Month: March 2014

Sareb to Anchor on Rental Market This Year

Sareb´s director, Belen Romana assures that in 2014 the bad bank will enter the rental market where prices hit the bottom and investors find their bearings with opportunities.

One of the national daily newspapers published an interview with Belen Romana, the chairwoman of Sareb, in which she points out the 30% slump in housing prices, in some regions is still bound to occur but in general terms accomplished.

Similarly, she remarks that Sareb is seeking ways to add to value to its portfolio this year. For example, by creating an industrial base of houses for rent “given the business opportunity”. Their number could be considerable.

Romana, holding 55% of Sareb´s stake, says that one of the goals set for 2014 is raising retail sales by 15% by selling around 10.000 units and gaining market share in Madrid, Barcelona, Alicante, Valencia and Malaga.

Also, the bad bank is planning to invest €100 million in finishing half-ended houses that would bring about 3.000 new dwellings for sale.

The chairwoman calls the recent changes in the administration board of Sareb as “profile adjustments” necessary to enter the second stage of the bad bank´s activity.

Although in 2013 Sareb registered losses, Belen Romana is satisfied with the performance, as a €2.000 million debt could be redeemed and €1.200 million in interests paid-off to entities. “Reducing debt means decreasing the financial burden and by so, expenses. This is the way leading to lessening the burden for the Government and the risk for taxpayer” – she explains.

 
 
Original article: Finanzas (EFE)
Translation: AURA REE

Bankia Allies With Real Estate Agencies

Over 100 brokers of the real estate property in Madrid (in Spain called Apis) will be employed by Bankia to sell the bank´s property on the market. (…). The bank targets at shedding the lots of property awarded to Sareb and in parallel selling packages to private equity funds.

Last week, Bankia put on sale 300 properties with 40% discounts, published on www.bankiahabitat.es website. (…) Through the webpage, each year the bank sells more than 13.000 properties, most of them found on the Mediterranean coast and in the Community of Madrid.

Right now, Bankia together with several other financial entites is trying to sell the Castellana 200 complex at asking price of €100 million.

 
Original article: Expansión
Translation: AURA REE

Popular Abates House Prices by 30%

“We cut in prices. Your dream house is waiting, grab it now!” – this is the slogan aiming at sales upsurge and found on Popular´s real estate branch´s website.

On average, the bank reduced prices by 12% of all 10.614 marketed properties. Out of the total, 5.332 units are dwellings, a great majority of them is represented by flats (4.265 units), then chalets (700), houses (336) and touristic apartments (31).

Some of the houses are being sold with 1% and some with up to 30% discount. By regions, Andalucía holds 30% of the supply, Valencia 17% and Catalonia 13%. Property in Madrid is scarce (3%).

At the end of 2013, the bank sold management of Aliseda to two foreign funds, Värde Partners and Kennedy Wilson, for €715 million. (…)

Althought the property sales rose in the third quarter of 2013, it seems that new international contacts will allow Popular to sell much more in 2014. (…) Last year, the bank sold 4.289 properties with capital gains of €41 million. In reference to the 2.600 properties transferred a year earlier, the increase was equal to 65%.

At the moment, the value of all assets awarded to Popular reaches €12.768 million, backed by €5.996 million provisions, that gives a coverage of 47%. When it comes to classification, 55% of Banco Popular´s real estate assets are finished houses, 4% is under construction, 37% is formed by land and the rest are financial stakes at Metrovacesa and Colonial, the last one sold in January this year. Furthermore, 70% of the assets back loans granted to construction and real estate companies, 11% refers to mortgages and 4% to equity instruments.

 
 
Original article: Expansión (Alicia Crespo)
Translation: AURA REE

Ciudad Santander´s Owner Declares Bankruptcy

Marme Inversiones, the company owning Ciudad Santander (a building complex hosting headquarters of Banco Santander) declared voluntary insolvency due to not being able to deal with a €1.600 million loan granted for the purchase in 2008.

