Fortis Bank, principally owned by the Belgian state, is to post a net loss of about €6 billion for the fourth quarter of 2008, at least €1 billion greater than initially foreseen.
The company said in a statement late yesterday that its tier 1 solvency ratio was nevertheless still around 10 per cent at the end of 2008.
Fortis Bank, formed from the carve-up of listed Fortis by the Belgian, Dutch and Luxembourg governments at the end of October, said it had become more likely that an exceptional payment would no longer materialise.
The bank had said in January it expected to have made a net loss of €4 to €5 billion for the final quarter after a negative €14.1 billion in the first nine months of 2008.
Fortis Bank is 99.93 per cent in the hands of the Belgian state, with Luxembourg owning 49.9 per cent of BGL, the Luxembourg subsidiary. It is no longer part of the listed Fortis Holding.
The Netherlands separately owns the Dutch activities of Fortis following the October break-up transactions.
Reuters