LISBON, July 31 (Reuters) – Portugal’s largest Caixa Geral de Depositos on Friday reported a 41% drop in profits for the first half, damage through credit impairment fees due to the severe economic recession resulting from the coronavirus pandemic.
In the first six months of 2020, the bank made a profit of 249 million euros, he said in a statement.
The National Statistical Institute said earlier on Friday that Portugal’s gross domestic product fell to a record 14.1% in the 2020 quarter, as blockades affected key sectors of the economy.
The bank said it had major provisions and impairments through 156 million euros in the first part of the year.
“The net source of income has been affected by strengthening deficiencies to address the expected effects of the pandemic,” he said.
Caixa Geral de Depositos said it had already granted 48,826 moratoriums on bank loans, representing around 7 billion euros or 17% of the total loan portfolio, to companies and families affected by the pandemic.
Last month, the Portuguese government prolonged the suspension of loan repayments for six months until March to an expected increase in bad debts.
The bank’s source of net interest income, the difference between the interest charged on loans and the amount the bank will pay for the deposits fell 8.6% to 257 million euros.
Customer deposits increased by 7.6% to 70.6 billion euros. (Report through Sergio Goncalves, edited through Kirsten Donovan)
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