Tourism, along with transport and shipping, will bear the brunt of the economic downturn caused by the novel coronavirus outbreak, Alpha Bank AE chief economist Panagiotis Kapopoulos warned.

"The sector is confronted with a considerable reduction in international arrivals as we expect cancellations and a drop in bookings from, for example, American, Japanese, Chinese and South Korean travelers," Kapopoulos said during a March 27 earnings call, adding that EU arrivals have ground to a halt as the result of national-level travel bans.

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In order to help performing customers affected by the pandemic, Alpha Bank will be deferring principal payments for businesses until "at least" the end of September this year, CEO Vassilios Psaltis said during the call.

The European Central Bank's temporary relaxatio of capital rules will free up Alpha Bank to continue supporting its customers throughout the outbreak, he said.

For Alpha Bank, this means that the bank's capital ratio requirement is as low as 11.5%, compared to the current 19%, Psaltis said.

Cause for optimism

Greece imposed a lockdown on March 22 and Psaltis praised the government for its quick reaction to the pandemic, and said that the "unprecedented coordinated monetary, fiscal and regulatory support from European authorities" was a cause for some optimism.

Some 90% of staff at headquarters are working from home, and the bank has even set up its call centers to function remotely, he said.

For the 2019 full year, the bank reported a profit of €97 million, compared with €53 million in 2018. Total impairment losses on loans for 2019 stood at €994.8 million, down 42.3% from €1.72 billion in the preceding year.

The bank's common equity Tier 1 ratio stood at 17.9% at the end of 2019 versus 17.4% at the end of 2018.