BOQ impairments rising fast before flood
Impaired loans at Bank of Queensland climbed by A$100 million, or 70 per cent, over the three months to November 2010, the quarterly disclosure document from the bank shows.Loans 90 days or more past due increased by $14 million, or five per cent, to $320 million.Both measures are likely to be worse by now in light of the flooding in south-east Queensland and northern New South Wales over the last month or so.Most of the worsening in impaired loans (or $92 million of the rise) over the November quarter relate to what's described as "other retail" under APRA's definition. The rest mainly relate to commercial loans.Any asset quality issues arising from the takeover, in July 2010, of CIT, a commercial finance company, were already incorporated in the August 2010 quarterly disclosure.Impaired home loans increased by $20 million over the quarter.