BRUSSELS, March 1 (Reuters) - Bailed-out lender Dexia on Thursday reported a net loss in 2017, but said it had reduced its balance sheet by some 15 percent.
The Franco-Belgian group, which was bailed out in 2011 when its credit dried up, said it made a net loss of 462 million euros ($564.1 million) in 2017 after posting a rare profit in the previous year.
In the same period, it reduced its balance sheet by some 32 billion euros to 181 billion.
While Dexia’s results do not matter to many investors, the governments of Belgium, France and Luxembourg still guarantee some 67 billion euros of its portfolio.
With all its active businesses sold, what was once the world’s largest lender to municipalities and governments is now a large pile of outstanding bonds and loans which the current management team is in the process of unwinding. ($1 = 0.8190 euros) (Reporting by Robert-Jan Bartunek; editing by Philip Blenkinsop)
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