As banks continue to distance themselves from the shipping sector, two of Germany’s prominent lenders - Commerzbank and Nord/LB - have announced further reductions in their shipping portfolios.

Commerzbank’s ship finance portfolio was run down further this year and stood at a volume of EUR1.1 billion (USD1.25 billion) at the end of the third quarter. This represents a reduction of EUR3.1 billion (USD3.52 billion) from the EUR4.2 billion (USD4.77 billion) at the end of the third quarter in 2017.

Meanwhile, Nord/LB has focused on reducing its non-performing loan (NPL) shipping portfolio after reducing its entire shipping portfolio from EUR19 billion (USD21.57 billion) at the end of 2015 to its current level of EUR11.5 billion (USD13.06 billion) in mid-2018.

The bank has set itself the target of cutting its NPL portfolio from its current figure of EUR7.7 billion (USD8.74 billion) to under EUR5 billion (USD5.68 billion) by the end of 2019.

www.commerzbank.de

www.nordlb.com