The process may provoke changes in ownership of the campus in Boadilla del Monte (Madrid) that right now is in hands of two investors: Glenn Maud and Derek Quinlan through Spanish Marme Inversiones. (…).

Several banks and funds granted the credit to Marme that stated Ciudad Santander as collateral, which were: RBS, HSH Nordbank, Deutsche Postbank, CaixaBank, Raffeisen Zentralbank, ING and Bayerische Landesbank. (…). It is predicted that debt execution might take place via the property seizure by the creditors.

(…) However, other factors play an important role in the restructuring, as apart from a sindicated loan, Maud and Quinlan filed for a €200 million credit from RBS, this time with shares of Marme Inversiones as a collateral. In 2010, RBS sold the debt to Robert Tchenguiz and a fund from Abu Dhabi, Aabar Investments, for 80 millones. Another option is that Aabar and other investors interested in Santander´s premises (like China International Corporation) would present an offer to buy the property and pay the sindicated loan. The bank chaired by Emilio Botín has not been affected whatsoever. (…).

 
 
Original article: Expansión (Roberto Casado)
Translation: AURA REE

Housing Hit the Bottom But Won´t Speed Up Before 2016

The activity of housing development and construction has oficially reached the rock bottom level, as association of construction companies Seopan says. Yet the sector “will not reach the cruising speed before 2016”.

What is more, the association remarks that the subsector stabilized and the number of new houses start-ups will remain “similar” or be even “a little bit higher” this year. (…).

As Julián Núñez, chairman of Seopan, claims, the entire construction sector will lose between 4% and 6% throughout the year 2014, closing the seventh consecutive year of adjustments.

Large-scale infrastructure development will play the leading role in the upcoming years (for this year between 14% and 16% growth is foreseen) due to limited public work investment.

When it comes to the building development sector, the slump will screech to a margin of between 4% and 6%. In turn, refurbishment and maintenance field will score similarly to the previous year.

In terms of employment and contribution to economic growth, unfortunately the sector will continue to hobble them at least till 2016. “Unless private investment upsurges”. (…). According to the data, the construction sector will add 0.6 point to GDP and will cancel 75.000 job positions.

At that point, the chairman of Seopan noticed that large international construction companies earned 71.6% of their revenues outside of Spain (€54.652 million) that is by 5.5% more than in 2012.

Talking about the situation within the country, the domestic market lost 13.6% last year (€21.630 million), that is by 28.4% of total.

The whole backlog of works pending execution represents €86.171 million in building projects, out of which 81.9% (€70.547 million) corresponds to international contracts.

Within the student-exchange ‘Plan Bolonia’, many young Spanish engineeers leave the country and by so decrease Spain´s internal competitiveness. (…).

 
 
Original article: El Economista
Translation: AURA REE

Bankia Sells Squattered Houses

Flat of 68 m2, 3 bedrooms and a bathroom. Clothesline, hall and a balcony. A four-floor building, without an elevator, situated in the Vicalvaro district in Madrid. Bankia is the owner and sells the property for €64.000 after a 40% price slash. The only drawback is that the flat is inhabited by squatters and the future buyer will have to throw them out.

Bankia has just put on sale a lot of 300.000 dwellings with almost 50% discounts, among which there are both squattered and walled-up properties. The bank does not hide the information and carelessly publishes all the details on its real estate managment webpage. (…).

When it comes to the state of a squattered flat, Bankia does not mention possible damage or hidden defects and only guarantees an official document that would name the future purchaser to demand their property, that is why the price is so low.

Within the said package, also walled-up properties are being found. Another offer published by Bankia states this clearly and moreover, the bank is not feeling obliged to lift the blockade up, let alone letting the future buyer in. (…).

El Mundo investigated other real estate selling websites, however none of them presented such sheer honesty about the state of the items on sale. For instance, Servihabitat of CaixaBank allows to exclude property without option to visit it. According to consulted financial sources, there are indeed banks possessing squattered houses, however they do not sell them deliberately.

“Sometimes a buyer is interested in a property considered empty but at arrival it turns out that someone is illegally living there” and, sadly, the problem is very difficult to control.

