ATHENS (Reuters) - Piraeus Bank turned profitable in the second quarter, helped by lower provisions for impaired loans, Greece's largest lender by assets said on Wednesday.
Piraeus, which is 26.2 percent owned by the country's bank rescue fund HFSF after its recapitalisation late last year, reported a net profit of 20 million euros (17 million pounds) after a net loss of 37 million euros in the first quarter.
The group, with a current market value of 1.14 billion euros, said loan-loss provisions fell 8.0 percent quarter-on-quarter to 265 million euros in April-to-June from 289 million in the first quarter.
Non-performing credit dropped to 39.2 percent of its loan book at the end of June from 39.8 percent in the first quarter.
(Reporting by George Georgiopoulos)