Quabit Reassures Investors of Business as Usual Despite Falling Share Price

24 October 2018  – Eje Prime

Quabit is reassuring its investors. The property developer chaired and controlled by Félix Abánades has informed Spain’s National Securities and Market Commission (CNMV) that it does not think that the decrease in its share price in recent weeks is justified “given that it does not correspond to the current value or the fundamentals of the company”.

In this vein, the company has confirmed that it is working “intensely and with absolute normality”, in accordance with the objectives established in its strategic business plan, which will be completed in 2022.

The property developer has also explained that the legal battle over the mortgage tax is not affecting the company’s activity, either from the point of view of granting loans to the company or of signing credits with its customers. In any case, the company has announced that it has yet adopted any decision regarding the possibility of initiating claims.

Quabit finalised the first half of the year with profits, for the first time, of €1.14 million, compared with losses of €3.52 million recorded as at June 2017, according to a statement filed by the company with the CNMV in July. Similarly, in terms of turnover, the group tripled its revenues during the first half of the year to €9.15 million, three times the amount recorded during the 6 months to June 2017.

Abánades’ company currently has fourteen developments under construction in several areas of Spain, containing 909 homes in total, after recently starting work on a dozen residential projects.

Since 2017, Quabit has invested €193 million in land on which to build almost 4,850 homes, which means that it has already fulfilled 75% of the promotion target established in its plan for 2017-2022.

Original story: Eje Prime 

Translation: Carmel Drake

Sareb Gets Tough & Demands €9bn through c.3,800 Creditor Bankruptcies

26 March 2018 – Voz Pópuli

Spain’s bad bank Sareb has run out of patience. After spending more than four years negotiating extrajudicial agreements with debtors and putting into order its presence in thousands of real estate bankruptcies in Spain, the semi-public body is getting tough. “When you have been negotiating with a debtor for years and you know he’s not going to pay you…he doesn’t want to pay you, you are left with no other option than to go to court”, says the President of Sareb, Jaime Echegoyen.

Sareb is present in approximately 3,800 real estate bankruptcies, declared since 2008, when the property bubble burst and the Spanish economy entered the worst crisis of its young democracy. According to sources at the organisation, Sareb is demanding a total debt of €9 billion through these bankruptcy proceedings.

The company has a portfolio of loans worth €26 billion and is present in 12,200 legal processes in total, all of which involve loans to property developers (there are no mortgages to individuals). Of that total amount, 7,500 are for mortgages and 3,800 are creditor bankruptcies.

“We cannot give our blessing to people who don’t pay”, warns Echegoyen, who presented Sareb’s results for 2017 last Friday. The company has started a legal offensive on two fronts to accelerate the sale of its loan portfolio: it will boost the bankruptcy processes in which it is present as a creditor; and it will go to court to request payments from those companies that still have not responded to the debt demanded.

“We have spoken with the debtors and we will continue to do so”, said the President of Sareb. “We prefer to find an amicable solution rather than play hardball, but if we have to resort to other means, we will go to court”, he said, admitting that it is probable that the number of litigation cases involving Sareb will increase in the near future.

In recent months, a more decided approach from Sareb has been noted in certain bankruptcy processes. Like in the case of the bankruptcy of Reyal Urbis, one of the largest corporate failures in Spain’s history, where, after years of negotiation to reach an agreement, which seemed unfeasible from the beginning, Sareb’s proposal to continue reassessing the matter resulted in the liquidation of the company last September. The debt of Reyal Urbis with Sareb alone exceeds €800 million.

Sareb’s presence has also been felt in the bankruptcy of the company that used to own the In Tempo skyscraper in Benidorm, the tallest residential building in Europe, which was sold to a fund last year. And in the case of the bankruptcy of Nozar, where Sareb recently requested greater agility in the process, almost ten years after the bankruptcy was declared.

“Sareb is involved in the bankruptcies of the most well-known real estate companies; but also in thousands of other much smaller bankruptcies, each one in its own province, judged by its own bankruptcy administrators and its own idiosyncrasies”, say sources at the organisation. “Over the last few years, we have had to put in order our positions in all of these processes”, they add.

During Sareb’s five-year life, the entity, known increasingly less as the bad bank, has liquidated 27% (around €13.6 billion) of the portfolio that it was created with. The management and divestment of loans and properties has generated €20.7 billion of revenues. During the same period, the entity has paid off 25.4% of its debt, €12.9 billion. Last year, it recorded losses of €565 million, down by 15%.

Original story: Voz Pópuli (by Alberto Ortín)

Translation: Carmel Drake

Bankia & Apollo Go To Court Re Sale Of Finanmadrid

3 October 2016 – Expansión

Both entities are waiting for the discrepancies that arose from the sale of Finanmadrid to be resolved. The sale was completed in 2013 for €1.6 million

Fracciona Financiera Holding, the subsidiary of Apollo, filed the first lawsuit, in which it claimed €8.5 million from Bankia due to discrepancies in the sale and purchase contract based on the determination of the sales price for Finanmadrid.

The contract included clauses that have an impact on the basis of the evolution of various parameters. These conditions have been common in multiple sales operations closed in the financial sector since the outbreak of the crisis. The asset protection schemes (EPA), which cover the buyers of former savings banks, are the most visible example of these types of operations.

Bankia has responded to the lawsuit filed by Apollo, with its own claim for €6.4 million.

Finanmadrid, which used to specialise in offering consumer credit through retailers and car dealerships, has now been integrated into Avant Tarjetas, a subsidiary of Evo Banco, controlled by Apollo. Previously, it was integrated into Fracciona Financiera Holding. In the company’s accounts from last year, the audit report explains that “in the opinion of the company’s legal advisors, an unfavourable outcome from the lawsuit (with Bankia) is remote, nevertheless, the shareholder (Apollo) would financially support any contingency that may arise in the event that no provision has been recognised”.

Before the integration, Finanmadrid reduced its share capital by €2.24 million to absorb losses and so it was left at €2.79 million.

Apollo’s claim against Bankia forms part of a broad range of claims against the entity chaired by José Ignacio Goirigolzarri. In total, the bank faces claims amounting to €390 million, not including the claims relating to its debut on the stock market and the sale of its preference shares.

Claims

The largest claim, amounting to €165 million, is one presented by ING Belgium, BBVA, Santander and Catalunya Banc against Bankia, ACS and Sacyr. (…).

The construction group Rayet also claims €78.2 million from Bankia for what it considers are accounting irregularities and for differences in the valuation of plots of land linked to the debut of Astroc on the stock market in 2006, an operation piloted by the former Caja Madrid.

The bank has 305 legal proceedings open relating to derivatives with claims amounting to €38.8 million.

Original story: Expansión (by E. del Pozo)

Translation: Carmel Drake