149

Advisory and other transformation costs

            2,257                     

             6,675


          70,456                     

           75,824

Advisory and other transformation costs comprise mainly fees to external advisors in relation to the transformation program and other strategic projects of the Group.

During the six months ended 30 June 2023, the Group recognised €39 thousand relating to rent expense for short term leases, included within 'Other property‑related costs' (30 June 2022: €84 thousand) and €2,752 thousand (30 June 2022: €2,823 thousand) relating to the depreciation of right‑of‑use assets (RoU assets), included within 'Depreciation of property and equipment'. In addition, depreciation of RoU assets of €492 thousand (30 June 2022: €600 thousand) and depreciation of property and equipment and amortisation of intangible assets of €1,775 thousand (30 June 2022: €1,572 thousand) are included within 'Net insurance service result', as these relate to directly attributable expenses of insurance services.

'Special levy on deposits and other levies/contributions' as presented in the interim consolidated income statement are analysed as per below:

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022


 €000

 €000

Special levy on deposits of credit institutions in Cyprus

            8,816                     

             7,467

Single Resolution Fund contribution

            5,477                     

             5,779

Contribution to Deposit Guarantee Fund

            3,943                     

             3,261


          18,236                     

           16,507

The special levy on credit institutions in Cyprus (the Special Levy) is imposed on the level of deposits as at the end of the previous quarter, at the rate of 0.0375% per quarter. Following an amendment of the Imposition of Special Credit Institution Tax Law in 2017, the Single Resolution Fund contribution, which is charged annually by the Single Resolution Board, reduces the payment of the Special Levy up to the level of the total annual Special Levy charge.

As from 1 January 2020 and until 3 July 2024, BOC PCL is subject to a contribution to the Deposit Guarantee Fund (DGF) on a semi‑annual basis. The contributions are calculated based on the Risk Based Methodology (RBM) as approved by the management committee of the Deposit Guarantee and Resolution of Credit and Other Institutions Schemes (DGS) and is publicly available on the CBC's website. In line with the RBM, the contributions are broadly calculated on the covered deposits of all authorised institutions and the target level is to reach at 0.8% of covered deposits by 3 July 2024.


12.         Credit losses on financial assets and impairment net of reversals of non‑financial assets

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022 (restated)

Credit losses on financial instruments

 €000

 €000

Credit losses to cover credit risk on loans and advances to customers

                                           

                      

Impairment net of reversals on loans and advances to customers (Note 30.4)

          38,514                     

           28,055

Recoveries of loans and advances to customers previously written off

         (8,376)                     

           (6,509)

Changes in expected cash flows

            (426)                     

             2,840

Financial guarantees and commitments

                578                     

              (427)


          30,290                     

           23,959

Credit losses of other financial instruments



Amortised cost debt securities

                120                     

                  21

FVOCI debt securities

                  18                     

                163

Loans and advances to banks

            (181)                     

                (22)

Balances with central banks

                415                     

                   - 

Other financial assets (Note 20)

            6,110                     

                705


            6,482                     

                867


          36,772                     

           24,826

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022

Impairment net of reversals of non‑financial assets

 €000

 €000

Stock of property (Note 19)

          23,206                     

             7,364

Other non‑financial assets

                   - 

             4,793


          23,206                     

           12,157

13.         Income tax

 


Six months ended
30 June


 2023

 2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Current tax:



‑ Cyprus

          39,473                     

           11,084

‑ Overseas

                   - 

                  34

Cyprus special defence contribution

                  30                     

                  37

Deferred tax (credit)/charge

                 (9)                     

                  41

Prior years' tax adjustments

              (11)                     

                (16)

Other tax charges

                285                     

                (22)


          39,768                     

           11,158

In addition to the amount of income tax presented in the respective caption in the consolidated income statement, an amount of €1,070 thousand (30 June 2022: €955 thousand) relates to tax expense presented within the net insurance service result as it is treated as directly attributable expense of the insurance operations of the Group. 

Income tax in Cyprus is calculated at the rate of 12.5% on taxable income (2022: 12.5%). The Group's profits from overseas operations are taxed at the rates prevailing in the respective countries, which for 2023 were: Greece 22% (2022: 22%), Romania 16% (2022: 16%) and Russia 20% (2022: 20%).


