German bank Hypo Real Estate warned this week that the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets and signs of major economic slowdown in the US and Europe means the bank may not meet its forecasts for 2008.
German bank Hypo Real Estate warned this week that the ongoing turmoil in the financial markets and signs of major economic slowdown in the US and Europe means the bank may not meet its forecasts for 2008.
Reporting a pro-forma pre-tax profit of EUR 862mln for 2007, Hypo said its performance had been affected by the takeover of Dublin-based lender Depfa last October and write-downs of US CDOs. Georg Funke, CEO of Hypo Real Estate, said 2008 would also be a challenging year. 'The current climate on the financing markets is posing a major challenge for all banks and thus also for the Hypo Real Estate Group. Caution has to be exercised. The aim is to bring our Group safely through this unparalleled market crisis.'
'However, the extremely difficult climate must not disguise the achievement of our Group in terms of operations and strategy in 2007. Following the acquisition of DEPFA Bank, the new Hypo Real Estate Group has a sound and well-balanced business model which provides excellent opportunities for growth in the medium and long term.'
