Portugal\\\'s BES bank puts debt exposure at 1.18b euro

Portugal's largest listed bank Banco Espirito Santo (BES), whose shares have plummeted shaking global stock markets, said early Friday its exposure to debt in the Espirito Santo group rose to 1.18 billion euro ($ 1.6 billion) at the end of June. ‘Banco Espirito Santo awaits the publication of the restructuring plan for the Espirito Santo group in order to be able to estimate the potential losses associated with its exposure,’ the bank said in a statement. Lisbon stock market regulators on Thursday suspended trade in Banco Espirito Santo (BES), the country’s biggest lender by capitalisation, after its shares plummeted by 17.24 per cent to 0.50 euros. Trading was halted ahead of ‘important information’ to be published by BES, the market regulator had said. Concerns about the lender, erupting less than two months after Portugal exited a three-year, 78b euro ($106b) international bailout, sent shockwaves through Lisbon and other fragile southern European markets. When stock markets closed, Portugal’s PSI index had lost by 4.18 per cent, Spain’s IBEX-35 index had dropped 1.98 per cent, and Italy’s FTSE MIB had skidded 1.90 per cent, according to AFP.