On 22 December 2022, the European Commission approved Directive 2022/2523 which provides for a minimum effective tax rate of 15% for the global activities of large multinational groups. The Directive that follows closely the OECD Inclusive Framework on Base Erosion and Profit Shifting should be transposed by the Member States throughout 2023, entering into force on 1 January 2024. The legislation has not been substantively enacted at the balance sheet date and the Group will continue to monitor the evolving national legislation including any disclosures required, or exemptions available, under IAS 12 in the year ending 31 December 2023.

Deferred tax

The net deferred tax assets comprise: 

 


30 June
2023

31 December
2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Deferred tax assets

        227,953                     

         227,934

Deferred tax liabilities

       (34,618)                     

         (34,634)

Net deferred tax assets

        193,335                     

         193,300

The deferred tax assets (DTA) relate to Cyprus operations.

The movement of the net deferred tax assets is set out below:

 


30 June
2023

31 December
2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

1 January (restated)

        193,300                     

         226,125

Deferred tax recognised in the consolidated income statement ‑ tax credit

                    9                     

             4,840

Deferred tax recognised in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income

                  26                     

                244

Transfer to current tax receivables following conversion into tax credit

                   - 

         (37,909)

30 June/31 December

        193,335                     

         193,300


The Group offsets income tax assets and liabilities only if it has a legally enforceable right to set‑off current income tax assets and current income tax liabilities.

Income Tax Law Amendment 28 (I) of 2019

On 1 March 2019 the Cyprus Parliament adopted legislative amendments to the Income Tax Law (the 'Law') which were published in the Official Gazette of the Republic on 15 March 2019 ('the amendments').

BOC PCL has DTA that meets the requirements of the Income Tax Law Amendment 28(I) of 2019 relating to income tax losses transferred to BOC PCL as a result of the acquisition of certain operations of Laiki Bank, on 29 March 2013, under 'The Resolution of Credit and Other Institutions Law'. The DTA recognised upon the acquisition of certain operations of Laiki in 2013 amounted to €417 million (corresponding to €3.3 billion tax losses) for which BOC PCL paid a consideration as part of the respective acquisition. The period of utilisation of the tax losses which may be converted into tax credits is eleven years following the amendment of the Law in 2019, starting from 2018 i.e. by end of 2028.

As a result of the above Law, the Group has DTA amounting to €227,455 thousand as at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: €227,455 thousand) that meet the requirements under this Law, the recovery of which is guaranteed. On an annual basis an amount is converted to annual tax credit and is reclassified from the DTA to current tax receivables.

The DTA subject to the Law is accounted for on the same basis as described in Note 2.13 of the annual consolidated financial statements for the year ended 31 December 2022.

Accumulated income tax losses  

The accumulated income tax losses are presented in the table below:

 


Total income tax losses

Income tax losses for which a deferred tax asset was recognised

Income tax losses for which no deferred tax asset was recognised

30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

Expiring within 5 years

            44,960                        

                     - 

            44,960                        

Utilisation in annual instalments up to 2028

       1,819,636                        

       1,819,636                        

                     - 


       1,864,596                        

       1,819,636                        

            44,960                        





 31 December 2022 




Expiring within 5 years

              44,960                        

                      - 

              44,960                        

Utilisation in annual instalments up to 2028

         1,819,636                        

         1,819,636                        

                     - 


         1,864,596                        

         1,819,636                        

              44,960                        

 

14.         Earnings per share

Basic earnings per share

 


Six months ended
30 June

Basic profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company

 2023

 2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the Company
(€ thousand) (basic)

        220,247                     

           42,214

Weighted average number of shares in issue during the period, excluding treasury shares ( € thousand)

         446,058                      

         446,058

Basic profit per share (€ cent)

               49.4                     

                 9.5


Diluted earnings per share

 


Six months ended
30 June

Diluted profit per share attributable to the owners of the Company

 2023

 2022 (restated)


 €000

 €000

Profit for the period attributable to the owners of the Company
(€ thousand)

        220,247                     

           42,214

Weighted average number of shares in issue during the period, excluding treasury shares adjusted for the dilutive effect of all rights on shares (€ thousand)

        446,755                     

         446,058

Diluted profit per share (€ cent)

               49.3                     

                 9.5

For diluted earnings per share the weighted average number of ordinary shares in issue is adjusted for the dilutive effect of ordinary shares that may arise in respect of share awards granted to executive directors and senior management of the Group under the Long‑Term Incentive Plan (2022 LTIP).

