Lyonnais makes RI provisions

Lyonnais makes RI provisions

PARIS (Reuters): French state-owned bank Credit Lyonnais has made US$40 million in special provision for Indonesia risks and has cut its outstanding debt to South Korean companies by 25 percent in 1998.

The bank yesterday confirmed statements by its chairman Jean Peyrelevade made at a Hong Kong symposium and reported in French newspapers.

Credit Lyonnais has a three billion franc overall provision for Asia risks which it has not touched.

In South Korea, Credit Lyonnais has outstanding loans which are for 80 to 90 percent concentrated on the top five conglomerates. It had $5.0 billion in loans outstanding to South Korean companies at the end of the year.

The extra provision for Indonesia has been charged to the operating profit for the first four months of the year.