FRANKFURT, Jan 19 (Reuters) - Some individual banks that were very weak before the coronavirus pandemic may not survive the crisis, the head of Germany's financial watchdog said on Tuesday.
Felix Hufeld, president of BaFin, said that on the whole Germany's banking industry was nevertheless relatively healthy.
"The sector may be robust, but that doesn't mean that all banks are," Hufeld said in emailed remarks to bring in the New Year.
The profitability of the nation's banks has been low since the 2009 financial crisis as stiff competition, a saturated market and low interest rates have eroded margins.
Banks are bracing for a spate of bad loans when the government turns off measures meant to help companies steer through the pandemic.
"We will potentially experience multiple waves" of credits going bad, Hufeld said. "Individual institutions that were very weak even before the coronavirus may not survive the crisis."
(Reporting by Tom Sims and Patricia Uhlig; editing by Thomas Seythal and Philippa Fletcher)
