The highlights of ASPIS BANK's financials, on a consolidated basis, are as follows:

- Profit before tax euro 15.2 million
- Operating income euro 89.9 million against euro 79.8 million in 2004
- Net interest income euro 55.1 million against euro 47.2 million in 2004
- Net commission income euro 26.9 million against euro 22.8 million in 2004
- Operating expenses decreased by 4%
- Gross customer financing increased by 16%
- Deposits increased by 4%.

2005 was a very significant year for ASPIS BANK as profitability reached record highs, with profit after tax and minority interests reaching euro 11.2 million. Such outstanding performance is the outcome of the Management's consistent adherence to the three pillars of its strategy: strengthening of the Bank's presence in the Greek banking sector, maintenance of high revenue growth rates with simultaneous improvements in productivity, and further enhancement of the already high capital adequacy and god credit quality. The increase of pretax profit to euro 15.2 million is the result of specific actions during 2005, amongst which are the following: During 2005 the branch network continued to expand with the relocation of neighboring branches and the establishment of new branches in Alexandroupoli, Trikala and Karditsa. As a result, the Bank?s network has reached 67 branches in 29 cities. The bank maintained high revenue growth rates, being steadily focused in high' margin business areas and continuously developing new products, such as "ASPIS HOME 100%", "ASPIS Studies", and ASPIS CAPITAL EUR/USD. On account of a full range of products provided to customers, lending grew further, leading to operating income growth by 13%. In parallel, actions to further improve infrastructure, increase operational efficiency and contain operating expenses led to a 4% reduction in operating costs. Moreover, in 2005 the replacement of the Bank?s legacy systems with a new IT system was launched. This new banking solution is aimed to improve the Bank's various operations, enhance quality of services offered and improve productivity once it is commissioned.

KEY GROUP FINANCIALS
Total Assets - Customer Financing
Business and household lending continued to be the driving force behind the strong performance. The growth rate of gross loans and advances to customers reached 16%. Loans to households and enterprises 3 grew on a yearly basis by 13% and 22% respectively. Moreover, the share business loans in the loan portfolio grew further in 2005 to reach 41% against 39% in 2004. On the other hand, loans to households accounted for 57% of gross loans against 59% in 2004. As a result of the growth in business lending, the Bank gained market share in this key banking sector where it is a relatively new entrant. The outstanding balance of leasing transactions increased by 10% and reached euro 93.8 million. The contribution of gross customer financing, accounting for 74% of total assets, was key to their 12% growth to euro 2.2 billion. Liquidity remained high, with liquids assets (cash & deposits with Central Bank, bonds and interbank claims) accounting for 20% of total assets.

Deposits
The asset-gathering business played a key role in profit growth. The aim was to reduce asset-gathering costs and consequently increase net interest margin. With this target and capitalizing on the high liquidity, total deposits & repos were maintained at last year's levels. Meanwhile, deposits grew by 4% and reached euro 1.57 billion against euro 1.51 billion in 2004.

Group Equity
Apart from retained earnings, the funding sources of the Bank were further expanded through the issue of Lower Tier II capital of euro 50 million on February 2005, further boosting the Bank's regulatory capital. The strong capital base ensures the continuous financing of its business development and is reflected in a 13% increase of group equity and improvement of ROavE (after tax & minority interest) to 10,4%.

Group results
ASPIS BANK's focus on core banking activities continues to generate good earnings, underpinned by the increase of net interest and commission income, which accounted for 91% of operating income. Such increase resulted in a 13% growth of operating income to euro 89.9 million. More specifically, continuous credit expansion led to the increase of net interest income by 17% to euro 55.1 million. Furthermore, concentration on high-margin banking segments such as SME banking led to the growth of net commission income at a high pace of 18% and enhancement of their role in income generation, underlined by the increase of their share in net revenues to 30% against 28,6% in 2004. In parallel, the successful cost containment efforts were a key driver of 2005 bottom line results as operating expenses fell by 4% to euro 72.1 million. Administrative and staff expenses fell by 9% and 5% respectively despite investments to upgrade infrastructure and expand of the branch network. As a result, the efficiency ratio was improved to 80%, down by 14 percentage units compared to 2004.

Prospects
ASPIS BANK will continue its steady course of healthy development with the aim to further strengthen its presence in the Greek banking sector. This will result from the Bank's continued focus on high-yield and high-growth business areas, whilst concurrently preserving credit quality by applying advanced risk management systems. The development of the Bank's operations will continue through the further introduction of new products and services, strengthening of cross selling, and expansion of its branch network. Emphasis will be given to the further exploitation of opportunities in newer business areas such as asset management while at the same time efforts to contain cost through investments in new technologies and more effective deployment of human resources will intensify.