FRANKFURT (AFP) -- Shares in German lender IKB plunged by 11.39 percent in early trades on Monday following press reports that it could be hit harder than expected by the U.S. sub-prime housing crisis.

IKB shares changed hands for 5.60 euros (8.15 dollars), while the MDax index on which it is listed showed a fall of 1.06 percent overall.
Press reports said the Duesseldorf-based specialist in loans to small- and medium-sized companies, which almost went bankrupt in August, needed another two billion euros to keep going.
IKB has already received several billion euros in cash injections to stay afloat after it invested heavily in securities backed by high-risk U.S. mortgages, on which borrowers defaulted in large numbers last year.
The business lender was rescued in August when KfW, the German government's financial arm, provided a line of credit worth 8.1 billion euros and other German banks agreed to add another 3.5 billion if needed.
KfW currently owns 37.8 percent of the shares in IKB, but its holding is to increase to 43.4 percent when a convertible bond IKB issued last month matures in January 2009.