http://www.businessday.com.au/business/bendigo-banks-615m-exposur...

http://www.businessday.com.au/business/bendigo-banks-615m-exposure-to-great-southern-20090526-bl8q.html

May 26, 2009 - 10:22AM

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank says it has indirect exposure to the troubled timber investor Great Southern through 8,200 customers with loans totalling around $615 million.

The bank says it will work with its customers, with average loans of $75,000 used to invest in Great Southern schemes, to work out courses of action to best protect the interests of both parties.

In the meantime, the bank said, the borrowers' obligations stand.

Bendigo and Adelaide Bank shares were 2 cents, or 0.3% lower in early trade, easing to $6.31.

''These loans are full-recourse to each individual borrower, with an average exposure of $75,000 and are spread across every state and territory of Australia,'' Bendigo and Adelaide Bank said in a statement on Tuesday.

''The obligations of the borrower remain unchanged by the announcement by (Great Southern)'' that it was entering administration.

The bank said it would work with its customers ''to determine what steps can be taken to protect its interests and those of its customers''.

Great Southern went into administration on May 16, and into receivership on May 19.