HYPO: It is not good to hurry our asset sales up

Austrian government is preparing these days to start negotiating with the European Commission on the future of the nationalized lender Hypo Alpe Adria, which pleaded for enough time to divest assets at fair prices in a revamp that the European Union's competition chief has criticized for dragging on.

European Competition Commissioner Joaquin Almunia signalled on Friday his displeasure with the restructuring process, saying an Austrian bank he did not name faced possible closure for failing to adequately reorganize.

- This bank started receiving public support in 2008 and still the Austrian authorities have not been able to present to us a final decision or a sensible restructuring plan for this bank - Almunia said.

However, the bank says emergency asset sales could trigger a need for more state aid, and a theoretical quick shutdown could saddle taxpayers with losses of 5 billion to 6 billion euros.

- Time pressure destroys money, especially at a time when buyers are not exactly standing in line. If we are put in the shop window with an 'everything must go' sign, then losses are automatic - Chief Executive Gottwald Kranebitter told reporters.

By the way, Hypo's 2012 net profit fell to 3 million euros from 69.3 million in 2011 as provisions for bad debt rose and revenue fell. It reversed into a loss of 28 million euros under Austrian accounting rules.