15.         Investments

The analysis of the Group's investments is presented in the table below:


30 June
2023

31 December
2022


 €000

 €000

Investments at FVPL

        138,661                     

         190,209

Investments at FVOCI

        487,806                     

         467,375

Investments at amortised cost

    2,703,240                     

      2,046,119


    3,329,707                     

      2,703,703

Out of these, the amounts pledged as collateral are shown below:

 


30 June
2023

31 December
2022

Investments pledged as collateral

 €000

 €000

Investments at FVOCI

          24,585                     

           60,974

Investments at amortised cost

        232,562                     

         223,369


        257,147                     

         284,343

Investments pledged as collateral as at 30 June 2023 and 31 December 2022 related to debt securities collaterised mainly for the additional amounts borrowed from the ECB Targeted Longer‑Term Refinancing Operations (TLTRO III) (Note 21). Encumbered assets are disclosed in Note 32.

The maximum exposure to credit risk for debt securities is disclosed in Note 30.1.

The increase in the investment portfolio as at 30 June 2023 is consistent with the strategy of the Group to prudently grow the fixed income portfolio to reach approximately 15% of the Group's total assets. Further, part of the increase as at 30 June 2023 reflects incremental new investments during the second quarter of 2023, ahead of expected maturities in the second half of 2023.


Investments at fair value through profit or loss

 


Investments mandatorily measured at FVPL


30 June
2023

 31 December 2022


 €000

 €000

Other non‑equity securities

            3,364                     

             8,968

Equity securities

            4,870                     

             6,961

Mutual funds

        130,427                     

         174,280


        138,661                     

         190,209

Investments at FVOCI

 


30 June
2023

 31 December 2022


 €000

 €000

Debt securities

        474,887                     

         453,775

Equity securities (including preference shares)

          12,919                     

           13,600


        487,806                     

         467,375

Investments at amortised cost

 


30 June
2023

 31 December 2022


 €000

 €000

Debt securities

     2,703,240                     

      2,046,119

Further analysis of the Group's investments is provided in the tables below.

Equity securities

 

Equity securities

FVPL

FVOCI

Total

30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

Listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange

                   - 

             1,280                     

            1,280

Listed on other stock exchanges

             4,870                     

                  61                     

            4,931

Unlisted

                   - 

           11,578                     

          11,578


            4,870                     

          12,919                     

          17,789

 


FVPL

FVOCI

Total

 31 December 2022

 €000

 €000

 €000

Listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange

                   - 

             1,335                     

            1,335

Listed on other stock exchanges

             6,961                     

                  68                     

            7,029

Unlisted

                   - 

           12,197                     

          12,197


            6,961                     

          13,600                     

          20,561

The Group irrevocably made the election to classify its equity investments as equity investments at FVOCI on the basis that these are not held for trading. Their carrying value amounts to €12,919 thousand at 30 June 2023 and is equal to their fair value (31 December 2022: €13,600 thousand).

Equity investments at FVOCI comprise mainly investments in private Cyprus registered companies, acquired through loan restructuring activity and specifically through debt for equity swaps.

Dividend income amounting to €439 thousand has been received and recognised during the six months ended 30 June 2023 in other income (30 June 2022: €368 thousand).


During the six months ended 30 June 2023 and the year ended 31 December 2022 no material equity investments measured at FVOCI have been disposed off.

Mutual funds

 

Mutual funds

FVPL

30 June 2023

 €000

Listed on other stock exchanges

           37,958

Unlisted

           92,469


        130,427

 


FVPL

 31 December 2022

 €000

Listed on other stock exchanges

           77,782

Unlisted

           96,498


        174,280

The majority of the unlisted mutual funds relate to investments whose underlying assets are listed on stock exchanges and are therefore presented in Level 2 hierarchy in Note 17.

