Germany’s HSH Nordbank Must Use More State Guarantees Due to Dollar -Handelsblatt

FRANKFURT, March 29 (Reuters) – German lender HSH Nordbank will need to use more of its state guarantees than expected as a strong U.S. dollar forces it to set aside more in risk provisions for shipping loans, German daily Handelsblatt reported, citing supervisory board sources.

HSH, which is 85 percent owned by the German regional states of Hamburg and Schleswig-Holstein, had said recently that it expected to use 1.6 billion euros ($1.7 billion) of its state guarantees between 2019 and 2025.

According to Handelsblatt, HSH has now raised that estimate to 2 billion euros because it books the bulk of its risk provisions for shipping loans in U.S. dollars. It had already raised its forecast by 300 million euros last year.

HSH, one of the world’s biggest players in ship finance, risked collapse in the crisis, and its state owners stepped in to offer 10 billion euros in guarantees to support the lender in 2009.

($1 = 0.9185 euros) (Reporting by Maria Sheahan; editing by Jane Baird)

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