LONDON -Troubled bank Northern Rock could be sold off following its mergency bail-out by the Bank of England, the Sunday Telegraph reported. 
Northern Rock shares slumped by almost a third on Friday after the lender was bailed out by an emergency loan from the Bank of England. "Our share price has come off 30 percent," chief executive Adam Applegarth was quoted as saying by the weekly newspaper on Sunday.
"You have got to be vulnerable (to a sale) if your share price has come down.
"It's up to the bidders to make a bid." Worried customers besieged Northern Rock's 76 branches on Friday and Saturday to withdraw their savings -- despite assurances from politicians, regulators and the bank itself. More of the same is widely expected when the bank reopens on Monday.
"Things look really ugly," the paper quoted a source close to the bank as saying.
"If the share price falls heavily on Monday, then a fast break-up and sale of the assets looks inevitable."
The Sunday Telegraph added that Northern Rock's mortgage portfolio could be carved up between other major British banks in what would amount to a private-sector rescue of the lender.
Northern Rock -- Britain's fifth-biggest home loan provider -- is facing major liquidity problems due to the ongoing global credit squeeze. The group's share price plunged by 31.46 percent to close at 438 pence on Friday.
"You have got to be vulnerable (to a sale) if your share price has come down.
"It's up to the bidders to make a bid." Worried customers besieged Northern Rock's 76 branches on Friday and Saturday to withdraw their savings -- despite assurances from politicians, regulators and the bank itself. More of the same is widely expected when the bank reopens on Monday.
"Things look really ugly," the paper quoted a source close to the bank as saying.
"If the share price falls heavily on Monday, then a fast break-up and sale of the assets looks inevitable."
The Sunday Telegraph added that Northern Rock's mortgage portfolio could be carved up between other major British banks in what would amount to a private-sector rescue of the lender.
Northern Rock -- Britain's fifth-biggest home loan provider -- is facing major liquidity problems due to the ongoing global credit squeeze. The group's share price plunged by 31.46 percent to close at 438 pence on Friday.
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