Debt securities and other non‑equity securities

 

Analysis by issuer type

FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised
cost

Total

30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cyprus government

                   - 

         343,459                     

         615,978                     

        959,437

Other governments

                   - 

           10,008                     

         546,796                     

        556,804

Financial institutions

                   - 

           97,754                     

      1,013,598                     

    1,111,352

Other financial corporations

             3,364                     

                   - 

           41,645                     

          45,009

Supranational organisations

                   - 

           18,819                     

         387,633                     

        406,452

Other non‑financial corporations

                   - 

             4,847                     

           97,590                     

        102,437


            3,364                     

        474,887                     

     2,703,240                     

    3,181,491

 


FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised
cost

Total

 31 December 2022

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cyprus government

                   - 

         310,791                     

         521,322                     

         832,113

Other governments

                   - 

           22,616                     

         402,844                     

         425,460

Financial institutions

                   - 

         115,497                     

         722,522                     

         838,019

Other financial corporations

             8,968                     

                   - 

           36,547                     

           45,515

Supranational organisations

                   - 

                   - 

         293,834                     

         293,834

Other non‑financial corporations

                   - 

             4,871                     

           69,050                     

           73,921


            8,968                     

        453,775                     

     2,046,119                     

    2,508,862


 

Geographic dispersion by country of issuer

FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised
cost

Total

30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cyprus

                   - 

         343,459                     

         626,805                     

        970,264

Greece

                   - 

           18,422                     

           41,649                     

          60,071

Germany

                   - 

                   - 

         176,649                     

        176,649

France

                   - 

           44,632                     

         247,792                     

        292,424

Other European Union countries

                   - 

           19,655                     

         549,240                     

        568,895

United Kingdom

                   - 

                   - 

           23,234                     

          23,234

USA and Canada

             3,364                     

             9,029                     

         267,283                     

        279,676

Other countries

                   - 

           20,871                     

         382,955                     

        403,826

Supranational organisations

                   - 

           18,819                     

         387,633                     

        406,452


            3,364                     

        474,887                     

     2,703,240                     

    3,181,491

 


FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised cost

Total

 31 December 2022

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Cyprus

                   - 

         310,791                     

         531,611                     

         842,402

Greece

                   - 

           14,987                     

           43,276                     

           58,263

Germany

                   - 

                   - 

         121,132                     

         121,132

France

                   - 

           58,134                     

         162,405                     

         220,539

Other European Union countries

                   - 

           33,298                     

         370,728                     

         404,026

United Kingdom

                   - 

                   - 

           23,128                     

           23,128

USA and Canada

             8,968                     

             8,974                     

         238,802                     

         256,744

Other countries

                   - 

           27,591                     

         261,203                     

         288,794

Supranational organisations

                   - 

                   - 

         293,834                     

         293,834


            8,968                     

        453,775                     

     2,046,119                     

    2,508,862

 

Listing analysis

FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised cost

Total

30 June 2023

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange

                   - 

                   - 

           25,984                     

          25,984

Listed on other stock exchanges

                   - 

         474,887                     

      2,677,256                     

    3,152,143

Unlisted

             3,364                     

                   - 

                   - 

            3,364


            3,364                     

        474,887                     

     2,703,240                     

    3,181,491

 


FVPL

FVOCI

Amortised cost

Total

 31 December 2022

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Listed on the Cyprus Stock Exchange

                   - 

                   - 

           29,849                     

          29,849

Listed on other stock exchanges

                   - 

         453,775                     

      2,016,270                     

    2,470,045

Unlisted

             8,968                     

                   - 

                   - 

            8,968


            8,968                     

        453,775                     

     2,046,119                     

    2,508,862

There were no reclassifications of investments during the six months ended 30 June 2023 and the year ended 31 December 2022.

The fair value of the financial assets that have been reclassified out of FVPL to FVOCI on transition to IFRS 9, amounts to €7,631 thousand at 30 June 2023 (31 December 2022: €8,694 thousand). The fair value gain that would have been recognised in the consolidated income statement during the six months ended 30 June 2023 if these financial assets had not been reclassified as part of the transition to IFRS 9, amounts to €100 thousand (30 June 2022: loss of €1,018 thousand). The effective interest rate of these instruments is 1.6%‑5.0% (2022: 1.6%‑5.0%) per annum and the respective interest income during the six months ended 30 June 2023 amounts to €105 thousand (30 June 2022: €128 thousand).


