Severe loss for Dutch bank in year of nationalization

The Dutch bank-insurer SNS Reaal suffered a net loss of 1.95 billion euros (2.66 billion U.S. dollars) in 2013, as a result of losses at one-off items at the insurance activities and the divestment of property finance division, the company said Thursday. Property finance recorded a net loss of 1.54 billion euros (2.09 billion dollars) in 2013, compared to 813 million euros loss (1.1 billion dollars) in 2012. The total net loss in 2013, excluding non-recurring items, amounted to 386 million euros (524 million dollars), compared to 443 million euros (602 million dollars) in the previous year; while including non-recurring items, there was a net loss of 414 million euros (563 million dollars), compared to 159 million euros (216 million dollars) in 2012. SNS Reaal got approval from the European Commission (EC) in December 2013 to sell its insurance division and spin off its problematic property assets. "The final decision by the European Commission on the state aid, including the approval of the restructuring plan, has laid the foundation for the future of SNS ReaaL," said Gerard van Olphen, CEO of SNS Reaal, in a press release. The banking part of SNS ended the year with a profit of 190 million euros (258 million dollars), compared to 88 million euros (119 million dollars) one year ago. The insurance subsidiaries ReaaL and Zwitserleven suffered a total net loss of 623 million euros (847 million dollars), compared to a 147 million euros (199.9 million dollars) loss one year earlier, mainly owing to one-off impairments of intangible assets related to acquisitions of AXA NL and Zwitserleven. On Feb. 1, 2013, the Dutch State decided to nationalize the struggling bank and insurer owing to severe losses in its property portfolio. The Dutch State injected 1.9 billion euros (2.6 billion dollars) to recapitalize SNS Bank, 300 million euros (408 million dollars) on recapitalization of SNS Reaal and a loan of 1.1 billion euros (1.5 billion dollars) to secure its short-term funding needs.