ILD Insurance could suffer substantial damages from Trade Bank embezzlement

Israel Land Development Insurance Holdings (TASE: ILDI ) could take a multi-million shekel hit from the NIS 250 million embezzlement in Trade Bank (TASE: COBK ).

An ILD Insurance subsidiary owns 10% in Trade Bank. ILD Insurance has booked the investment at NIS 2.5 million. In addition, ILD Insurance has a NIS 5.9 million short-term shekel deposit in Trade Bank, and another NIS 900,000 in current operations.

The company said that given the lack of clarity about the future of the bank and the rights of its customers, it can't estimate how the embezzlement will affect it.

ILD Insurance netted NIS 21.7 million in 2001 from insurance business, 31% more than in 2000. But total losses deepened to NIS 33 million, some NIS 32.1 million generated by NATALI, which offers emergency medical services mainly for heart patients.