Tag: CaixaBank

The FROB Recorded a €382M Provision Against its Stake in Sareb in 2018

20 May 2019 – El Confidencial

The Spanish Fund for Orderly Banking Restructuring (FROB) presented its accounts for 2018 this week revealing that it decided to recognise a €382 million provision against its stake in Sareb last year.

In this way, the FROB has now written off 92.3% of its initial investment in the entity chaired by Jaime Echegoyen (pictured above), up from 75% in 2017. If the rest of the investor entities, namely all of the large Spanish banks with the exception of BBVA, do the same, then they will have to recognise losses of around €450 million.

In absolute terms, the FROB’s stake in Sareb is now worth €169 million compared with its initial investment of €2.192 billion. The FROB is Sareb’s largest shareholder with a 45.9% stake, followed by Santander (22.3%), CaixaBank (12.2%), Sabadell (6.6%) and Kutxabank (2.5%).

As the bad bank’s largest shareholder, the FROB typically sets the tone of the provisions for the other entities. Last year, after the FROB increased its cumulative provision to 75%, other shareholders such as CaixaBank and Sabadell recognised extraordinary provisions in their accounts for Q2. This year, the average provisioning rate is expected to increase from around 70% to 90%.

Sareb closed 2018 with losses of €878 million (up by 55%) due to the strong competition in the institutional market and the real estate crisis that still affects much of the country. The bad bank sold 21,152 properties last year and its income from property management soared by 19% to €1.4 billion, but its income from the loan portfolio fell by 16% to €2.2 billion and so total income fell by 5% to €3.7 billion.

The outlook for the bad bank for the next few years is not great and many experts forecast that not even a single euro will be recovered from Sareb.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Jorge Zuloaga)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

S&P Encourages Spain’s Banks to Divest More Property & NPLs

18 April 2019 – Ya Encontré

Spain’s banks got rid of €90 billion in foreclosed assets and doubtful loans last year, almost doubling the transaction volume recorded in 2017 (€52 billion) and setting a new annual record. But they still have a lot of homes left to sell and Standard&Poors is encouraging them to divest more of those properties, with a view to restoring their pre-crisis risk levels of 4% within two years.

According to the ratings agency, the banks still hold properties worth €80 billion, representing one of the highest stocks in Europe and accounting for 7% of the balance sheets of the domestic financial sector. In this context, S&P considers that the banks still need to get rid of another €30 billion in assets, at least, if they are to properly clean up their accounts.

The active buyside players in the market include many overseas investors and funds, such as Lone Star, TPG, Apollo, Blackstone, Bain Capital and Cerberus, which have played an important role in reducing the stock of major financial institutions, such as Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank and Banco Sabadell.

S&P is not alone in its stance. Both the European Central Bank (ECB) and the International Monetary Fund (IMF) are also urging Spain’s banks to divest the last of their property portfolios as quickly as possible to ensure financial stability ahead of the next recession.

Original story: Ya Encontré

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

BBVA Opens 2,000 m2 Multi-Channel ‘Boutique’ Branch on La Diagonal in Barcelona

17 April 2019 – Idealista

BBVA has just signed an agreement to open a ’boutique’ branch spanning more than 2,000 m2 on Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona. The company will take over the premises from the property developer Corp.

The new branch will follow in the footsteps of those already opened by other banking groups such as CaixaBank, which has opened branches offering customised services for clients, including options such as coworking spaces and cafés.

The new spaces integrate the different channels (in person, remote and digital) on offer and provide a better experience for both customers and employees thanks to their open, transparent and better-designed layouts.

Original story: Idealista (by Custodio Pareja)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Solvia Joins Forces with Orion Capital & Will Manage an Asset Portfolio Acquired from Goldman

8 April 2019 – Idealista

Solvia has joined forces with Orion Capital, which has entrusted the servicer with managing the portfolio that it purchased from Goldman Sachs at the end of last year.

The portfolio has a nominal value of €400 million and contains loans originated by CaixaBank. As such, Solvia will lead the sales process for all of the real estate assets included in the portfolio and for the properties that are recovered as solutions are found to the non-payment of loans.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Elix Vintage Rents Buys a Residential Building in Barcelona for €6M

4 April 2019 – Idealista

Elix Vintage Rents, the Socimi owned by KKR and Elix, has completed the purchase of a residential building in Barcelona for €6 million. The property is located at number 161 Calle Ausias March and its purchase has been partially financed by a loan (€3.2 million) from CaixaBank.

Elix Vintage Rents is a real estate investment vehicle specialising in the acquisition and renovation of residential properties in the centre of Madrid and Barcelona and the rental of homes. It currently owns more than 20 buildings.

Original story: Idealista 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Árima to Increase its Capital by €50M to Repay Debt & Purchase Assets

2 April 2019 – Expansión

The Socimi Árima, led by Luis Alfonso López de Herrera-Oria (pictured below), is going to carry out a capital increase of up to €50 million (expandable upon demand), which will be used to early repay a €30 million loan signed with CaixaBank, as well as to purchase new assets.

