West isn't best

3 September 2007 By John Foley Follow @johnsfoley

The German bank s owners have bailed it out before. Now, after a E604m trading loss, they have the chance to put it out of its misery. The state government has three options, all compromised by political considerations.

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WestLB, the stateowned German bank, said on Thursday that it had taken a loss of E604m from proprietary share trades in German companies including Volkswagen and Metro. The loss had previously been estimated by the bank at E243m. Overall, WestLB reported a posttax loss of E170m in the first half of the year.

The state of NorthRhine Westphalia (NRW), which owns 38% of WestLB's shares, is in the process of selecting an investment bank to examine all options on the future of WestLB. A decision is expected by September 10. The remaining shares are held by local savings bank associations.

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