Sydbank loses nearly half a billion on energy firm

Sydbank has had to write down 446 million Danish kroner due to the reconstruction of the crisis-stricken Danish energy developer Better Energy, significantly impacting its profits. The bank’s post-tax profits dropped by nearly 600 million kroner to 2.7 billion kroner. Excluding the higher total impairments from the previous year, CEO Mark Luscombe expressed satisfaction with the 2024 results. Impairments, a devaluation of a company’s assets, include bad loans banks don’t expect to be repaid, viewed as losses. Better Energy filed for reconstruction in December and is known for creating solar parks in Denmark, Poland, and Sweden, contributing half of the country’s renewable energy since 2020. Multiple parties, including the state pension fund ATP, also faced losses. Additionally, Sydbank’s interest income declined and predicts a 2023 post-tax profit between 2.2 and 2.6 billion kroner.