Spain's CAM bad debt triples after housing collapse
Thursday, October 23, 2008 @ 4:22 PM
Non-performing loans at Valencia-based savings bank CAM more than tripled to 3.2 percent in September from 1 percent a year earlier following the collapse of Spain's coastal construction and property boom.
Caja de Ahorros del Mediterraneo (CAHM.MC: Quote, Profile, Research, Stock Buzz), Spain's only publicly traded savings bank, on Thursday said it faced complex financial conditions but reported a 5 percent increase in net profit to 301.5 million euros ($387.6 million) in the nine months to September.
Savings banks in Spain's Mediterranean region lent heavily to real estate and construction companies which now account for over 25 percent of all defaults as house sales and prices fall. Source: Reuters