The billionaire Greek investor, Telis Mystakidis, acquired his first stake in Aegean Baltic Bank (ABBank).

Specifically, he bought 5% of the company, as market sources told TradeWinds. This is the first step in the planned acquisition of the majority stake in ABBank. However, the largest transaction, in which Mr. Mystakidis will increase his share capital to 48% and then the percentage will become a majority through a Share Capital Increase, is still in progress pending approval from the relevant supervisory authority.

Glencore’s top former copper trader will buy shares from the founding Aftonides family and Greek shipowner John Kousta, according to TradeWinds.

It is noted that the Tsakou family, which currently owns 24% of the bank, is not selling its share and the Aftonidis family will also retain 28%.

ABBank’s net profit amounted to 7.3 million euros in the first quarter, up 4% year-on-year. This was mainly due to better management of total assets and customer deposits, which grew at an annual rate of around 15% to €1.24 billion and €1.07 billion, respectively, according to the company’s own data. at TradeWinds.

As with other banks, the size of the shipping loan portfolio remains stagnant as cash-rich owners capitalize on their profits by taking advantage of the shipping “boom” to pay off a significant portion of their outstanding loans ahead of schedule.

ABBank’s loan volume after provisions shrank 6% quarter-on-quarter to around €480 million as “new production did not offset early payments/repayments that continued in the first quarter of 2024,” the bank said.

Liquidity levels remained robust, however, with the loan-to-deposit ratio climbing to 50% and the loan-to-coverage ratio exceeding 490%.

ABBank’s Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio was 26.5% and the non-performing loan ratio was just 0.9%.