MARFIN POPULAR BANK announced proforma profit after tax attributable to shareholders of euro 396.6 million up 235% from 2005. Loan portfolio of the bank has been increased by 23% to euro 12 million, while the deposits have been increased by 22% to euro 16.2 billion. Cost to income ratio was down to 40.5% compare to 59.1% in 2005 and total balance sheet of the Group reached euro 22.6 billion.
During today''s Board of Directors Meeting of the Bank Mr. Soud Ba''alawy was elected Chairman of MARFIN POPULAR BANK, whilst Mr. Neoklis Lyssandrou was elected as Vice Chairman. Taking over the leadership of the Group of MARFIN POPULAR BANK the new Chairman Mr. Ba''alawy said:
"Marfin Popular Bank has a vision to become one of the biggest and most successful banking groups in Southeastern Europe.
Dubai Financial, as Marfin Popular Bank''s major shareholder, will support the management of the bank in realizing this vision in the most appropriate time and way, taking into consideration our priority to create value for all shareholders, which include a large number of Cypriot and Greek investors.
We are very pleased that we have selected Cyprus and Greece as an area of investments and a base for our banking operations in Southeastern Europe". Finally the Board of Directors of MARFIN POPULAR BANK decided to convene a General Meeting of shareholders in order to achieve flexibility for further materialization of the bank strategic plan and/or deposition of Public Offers for Greek and/or Cypriots Banks.

Note: Mr. Soud Ba''alawy is Executive Chairman of Dubai Group and Executive Committee Member of Dubai Holding.
Mr. Ba''alawy joined Dubai Investment Group in early 2000. Responsible for setting up The Investment Office, he was tasked with the mandate of building a diversified international portfolio of investments across a range of asset classes.
Prior to joining the Dubai Investment Group, Mr. Ba''alawy held the positions of Chief Investment Officer, Dubai Internet City; and Vice President, The Executive Office.
Mr. Ba''alawy began his career with Citibank, Singapore, overseeing risk management operations for Singapore, Malaysia, Thailand and the Gulf. He was subsequently appointed as Vice President - Gulf Treasury, Citibank Dubai.
Mr. Ba''alawy is the Chairman of Marfin Financial Group, Board Member and Vice Chairman of Dubai Bank, Chairman of Dubai Financial. He also holds board memberships of several prestigious organizations, including Dubai Mercantile Exchange (DME), Emirates Integrated Telecommunications Company (EITC) and the Chairman of Manzil, a non-profit centre for persons with special needs.
Mr. Ba''alawy is a member of the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants (CIMA), United Kingdom.