The Chief Executive Officer of Banco Português de Investimento (BPI) said last week that the bank intends to seek authorisation to pay off €100 million in state-owned contingent convertible bonds before the repayment date, with the hope of shaking off the threat of state ownership.
Fernando Ulrich revealed that BPI wants to repay €100 million from the total €1.5 billion in state aid that was received in June this year to boost its capital ratio.
In August, the bank repaid €200 million from this amount following a share offer.
Under BPI’s original agreement plan, the bank was only to begin repaying the bonds from the second half of 2013.
However, Ulrich discussed the bank’s change of plan following BPI’s release of its latest earnings, which showed net profit for the first nine months of this year at €117.1 million, representing a 15% increase when compared to the same period in 2011, where net profit was €101.5 million.
Despite BPI’s increased net profit, the bank has closed six of its branches this year and has fired 64 members of staff.