 
Original article: El Mundo (Marisa Recuero)
Translation: AURA REE

Rivero & Soler Stumble in Battle Against Blackstone

Next chapter of the scuffle between two Spanish businessmen and the U.S. fund Blackstone over the 22.9% stake at Gecina.

The Provincial Court of Madrid has decided to lift the precautionary measures imposed upon the shares of Gecina that Joaquín Rivero and his business partner Bautista Soler held through their holding in Alteco and Mag Import. The Mercantile Court Nº8 of Madrid´s decision was made when these companies entered in a tender in October 2012.

The shares were collateral to a €1.600 million loan granted by several Spanish banks to Rivero and Solar so that they could buy their stake. At the moment of tender jeopardy, the businessmen decided to transfer the credit to Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge. (…).

Now, the Spanish court revokes the precautionary measures and sentences those who filed for “payment for damage and interest caused by the measures”.

After obtaining access to the securities, Blackstone applied for a post at Gecina´s managing board.

 
Original article: Expansión (R. R.)
Translation: AURA REE

Rivero & Soler Stumble in Battle Against Blackstone

6/03/2014 – Expansion

Next chapter of the scuffle between two Spanish businessmen and the U.S. fund Blackstone over the 22.9% stake at Gecina.

The Provincial Court of Madrid has decided to lift the precautionary measures imposed upon the shares of Gecina that Joaquín Rivero and his business partner Bautista Soler held through their holding in Alteco and Mag Import. The Mercantile Court Nº8 of Madrid´s decision was made when these companies entered in a tender in October 2012.

The shares were collateral to a €1.600 million loan granted by several Spanish banks to Rivero and Solar so that they could buy their stake. At the moment of tender jeopardy, the businessmen decided to transfer the credit to Blackstone and Ivanhoe Cambridge. (…).

Now, the Spanish court revokes the precautionary measures and sentences those who filed for “payment for damage and interest caused by the measures”.

After obtaining access to the securities, Blackstone applied for a post at Gecina´s managing board.

 

Original article: Expansión (R. R.)

Translation: AURA REE

Cerberus Sets Up Haya Real Estate to Manage Bankia´s RE Assets

The company will manage the real estate assets of Bankia once their transfer materialized. The bank awarded administration of the assets to one of companies from the Cerberus Capital Management Group for between €40 and €90 million. This company will be the Haya Real Estate, according to sources.

The operation allowed Bankia to outsource 457 job positions. The newly established company will also manage a part of credit portfolio consisting of developers´debt in BFA-Bankia´s balance.

Some time ago, the company announced that the contracts signed named Cerberus for 10 years, exclusively, to manage assets worth €12.200 million.

 
Original article: La Información
Translation: AURA REE

Banks Ending Complex Sale of Castellana 200

Santander, BBVA, Sabadell and Sareb decided to regain at least a part of the entire amount invested in the Castellana 200 complex in Madrid. The property, situated precisely at numbers 200 and 202 Paseo de la Castellana Street and adjacent to the Plaza de Castilla Square,  was put on sale last month.

The project includes two office buildings, a shopping center and a parking that are already constructed while the hotel area still requires development. The complex has been bailed out from listed Reyal Urbis in 2010 by granting a syndicated loan of €240.6 million by the banks.

Three years later, when Reyal Urbis fell under the hammer, the banks decided to sell the complex. (…) The deadline for non-binding offers expired and the finalists in the due diligence process are: Pimco, supported by Magic Real Estate in search of real estate opportunities in Spain, Anchorage and Perella Weinberg.

Asking price was set at €140 million, however the offers are said to propose much less. (…).

At the beginning in plans of Reyal Urbis, a third building was hosting a five-star hotel of their chain Rafael Hoteles. The plan ended up in failure (…) and now the target is to build an 11-floor hotel of 18.000 sqm, owned in 48% by the banks. (…).

 
 
Original article: Expansión (Rocío Ruiz)
Translation: AURA REE