Spanish savings banks have seen their profits drop by 32.7% to €3.4 billion in the first half of 2009, the Professional Confederation of Spanish Savings Banks CECA has revealed. The fall in results is linked to a strong push on provisions for bad debt, the average rate of arrears having risen from 3.6% at the end of December to 5.17% at the end of August, with prospects of it rising to 7% by the end of the year. By comparison, in the first months of the year, Spanish banks recorded a 12.1%...