With Lisbon’s institute of management and economy (ISEG) finally predicting growth within the Portuguese economy, albeit slow, the country’s private banks are showing the opposite tendency once again registering millionaire losses. BCP, Novo Banco, BPI and Santander Totta have logged an accumulated combined loss of €257.8 million for the first half of 2016. This translates, explain national media, into €1.4 million lost every day.
The ‘worst offender’ has been Novo Banco – the ‘good bank’ up for sale and doomed not to recover the billions ploughed into it in the wake of the BES collapse in August 2014.
Now into its third president in two years, the bank actually registered losses of €362.6 million to June, increasing ‘damages’ reported in the same period this time last year.
The bank has explained that ‘ongoing costs’ are behind in the dismal results, as it struggles to restructure, shed thousands of workers and close 63 high-street outlets.
Restructuring is also the reason given for BCP’s losses of €197.3 million, as well as ‘impairment losses (underperforming/ bad loans).
BPI and Santander redress the balance by reporting positive balances (+ €105.9 million and +€196.2 million) on paper which can be set against the other banks’ negative results, but they nonetheless admit to impairment losses €83 million and €65.7 million respectively.
Against this parlous situation, State bank CGD still to reveal its figures for the first six months to June later in the week.
