4 of Gas Natural 25 of Abertis infrastructure 12

After a first series of bankruptcies of large developers, late 2008 - early 2009, La Caixa is expected, this year, a second wave of payment defaults in the sector. This time, it would be from small and medium operators. It considers that it should climb by 1 point its rate of unpaid, currently of 3.4 (with coverage of 62), compared to 5.3 for the whole of the savings and 4.7 for banks. La Caixa, who awakened Servihabitat, its subsidiary created in the early 1990 to manage the previous real estate crisis, was able to control the situation affecting hundreds of people at the service of recovery. The first savings bank and third financial group of Spain is now, despite it, shareholder of Colonial and Metrovacesa, two large developers unable to repay their creditors, and the owner of a housing with a value of EUR 3 billion portfolio after to have sold for EUR 510 million in 2009. With a stock of unsold of 800,000 housing, 400,000 in construction, and 100,000 in projects, Isidro Fainé, Chairman of La Caixa, is not the price bump for four years. Unlike some of its competitors as Caja Madrid, which has marketed a part of its fleet with an average discount of 30, the Catalan Fund does not want to sell at any price.

"We are helping our country."

Under pressure for its real commitments, La Caixa, which displays a hard 8.7 equity ratio and a 10.4 Tier-1, it is also for its industrial shareholdings. Considering that current standards are insufficient to cover the risks, the Standard & Poor's agency j. that the Fund is underfunded. "We are opposed to this way of seeing things, denounces Isidro Fainé. The facility would sell, but we believe we are helping our country by taking industrial interests and that it is good to have long-term investments. "Criteria, via its subsidiary traded, La Caixa holds including 36.4 of Gas Natural, 25 of Abertis (infrastructure), 12.7 of the Repsol oil and 5 of Telefonica. The trend is nevertheless the strengthening of the shareholdings in the financial sector, which represents 32 of the assets, against 17 two years ago. The Catalan Fund took last year 10 of the Austrian Bank Erste Group and 15 of Bank of East Asia, located in Hong Kong. On the occasion of an operation in several bands with Suez, Agbar and Malakoff Médéric ("Les Echos" on October 23, 2009), it had also taken control of Adeslas, the number one health insurance in Spain, to strengthen SegurCaixa, national leader in the niche market of life insurance and pension funds.

With 10.5 million customers in Spain, La Caixa has accused the impact of the economic crisis facing the country. Because of 1.4 billion euros in write-downs of assets and voluntary provisions for a total of 449 million, the Fund, which was recorded at the same time 249 million of extraordinary gains, accused in 2009, a decrease of its outcome by 16.2 to EUR 1.5 billion. Its revenues reached EUR 7.2 billion, an increase of 6.4.