St George Bank announced a downgrade to its profit forecast yesterday, the first such move in nine years, although still expecting to increase its full-year earnings by between 8 and 10 per cent. Chief executive Paul Fegan said that the bank had achieved an interim profit of $603 million which had been dragged down by the effects of the global credit crunch and a $20 million loss on a loan to troubled property group MFS (now called Octaviar). Mr Fegan said that the original earnings per share guidance of 10 per cent had been adjusted to between 8 and 10 per cent although this was dependant on "no further unexpected material losses".