The company hopes to incorporate new investors through this operation, which will see its share capital increase by 50%, whereby providing more liquidity for its equity.

The capital increase will comprise the issue and launch into circulation of 5 million new ordinary shares with a nominal value of €10 each, which will be issued without an issue premium. It will be carried out through an accelerated placement aimed at qualifying and institutional investors.

The company’s asset portfolio amounts to €121 million, spans a gross leasable area of 29,000 m2 and includes more than 460 parking spaces in the office sector in Madrid.

Original story: Expansión 

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Arcano Buys EFE’s Former HQ in Chamberí to Build Luxury Homes

1 April 2019 – El Confidencial

Arcano has just acquired the property at number 32 Calle Espronceda in Madrid, which previously housed the EFE Agency for several decades.

The firm’s new real estate fund has just purchased the building, which spans 8,000 m2, for more than €40 million from the fund Eurostone, where it plans to promote 50 luxury homes. The property is distributed over seven floors and has more than 200 parking spaces. Moreover, it has already been granted all of the licences necessary for the redevelopment work.

The operation has been advised by Colliers, Doble Dígito and TC Gabinete Inmobiliario and partially financed by CaixaBank.

Original story: El Confidencial (by Ruth Ugalde)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

CaixaBank Finalises the Rental of The Ó Building in Can Batlló

4 March 2019 – Eje Prime

CaixaBank is finalising the rental of the 12-storey ‘Ó Building’ in Barcelona, located at number 159 Gran Via de les Corts Catalanes, in an operation brokered by CBRE. The property has a surface area of 18,000 m2 and is owned by the property developer Clover Capital.

The Catalan entity is considering moving its digital services team into the property or its subsidiary GDS Cusa, which specialises in debt recovery. Both divisions have been looking for new office space in Barcelona for several months.

CaixaBank currently operates the bulk of its activity from its headquarters in the Torres La Caixa, located at numbers 621-629 Avenida Diagonal in Barcelona, although the entity moved its corporate headquarters to Valencia in 2017.

Original story: Eje Prime (by Roger Arnau)

Summary/Translation: Carmel Drake

Lone Star & Cerberus Increase their Commitment to Spanish Property

21 February 2019 – Expansión

The need for the banks to reduce their exposure to property and the funds’ appetite for the Spanish real estate sector have converged in recent years leading to the transfer of portfolios of debt and foreclosed assets worth millions of euros. Blackstone, Cerberus, Lone Star, the Canadian pension fund (CPPIB), Bain, Axactor and Lindorff are the funds that have been behind most of the major transactions involving portfolios of bank debt secured by real estate collateral during that period.

Emilio Portes, Director of Quantitative & Risk Management at JLL for Southern Europe, said that, following a frantic 2017 when more than €55 billion was transacted, last year saw portfolios sold with a gross value of more than €45 billion (…).

In 2018, the indisputable star was Lone Star, which took control of a portfolio worth around €12.8 billion from CaixaBank. Specifically, CaixaBank sold that portfolio along with Servihabitat to a company called Coral Homes in which Lone Star owns an 80% stake. Cerberus was also active last year with the purchase of several portfolios from Sabadell, Santander and CaixaBank with a total gross value of €12.5 billion. Behind it, came CPPIB, Axactor, D.E. Shaw and Lindorff, according to data provided by JLL.

“The sum of the transactions recorded over the last two years exceeds €100 billion, which places Spain as one of the countries with the largest transaction volume in Europe and the most liquid in terms of real transactions”, says Portes. In those portfolios, there are various types of assets, mainly residential, but also land, offices, premises and hotels.

The year ahead

During 2019, the banks will continue to divest assets, although with smaller portfolio sales. “In 2019, we expect a transaction volume of €20 billion, in addition to whatever Sareb ends up doing”, revealed Portes. He explains that most of the large Spanish banks have now reduced their NPA (non-performing asset) ratios to below 5%.

Following the activity undertaken by the large banks, all eyes are now focused on the medium and small-sized entities, particularly those with the greatest property exposure and therefore most pressure, as well as on Sareb, which has assets worth more than €35 billion still left to sell (…).

The heirs of the banks’ property, having purchased at significant discounts, have an average investment horizon of five years before they undo their positions (…)

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation: Carmel Drake

CaixaBank Granted Loans Amounting to €2.2bn to Hotels in 2018

19 February 2019 – Expansión

CaixaBank Hotels & Tourism granted loans amounting to €2.186 billion to the Spanish hotel sector in 2018, a figure that represents an increase of 46% with respect to the previous year. Moreover, 2,800 operations were carried out, up by 8% compared to 2017. The Balearic Islands and Cataluña are the autonomous regions that received the most loans.

Original story: Expansión

Translation: Carmel Drake