13 March 2015 – Expansión
Yesterday, the Socimi Merlin Properties notified the CNMV of the resignation of Matthew Glowasky as a member of the Board of Directors. Merlin informed the regulator that the resignation, effective as of yesterday, was due to the fact that the individual in question wants to pursue other professional projects.
Original story: Expansión
Translation: Carmel Drake
29 January 2015 – Cinco Días
Echegoyen strengthens his team with a man from Barclays
Jaime Echegoyen has made his debut as the Chairman of Sareb, following the surprise resignation of Belén Romana on Monday, by analysing the entity’s provisional accounts for 2014.
In a meeting on Wednesday, the Board of Directors estimated that Sareb will close the year will total revenues of €5,000 million and an EBITDA of €1,000 million.
The final figures will be subject to a ruling by the Bank of Spain, which has not yet published the definitive accounting regulations that will govern the bad bank’s results; it is expected to require that an extraordinary provision be applied to the company’s accounts.
Sareb’s turnover in 2014, as valued by the company itself in a statement, exceeded the amount recorded in 2013 by almost one third. This, says the company “shows the capacity” that it has “both to generate resources through the management and sale of its assets, as well as to assume the commitments of debt cancelation”.
Based on last year’s accounts, Sareb will have repaid €3,416 million of the debt issued to acquire its portfolio, i.e. more than the €3,000 million initially envisaged, of which €2,916 million has already been paid; the remainder will be paid in February. Moreover, the company has made interest payments amounting to €1,135 million on that debt.
Once this process has been completed, Sareb will have repaid €5,416 million of its debt, which has the backing of the state, in just two years.
“Sareb is fulfilling its main objective, which is to manage and sell its portfolio without generating higher costs for the taxpayer”, explained Jaime Echegoyen at the first ordinary meeting held by Sareb’s Board in 2015.
Almost €1,000 million of the total revenues related to the sale of 13 wholesale portfolios, primarily to international investors.
“Although we do not yet know the accounting framework that will be applied to our results in 2014, we can say that the company has achieved the objectives that were set for it last year, and has deepened its strategy for the generation of greater value from the portfolio”, said Echegoyen. “We have a highly skilled workforce that this year has managed more than 10,700 proposals from developers for example; furthermore, the gradual entry into operation of the new contracted servicers will allow us to improve efficiency and provide an increased commercial focus”, he added.
Echegoyen’s first appointment
In parallel, Sareb’s Board of Directors approved a proposal to strengthen its management team, which has lost six members, including Romana, in the last 14 months (in addition, three directors have been replaced).
Juan Ramón Dios Rial will now join as the company’s Director of Recoveries and Restructuring. He comes from Barclays, where Echegoyen was previously CEO.
According to Sareb, Juan Ramón has extensive experience in the management of risk and the restructuring of debt relating to the real estate business. The new director will take over the role currently held by Enrique Saiz, who will continue to collaborate with the company.
Original story: Cinco Días
Translation: Carmel Drake
28 January 2015 – Expansión
The meeting of Sareb’s supervisory body will be chaired by Jaime Echegoyen for the first time today. He is expected to explain the key aspects of the company’s strategy for the year ahead
Jaime Echegoyen will chair the meeting of Sareb’s Board of Directors today following his appointment to replace Belén Romana at the helm. The meeting has been in the diary for a while, since it is an ordinary meeting, and one of the items on the agenda is the review of last year’s annual accounts, which cannot be closed yet, in the absence of the official Accounting Circular. The Circular should establish, amongst other things, the review criteria for the valuation of the bad bank’s assets and the provision requirement for the possible impairment of the company’s balance sheet. Prior to the Board meeting, the Audit Committee and Appointments Committee will both hold meetings, as always.
The members of the Board will conduct a preliminary analysis of the year end accounts, although the company has until 31 March to approve them. Sources close to Sareb indicate that the company’s activity during the course of 2014 met with the objectives set out in its strategic plan, thanks mainly to a boost in sales to individuals, but also due to the sale of a few property portfolios to large investors, especially during the latter part of the year. As a result, the company’s gross operating profit (EBITDA) was significant. During the first half of the year, Sareb recorded EBITDA of €429 million.
The problem with finalising the accounts at the profit/loss level is that the criteria for the provisions to be applied is not yet known and since the State Council has not yet ruled on the Circular, it is not known whether the Bank of Spain will again impose the requirement to provide for a specific portfolio of assets, as a preventative measure.
In 2013, it ruled that the portfolio of participatory credits should be cleaned up, which resulted in Sareb recording a loss of €269 million.
The new Chairman is expected to share his views about certain key issues with the Board, including whether he will appoint a new CEO or return to the initial structure of an Executive Chairman and one (or more) Director Generals. It seems, at least initially, that he will opt for the former option. He is also expected to inform the Board about the progress of the transfer of information about the assets that new managers will administer going forwards. Currently, there is a transitional regime in place, whereby the ceding companies continue to manage the assets.
Furthermore, Echegoyen must decide whether Sareb will continue to focus on individual sales, as it has done to date, which generate more revenue, or whether it will focus on the sale of portfolios (something that was mainly done at the end of last year to balance the budget) in order to accelerate divestments during the course of the year. All of this will form part of the strategic plan to be developed.
Original story: Expansión (by S. Arancibia and J.Zuloaga)
Translation: Carmel Drake
Portugal 
Italy 
Greece 
