Fortis shares resume trading down over 60%

0 Comments | AFP, October, 2008

BRUSSELS (AFP) — Shares in Fortis bank were worth barely two euros when they resumed trading Tuesday for the first time since the group was broken up earlier this month, down over 60 percent from the previous closing price.

Fortis shares have not traded since Friday October 3, just before the Dutch government agreed to buy the bulk of its Dutch operations and French bank BNP Paribas agreed to take over its Belgian and Luxembourg busineses.

After closing then at 5.422 euros a share, the stock was showing a loss of 63 percent when trading resumed mid-Tuesday morning in Brussels at 1.998 euros.

State bailouts and the takeovers became necessary as Fortis battled to survive when the global financial crisis swept across Europe, freezing the weakest banks out of...