Portugal’s top high street banks, CGD, Millennium BCP, BES, BPI, Banif and Montepio have between them needed a total capital injection of €18.1 billion since 2008.
The figure is made up from capital increases and state aid.
Calls to shareholders for more capital has resulted in an influx of €11.6 billion, with state aid adding €6.5 billion.
The result is that the country's banks are better capitalised, which they need to be to fulfill new requirements for capital ratios under a harsher regime from the Bank of Portugal.
Part of this capital inflow was immediately absorbed by bad debt provisions from poor loans and the funding of commercial projects that subsequently failed.
Banco Espirito Santo (BES) currently is raising €1.045 billion in an emergency call to shareholders as embarrassing and potentially expensive problems in Angola have led to the surprise exit of Ricardo Salgados as CEO. He won’t be without a job though as he reappeared the next day as chairman of the holding company.
BES is not alone in shoring up its balance sheet as Millennium BCP has needed €3.05 billion, CGD asked for €2.7 billion, Montepio €1.14 billion, Banif €770.5 million and BPI a more conservative €690 million.
State aid has been thrown at Millennium BCP, CGD, BPI and Banif. Millennium BCP was the early casualty, requiring €3 billion of state support that was neatly syphoned off from an inbound Troika transfer, followed by BPI who received €1.5 billion of taxpayers’ money.
Millennium BPI has at least started to pay some of its €3 billion back to the treasury, as has Banif.
