Bad household loans catch up with corporate loans

The volume of bad loans for individuals and households almost touched corporate loans in end-July 2008 although individuals took some 11 bln levs less, central bank data showed. Bad consumer, mortgage and other loans of individuals added up to 468.5 mln levs. Bad corporate loans totaled 493.6 mln levs. Companies drew 28.5 bln levs worth of loans. Households and individuals borrowed a combined 16.9 bln levs. Banks’ retail loan portfolios grew as fast as bad and restructured loans. Bad consumer loans picked up 44.8 pct year-on-year as the whole consumer portfolio expanded by 47 pct year-on-year. Bad housing mortgage loans grew 48.9 pct and the whole portfolio added 50 pct. The close paces are due to the smaller growth rate of new loans, bankers commented. Bad and restructured loans combined soared by 282 mln levs to 962.1 mln levs for a year making 2.11 pct of the total portfolio. The combined profit of Bulgarian lenders surged 38.2 pct to 842 mln levs from January to July. Source: http://news.dnevnik.bg/