Optima Bank: a touch of Midas, none of Icarus (BUY - initiation of coverage)

We initiate coverage of Optima Bank (Optima) with a BUY and a 12M price target (PT) of EUR 18.5 (16.4% upside). Optima Bank is a small, emerging bank, financing corporates, almost exclusively, with a focus on SMEs. We believe that, despite the RRF loans and growing competition in the segment, Greek SMEs still lack adequate access to financing and, therefore, the demand for SME financing through traditional channels is likely to remain strong in the years to come. In this case, the opportunity for Optima is still quite significant, and we expect the bank to continue to capitalise on this market gap to grow its balance sheet at a significantly higher pace than the market. The higher loan book growth and superior earnings power should drive a significantly better earnings outlook and profitability than that of its Greek peers in the years to come, which we do not believe the market values fully yet. Despite the almost 25% rally ytd, we still see Optima’s valuation, at 1.6x P/BV and 7.5x P/E on our 2025E figures, as attractive.