Fortis Holding reported a €28 billion 2008 loss

Belgian financial services company Fortis Holding reported a € 28 billion 2008 loss on Tuesday as it asked shareholders to vote next week to a takeover by French bank BNP Paribas. Fortis loss, equivalent to about 37 billion dollars, compared with a profit of 4 billion € in 2007. The vast majority of red ink resulted in loss of € 27.4 billion on sales of rushed banking activities in the Dutch and Belgian governments, as the company teetered on the verge of failure last fall. The company’s Belgian insurance business reported a net profit of € 6 million, after after-tax write-downs on its investment portfolio of € 639 million. Fortis Insurance International broke even in 2007, compared with a profit of € 40 million. Fortis Executive Director, Karel De Boeck, said that association with the BNP recently improved terms Fortis would ensure its viability and that the merged company would carefully consider the best way to employ its capital, including acquisitions. (more…)