Lithuanian Ukio bank says no problem repaying debt
VILNIUS, Nov 11 (Reuters) - Lithuania's Ukio bankas (UKB1L.VL) said on Tuesday it had stockpiled enough money to repay a 61.1 million euro ($78.8 million) syndicated loan this month.
Latvia at the weekend nationalised its second-largest bank Parex, saying it wanted to help the bank refinance 775 million euros ($999.4 million) of syndicated loans due next year.
"We have accumulated enough liquidity reserves to repay all debts this year. There will be no problems," Arnas Zalys, head of Ukio bankas's finance and risk management department, told Reuters. The syndicated loan comes due on Nov. 21.
Ukio bankas, whose main shareholder Vladimir Romanov owns Scottish soccer club Hearts, posted a 25.7 percent rise in 10-month net profit to 92.6 million litas ($34.17 million).
Excluding a one-off gain of 27 million litas from the sale of a property in Moscow, net profit was down 10.8 percent from a year ago.
Zalys said repayment of the syndicated loan accounted for 95 percent of total debt to be covered this year, while syndicated loans made up 6 percent of total liabilities. (Reporting by Nerijus Adomaitis; Editing by David Cowell)
