The troubled German bank Hypo Real Estate (HRE) today posted a first-quarter loss of €382m.
'As was the case in the previous quarters, the first quarter of 2009 again posed a major challenge for the group and its employees in market conditions which continued to be difficult,' bank chief Axel Wieandt said in a statement.
In the first quarter of 2008, HRE had made a profit of €148m though it was already suffering from the international financial crisis.
The German government has begun a process to nationalise the Munich-based bank, which plays a key role in financing infrastructure and providing credits to local governmental bodies.
Wieandt stressed that HRE was 'making good progress with restructuring the group.' For all of 2008, the distressed property lending and infrastructure specialist had posted a loss of €5.461 billion.
Berlin has launched a public offer for all outstanding HRE shares that had a deadline of midnight last night.
As of last Thursday, the state had acquired a total stake of 23%, but the largest shareholder, US investment fund JC Flowers, has opposed the deal, and could be expropriated under a law recently passed by the German parliament.
HRE has already received more than €100 billion in private and public aid to keep it afloat.
