Commerzbank Q3 Net Loss Widens To Euro1.06 Billion

GEORGE FREY

FRANKFURT (AP) — Germany's Commerzbank AG on Thursday confirmed its net loss widened in the third quarter due to higher provisions for bad loans and as it continued to restructure in the wake of the financial crisis.

Commerzbank, based in Frankfurt, said it lost euro1.06 billion ($1.6 billion) in the July-September period, nearly four times the euro285 million it lost in the third quarter of 2008.

However, net interest income, one measure of revenue, rose 46 percent to euro1.77 billion from euro1.21 billion.

The results were in line with preliminary estimates released earlier this week.

The company increased its loan loss provisions in the third quarter — to euro1.05 billion from euro628 million a year earlier — and expects to do so again for the rest of the year and into 2010, as it braces for more bankruptcies and rising unemployment.

Loan loss provisions in the first nine months of the year amounted to euro2.89 billion, up from euro1.22 billion in the year-ago period. By the end of September, Commerzbank's loan default portfolio stood at euro20.7 billion.