BPH-PBK declares its liabilities with Szczecin Shipyard

The second largest private banking group BPH-PBK yesterday said that it had lent zl. 260 million to the failed Szczecin Shipyard. Last month, the bank said its net profits would remain in the black in the second quarter, despite creating provisions for doubtful loans to the shipyard, whose June bankruptcy filing sent shockwaves through the banking sector. BPH-PBK, created at the end of last year from a merger of German HVB Group's two units, said that it made a provision against 20% of the loans in the first quarter and 30% in the second quarter. BPH stock, which enjoyed a strong run earlier this year, plunged 15% in June after the Szczecin Shipyard shocked the market with the amount of debt it owed to domestic and foreign institutions. The bank's net profit plummeted by a third to zl. 62 million in the first quarter of the year. (Reuters)