Puerto Rico’s Popular Suffering Island Fever
As a pall redescends on much of the banking industry, Puerto Rico’s Popular sinks further into distress. Nonperforming loans at the $24 billion-asset bank shot up to $2.2 billion in the third quarter, up an alarming 91 percent compared with the year-ago figure. Chargeoffs, or permanently soured loans, soared 58 percent. Through Sept. 30, the company had a net loss of $360.7 million. Although that loss was narrower than a year ago, Popular warned that the downturn would continue: Given the existing adverse economic conditions, it is likely that the corporation will continue to experience heightened credit losses, higher levels of non-performing assets and significant levels of provision for loan losses. The decline of Popular, Puerto Rico’s biggest banking company,…
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