The German lender set aside EUR 846m ($1.17bn) to coverlosses in the 12 month period to the end of December against EUR 598m for theprevious year.
An EUR 84m tax rebate helped triple net profit to EUR245m from EUR 82m in 2012 while earnings before tax and reorganisation costsdoubled to EUR 268m from EUR 131m.
The improvement was thanks to other business areas with arecovery in its important shipping portfolio not likely until next year, chairmanPeter Dunkel said.
Nord/LB continues to take on new ship financing businessthough on a very selective basis and with an emphasis on non-traditionalsegments such as offshore platforms, cruise ships and gas carriers, he said.
“The market has not yet started to recover,” said Dunkel. “However,we expect to see signs of recovery in some segments from 2015 on.
“The recovery will initially be seen in the market forcontainer ships, product tankers and multi-purpose ships, and later for bulkersand crude oil tankers.
“However, a differentiated view of the developments in thesegments is necessary. Overall it remains highly uncertain how the shippingmarkets will develop.”
Nord/LB’s total risk cover stands at EUR 1.58bn.
