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BBVA Reduces the Property Portfolio that it will Transfer to Cerberus by 12%

17 May 2018 – Expansión

BBVA is not holding back in its strategy to reduce its exposure to the real estate sector ahead of putting the finishing touches to its agreement with Cerberus. The entity has already cleaned up some of the portfolio that it will transfer to the US fund in September.

Between the reference date for the operation – the end of June 2017, and March this year, the date of the most recent audited accounts -, the bank has decreased its foreclosed assets by 12% – those assets proceed from unpaid residential and property developer mortgages.

The bank is going to create a joint venture with the US fund to reduce its real estate exposure in Spain to almost zero. BBVA will sell 80% of that joint venture to Cerberus for an estimated price of €4 billion. But that amount may vary, depending on the volume of foreclosed assets that end up being transferred.

Initially, a portfolio with a gross asset value of around €13 billion was defined. By March, the entity’s foreclosed assets balance had decreased to a gross value of €11.541 billion. Most of the portfolio comprises finished buildings and land, which are easier to sell now thanks to the recovery of the real estate sector.

To cover its gross risk, BBVA has recognised provisions amounting to €7.073 billion, which reduces its net exposure to €4.468 billion. The coverage ratio of the foreclosed assets amounts to 61%.

Sources at BBVA explain that the portfolio that is going to be transferred to Cerberus also includes the ‘other real estate assets’ caption. The bank’s gross real estate exposure, including both concepts, amounted to €12.472 billion in March compared with €14.318 billion in June 2017.

Until the close of the operation, which is scheduled for September, the assets to be transferred to the joint venture will not be finalised. “Under no circumstances will transferring fewer assets result in a loss to the income statement. In fact, this operation is not expected to have a significant impact on the income statement”, explain official sources at the entity.

Solvency

The agreement with Cerberus will improve BBVA’s solvency. In March, the bank saw its core capital fully loaded ratio worsen to 10.9%. But the transfer of the real estate portfolio to the fund and the sale of its business in Chile will improve that metric to 11.5%.

BBVA has loaned Cerberus €800 million to finance part of its purchase of the real estate portfolio from the bank. The loan has a term of two years and will not accrue any interest. The fund will repay the debt in a single payment on the maturity date.

Spain’s financial institutions have stepped on the accelerator to clean up property from their balance sheets following Santander’s macro-operation to deconsolidate real estate risk amounting to around €30 billion proceeding from Popular (…).

Original story: Expansión (by R. Sampedro)

Translation: Carmel Drake