Commerzbank Says Has No Plans For Firesale Of Shipping Portfolio

FRANKFURT, June 26 (Reuters) – Commerzbank on Wednesday sought to reassure investors that it is not selling assets in a value destructive manner in response to market speculation about a firesale of its shipping portfolio.

Commerzbank shares had come under pressure on Wednesday, losing over 4.2 percent, making the stock the biggest loser on the DAX German blue-chip index, which was up 1.6 percent at 1045 GMT.

“Nothing has changed in regard to our plan to sell non-core assets. We want to reduce portfolios over time and in a way which does not destroy value. There are no firesales, this is also true of the shipping portfolio,” Commerzbank executive Stefan Otto, who is in charge of the Deutsche Schiffsbank unit, said in an e-mailed statement.

At the end of December, Commerzbank’s shipping portfolio was 18.9 billion euros ($247.1 billion). In its Q1 financial report Commerzbank showed that Deutsche Schiffsbank had a default volume of 4.6 billion euros and an non-performing-loan ratio of 25 percent on its portfolio.

Earlier this year, Commerzbank said it did not expect shipping markets to recover in 2013. ($1 = 0.7649 euros) (Reporting by Alexander Huebner and Edward Taylor; editing by Victoria Bryan)

(c) 2013 Thomson Reuters, Click For Restrictions

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