IAG down on Bankia concerns

Shares in British Airways parent International Airlines Group (IAG) fell on Monday morning after the president of troubled Spanish lender Bankia said the bank would sell assets to raise much needed funds.

Bankia has a 12% holding in IAG following a bailout of Caja Madrid, a main stakeholder in Iberia before it merged with BA to form IAG.

Bankia is now the group's joint largest shareholder along with another Spanish bank - Banco Financiero y de Ahorros.

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Last week Bankia said it would need a further €19bn from the Spanish government, on top of €4.5bn it has already requested.

It has been hit hard by poorly performing loans after the Spanish property bubble burst but said the injection of funds would make it "solid, efficient and profitable".

At the weekend the bank's president, Jose Ignacio Goirigolzarri, said detailed plans for selling assets would be presented at to shareholders at a meeting on 29th June.

IAG's shares fell over 2% in early trading but recovered slightly by mid-morning to be down 1.4%.