Piraeus Bank the Greece's fourth-largest lender, reported a full-year loss of 20 million euros ($28 million), hurt by higher bad debt provisions and weak loan growth. That compared with a forecast for a 2010 loss of 26.7 million euros in a Reuters poll. A squeeze in deposit spreads, weaker loan volumes and higher provisions made it tougher for Greek banks to make money last year. The country's debt crisis also hurt their bond portfolios. "Net interest income had the highest contribution in the group's profitability as it increased 9 percent. This source of revenue comprised 81 percent of net revenues in 2010, the best performance in the group's history," chief executive Stavros Lekkakos said on Thursday. Piraeus, also present in Albania, Bulgaria, Cyprus, Egypt, Romania, Serbia, Ukraine and the United States, said loan-loss provisions rose 22 percent to 601 million euros. It said deposits fell 2 percent, with the loans-to-deposits ratio unchanged at 107 percent. The ratio of loans in arrears over 90 days rose to 7.6 percent of the book from 6.8 percent in the third quarter.
