Crédit Agricole faces record loss
The banks is expected to register the greatest losses in its history for last year
THE Crédit Agricole is expected to register the greatest losses in its 130-year history for 2012
This comes as the bank, which will unveil its full accounting figures for the year on February 20, revealed it will be recording some €3.8billion in exceptional charges (debits) in the fourth quarter of last year.
This mainly reflects a lowering in the value of acquisitions it made before the economic crisis, such as operations in Portugal or Italy.
Much of the lost value reflects writedown of goodwill – meaning that the value associated with the reputation of some of its assets, which can be assessed according to precise rules, has dropped as compared to previous estimates.
As the bank already recorded losses of €2.48billion over the first nine months of the year, commentators say this will mean record losses for the bank over the year.
Recently an EU finance watchdog, the European Securities and Markets Authority, said it would name and shame companies that did not take proper account of goodwill impairments in their results.
Crédit Agricole, France’s largest retail bank, said the massive charges announced will have no impact on its solvency or liquidity.
