British bank Alliance & Leicester's 2007 profit tumbled 30% as it suffered a £185m sterling writedown on its exposure to risky assets.
A&L, Britain's seventh-biggest listed bank, today reported a 2007 pre-tax profit of £399m, down from £569m in 2006 and below average forecasts of £416m. The bank said underlying core operating profit rose by 3% from 2006 to £602m.
A&L warned three weeks ago that its writedown on holdings of structured investment vehicles (SIVs) and other products tarnished by the US sub-prime housing crisis had more than tripled from a previous estimate to £185m.
Profits were also knocked by a £10m loss on ineffective hedges and £8m of redundancy costs, it said.
A&L calmed worries about funding problems in November by saying it had agreed medium-term financing facilities, and today said it had funding to see it through to the first quarter of 2009.
