Spain's CaixaBank first half net profit 80% down

CaixaBank, Spain's third largest bank in terms of market capitalisation, on Friday reported an 80.1 percent drop in net profit for the first half of 2012, to 166 million euros. The bank made provisions totalling 2.7 billion euros ($3.3 billion) against its property assets during the period in a reform demanded by the government, it said in a statement. Its loss for the second quarter was 118 million euros, down 77.9 percent over the same period last year. The government instructed banks in May to set aside an extra 30 billion euros in 2012 in case property-related loans go bad, on top of 53.8 billion euros demanded under reforms enacted in February. Spain's real estate market crashed in 2008, throwing more than a million people out of work, exposing banks' reckless loans, and sharply reducing regional governments' income.