16.         Derivative financial instruments

The contract amount and fair value of the derivative financial instruments is set out below:

 


 30 June 2023

 31 December 2022



Fair value


Fair value


Assets

Liabilities

Contract amount

Assets

Liabilities


 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

 €000

Trading derivatives

                                   

                                   

                                       

                             

                                   

                                   

Forward exchange rate contracts

       22,489                 

            204                 

               124                    

      13,239               

             103                 

             123                 

Currency swaps

  1,067,461                 

         4,890                 

            3,615                    

1,248,522               

             283                 

        10,316                 

Interest rate swaps

       14,244                 

            360                 

               347                    

      14,806               

             437                 

             420                 

Currency options

            125                 

            123                 

                   2                    

          352               

             287                 

               65                 

Interest rate caps/floors

     169,248                 

         3,699                 

            3,699                    

    171,864               

          3,094                 

          3,094                 


  1,273,567                 

         9,276                 

            7,787                    

1,448,783               

          4,204                 

        14,018                 

Derivatives qualifying for hedge accounting

                                   

                                   

                                         

                               

                                   

                                   

Fair value hedges ‑ interest rate swaps

  1,093,731                 

       40,024                 

          10,604                    

    803,513               

        43,939                 

          2,151                 

Net investments ‑ forward exchange rate contracts and currency swaps

         3,288                 

                2                 

                  - 

        3,059               

               10                 

               - 


  1,097,019                 

       40,026                 

          10,604                    

    806,572               

        43,949                 

          2,151                 

Total

  2,370,586                 

       49,302                 

          18,391                    

2,255,355               

        48,153                 

        16,169                 

Hedge accounting

The Group elected, as a policy choice permitted by IFRS 9, to continue to apply hedge accounting in accordance with IAS 39.

The Group applies fair value hedge accounting using derivatives when the required criteria for hedge accounting are met. The Group also uses derivatives for economic hedging (hedging the changes in interest rates, foreign currency exchange rates or other risks) which do not meet the criteria for hedge accounting. As a result, these derivatives are accounted for as trading derivatives and the gains or losses arising from revaluation are recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Fair value hedges

The Group uses interest rate swaps to hedge the interest rate risk arising as a result of the possible adverse movement in the fair value of fixed rate debt securities measured at FVOCI.

Changes in the fair value of derivatives designated as fair value hedges and the fair value of the item in relation to the risk being hedged are recognised in the consolidated income statement.

Hedges of net investments

The Group's consolidated balance sheet is impacted by foreign exchange differences between the Euro and all non‑Euro functional currencies of overseas subsidiaries and other foreign operations. The Group hedges its structural currency risk when it considers that the cost of such hedging is within an acceptable range (in relation to the underlying risk). This hedging is effected by financing with borrowings in the same currency as the functional currency of the overseas subsidiaries and other foreign operations and by forward exchange rate contracts.

As at 30 June 2023, forward exchange rate contracts amounting to €3,288 thousand (30 June 2022: forward exchange rate contracts amounting to €2,874 thousand) have been designated as hedging instruments and have given rise to a loss of €3 thousand (30 June 2022: loss of €4,079 thousand) which was recognised in the 'Foreign currency translation reserve' in the consolidated statement of comprehensive income, against the profit or loss from the retranslation of the net assets of the overseas subsidiaries and other foreign operations.


Interest rate benchmark reform

As at 30 June 2023 the interest rate benchmarks to which BOC PCL's hedge relationships are exposed to, are Euro Interbank Offered Rate (Euribor) (31 December 2022: Euribor and USD London Interbank Offered Rate (Libor)) in relation to the cash flows of the hedging instruments. The Group has applied judgement in relation to market expectations regarding hedging instruments.

The table below indicates the nominal amount of derivatives in hedging relationships analysed by interest rate basis. The derivative hedging instruments provide a close approximation to the extent of the risk exposure BOC PCL manages through hedging relationships.

 


30 June
2023

 31 December 2022

Interest Rate Swaps

 €000

 €000

Euribor (3‑month)

     1,093,731                     

         770,731

Libor USD (3‑month)

                   - 

           32,782

Total

     1,093,731                     

         803,513

Euribor is in compliance with EU Benchmarks Regulation (BMR) and the Group does not consider that Euribor‑based derivatives are affected by the BMR Reform.

As at 30 June 2023, the Group's assessment regarding the on going transition to the new risk free rates (RFRs) indicates that the impact on the hedging relationships and in value terms is not significant. Further details in relation to interest rate benchmark reform are disclosed in Note 31.

 

 

 

 

 

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