Novo Banco has posted a loss of €980.6 million for 2015. In a statement sent to the Portuguese Securities Market Commission, the bank stated that the figures reflect €1.054 billion in provisions for customer loans, securities and real estate losses and the cancellation of €160 million of tax losses for 2013.
The bank’s management, led by Stock da Cunha (pictured), also blamed an “unfavourable national environment characterised by still sluggish economic activity, by high unemployment levels and very low interest rates."
Novo Banco’s operating profit was positive at €125 million from a turnover of €879.6 million but results also were hit by a contribution to the European Single Resolution Fund (€25.3 million) and Portugal’s Resolution Fund (€6.7 million).
Operating costs fell by 12.7%, coming in at €754.7 million, despite few staff lay-offs or branch closures.
The minister for the economy said today that it would be a good thing to find a solution to Novo Banco "with national partners."
Caldeira Cabral was answering a question from the Left Bloc’s Heitor de Sousa during the current the budget discussions in parliament, and said that it also would be great to find a solution to Novo Banco that avoids losses to taxpayers.
Cabral did not state clearly whether he wanted to keep Novo Banco in public ownership but was keen to find any solution that avoided the bank’s sale to foreigners.
Last weekend the former Novo Banco chief Vítor Bento, sacked by the Bank of Portugal's governor due to a disagreement over the timing of Novo Banco's sale, said that nationalisation should be looked at along with other options.
The left wing parties want to keep Novo Banco in public hands, which in effect it currently is, and the government has agreed to study this possibility bearing in mind the costs of doing so; today’s reported losses neither help nationalisation or the bank’s sale prospects.
