BBVA will be Twice as Profitable Following its Property Sale to Cerberus

11 June 2018 – Expansión

BBVA is going to double its profitability once it has completed the sale to Cerberus of its €13 billion real estate exposure, scheduled for the third quarter of the year. According to a recent report from Alantra, the ROTE ratio (Return on Tangible Equity) will leap from 7% to 15% in 2020. In addition to the aforementioned operation, which will eliminate in a flash the hefty maintenance costs associated with those properties, there will also be a positive impact resulting from the first upwards movement in interest rates (…).

The main advantage of removing the non-performing assets from its balance sheet is that it will allow the bank’s returns to flourish, which would otherwise be blocked. The key to being able to do this is having sufficient provisions to ensure that the sale of a large package to a specialist fund does not lead to significant losses on the income statement.

The operation between BBVA and Cerberus was the second largest of its kind in Spain last year. The largest was the deal involving Santander and €30 billion in property from Popular, which was sold to Blackstone.

BBVA created a company with Cerberus, controlled 80% by the US fund and 20% by the bank, to which it transferred 78,000 properties. Cerberus appraised them with a discount of 61%.

Cataluña

47% of those assets are located in Cataluña, historically the region covered by CatalunyaCaixa and Unnim, and absorbed by BBVA during the crisis. The Catalan political crisis, which reached its peak in October 2017 with the holding of an illegal referendum, came close to thwarting the operation. These homes will be managed by Haya Real Estate, the real estate management platform owned by Cerberus.

BBVA granted Cerberus a €800 million loan to finance part of the acquisition.

Following the deconsolidation, the bank’s real estate risk will be reduced to €11.4 billion. It barely has any doubtful property developer debt.

Original story: Expansión (by R. Lander)

Translation: Carmel Drake