Athens, 29 April 2004 - National Bank of Greece announced the results of the Group and the parent company for the three-month period ended 31 March 2004.

Group pre-tax profit totaled 145.7 million euros, up 30% y-o-y. The Group reported record core profit before tax of 103.1 million euros, up 31.6% y-o-y and 7% q-o-q. This strong performance led to a substantial improvement in the Group's after tax Return on Average Equity, which stood at 18.2% in Q1 2004 (compared with 15.4% in 2003), its highest level of recent years. The same trend is reported for Return on Average Assets, which improved y-o-y by 13 basis points from 1.01% to 1.14%.

An all-time high was posted by the Group's net interest income, at 337 million euros, up 12.2% y-o-y and 5.1% q-o-q. A similar dynamic is observed in the Group's net interest margin, which, after adjustments for leasing income in view of the adoption of International Financial Reporting Standards, stood at 2.74% in Q1 2004, up 34 basis points on Q1 2003 and 12 basis points q-o-q.

The sustained growth in net interest margin reflects the on-going shift in the Group?s asset mix via the expansion of its loan portfolio and, above all, its retail banking portfolios, as well as the Group?s leading position in savings deposits.

Group net commission income was up by 21.9% y-o-y and by 4.3% vis-a-vis the average for 2003, on the back of a strong performance in retail banking commissions, up 23.6% y-o-y, and investment banking commissions, up 75.1% on Q1 2003, highlighting the dynamic profile of the Group in these markets.

Cost containment also played a role in strengthening the Group's profitability. Total operating expenses remained virtually flat, up just 0.2% on the previous quarter. Compared with the 2003 quarterly average, Group administrative expenses declined by 1.7%, while staff costs grew by 4.7%. It should be noted that staff costs in Q1 2004 include in view of the collective labor agreement due to be signed soon an increase in nominal staff salaries in line with the forecast average inflation rate for 2004.

The Group's concerted efforts to contain costs are reflected in the continued improvement in the cost/income ratio, down to 60.6% from 65.8% in Q1 2003 and 64.6% in full-year 2003. This is in line with the medium-term target set by management (60%).

The international network reported robust pre-tax profit growth of 50% y-o-y, totaling 28.3 million euros. This is driven entirely by the improvement in core income across the Group?s international network, with net interest income rising by 50% y-o-y and net commissions growing by 17%.

Group lending at 31 March 2004 totaled 24.3 billion euros, up approximately 21% on an annualized basis, with the retail banking portfolio sustaining its dynamic performance.

In Q1 2004, the Bank's consumer loan disbursements reached an all-time high, at 329 million euros, up 69% y-o-y. Consumer loan and credit card outstandings topped 3.3 billion euros, up 23% on an annual basis.

The Bank's mortgage lending business turned in an excellent quarter, with its market share increasing for the first time since the liberalization of the housing credit market, affirming the trend reported in Q4 2003. New mortgage disbursements totaled 535 million euros, outperforming the Q1 2003 level by 66%. The accelerating growth in new housing loan production led to a 24% growth in mortgage lending outstandings.

Credit to small businesses and professionals registered dynamic growth, approximately 38% on an annualized basis, and increased to 900 million euros. Customers have responded positively to NBG's initiative in this market segment, and the number of professional and small business customers rose by 2 230 to approximately 33 400.

Corporate lending also performed well, with financing to large and medium-sized corporates growing by 18% on an annualized basis during the first quarter.

Total Group assets under management (deposits, repos and mutual funds) stood at 46.1 billion euros, up 8.1% on an annualized basis. Sight and savings deposits grew by 10% y-o-y, while mutual funds grew at an annualized rate of 11%, reaching 7.9 billion euros. This improvement resulted in an expansion in the Group's market share, which now stands at 25.6%.

The Group's Tier I Capital Ratio has strengthened to approximately 10.4%, compared with 10.1% at the end of 2003, while the Total Capital Ratio, including Tier II capital, stands at approximately 13.2% compared with 12.9% in 2003.