Fortis is facing a Euros 600m (£383.2m) loss on its investment portfolio as a result of falling shareprices.
The Belgo-Dutch group saw the value of its equities fall from above cost price on June 3 ...
Fortis is facing a Euros 600m (£383.2m) loss on its investment portfolio as a result of falling shareprices.
The Belgo-Dutch group saw the value of its equities fall from above cost price on June 30 to a position on 23 August that would require a writedown of Euros 600m after tax.
Fortis refused to forecast its year's result, citing stock market volatility.
CEO Anton van Rossum said: "Against the background of the unprecedented sharp fluctuations on the equity markets and their possible effect on our net operating profit, it would not be realistic to give a projection for the year as a whole."
The group's stock was down 3% in Amsterdam by mid-morning.
The company complained that investors were treating it as an insurance company - currently out of favour on stock markets due to worries over life offices' solvencies.
It accused them of ignoring "the specific nature of the group."
The group has diverse banking interests and its non-life insurance technical result was 22% higher than in the same period last year.
The technical result for the non-life side grew to Euros 286m from Euros 235m last time.
