Tag: Greece

Haya Real Estate Looks to Expand into Italy & Greece to Grow its Business

27 May 2019 – Expansión

Haya Real Estate, the servicer controlled by the US investment fund Cerberus, is looking to grow its business. Following its merger with Divarian (formerly Anida), it is now the second largest servicer in Spain, after Altamira, with 1,200 employees and €47 billion in assets under management.

In order to diversify its portfolio, the servicer led by Carlos Abad (pictured above) is evaluating its expansion into Italy and Greece, two emerging markets in which multiple NPL investment and management opportunities are expected to arise in the short term. That would help alleviate concerns over Haya’s future, which currently depends heavily on the outcome of the servicer’s negotiations with Sareb, whose contract is due to expire in December.

The future of Haya Real Estate has been up in the air since its stock market debut was postponed last year. Cerberus has held its stake in the servicer for six years now and is keen to exit soon given that its typical investment rotation period amounts to five years. Following the postponed IPO, the US giant is now holding preliminary conversations with several other investment funds interested in acquiring its stake, but the price will depend on the servicer’s future with Sareb.

Original story: Expansión (by Rebeca Arroyo)

Translation/Summary: Carmel Drake

Spanish Government Fears a Slowdown in Tourism Due to Fall in Arrivals by Germans and British

31 August 2018

COMPETITION FROM GREECE, EGYPT AND TURKEY / “The symptoms of the slowdown we have observed are beginning to consolidate,” Turespaña expects the year to end with “very moderate, zero or negative growth.”

The Government of Pedro Sanchez has added its voice to the experts forecasting a turbulent year for tourism, believing that the sector could end the year with “very moderate, zero or negative growth.”

Successive falls in the main indicators (e.g. hotel occupancy rates, overnight stays, prices) and comments by representatives of the sector, such as Exceltur, sounded the alarm several months ago, warning that the sector was in the throes of a slowdown.

“The behaviour of our three major emitting markets, and that of Italy, the Netherlands and the US, can tilt the balance between very moderate growth and zero or negative growth,” the Spanish government warned through Turespaña in its Quarterly Prospective Report for International Tourism, published at the end of August.

“We must not forget that 2017 was an absolute record year across the board,” sources at the Ministry for Industry, Trade and Tourism said in statements to this newspaper. In 2017, Spain received almost 82 million tourists, a figure that made Spain a world leader in international arrivals, only behind France.

Even so, the forecast for arrivals for the period from July to October is positive, with an estimated increase of 2.4% in the number of tourists, for a total number of arrivals for this period nearing 38 million.

The report notes that “the symptoms of the slowdown we have observed are beginning to consolidate.” The problem is that Spain’s two principal emitting markets for tourists both began to opt for other destinations. The price of oil, the appreciation of the euro, the effects of Brexit and the insecurity generated by the independence movement in Catalonia are some of the proximate causes. In July, the number of German tourists who visited Spain fell by 11%, and the number of British arrivals fell by 6%. Between July and October, Turespaña expects British tourists to fall by 4.2%, and overnight stays by Germans will fall by 5.1%.

German tourists begin to replace Spain with Greece as a destination. “Although it is less well-known than Spain, it gets higher marks ​​in the minds of German tourists as a unique destination,” says another report by Turespaña. In the case of British tourists, Turkey and Egypt have recovered their shares of the reservations of tour operators, to the detriment of Spain, which registered a fall of 4% in reservations between July and October, losing a 3.6%-share.

Turespaña does expect that tourist spending will continue to increase at a good pace, with an expected increase of 5.3% between July and October. “We are working to attract tourists with greater purchasing power and to lengthen their stays to increase spending,” they explain.

Original Story: ProOrbyt Expansión – I. Benedito

Translation: Richard Turner

 

HFF Announces €110M Financing for Acquisition and Redevelopment of Ikos Andalucía

19 March 2018 – Business Wire

HFF Real Estate Limited (HFF) announces the €110 million first mortgage financing for the acquisition and redevelopment of Ikos Andalucía, a 400-room, luxury seafront resort in Andalucía’s coastal area of Estepona.

The HFF team has worked on behalf of the borrower, Ikos International, to place the five-year, floating-rate loan with Starwood European Finance Partners Limited, an affiliate of Starwood Capital Group. The loan proceeds will be used to acquire an existing hotel and institute a property improvement plan that includes reconstructing and refurbishing all existing hotel rooms, enhancing the arrival and lobby experience, expanding and repurposing the public spaces and rebranding the asset to the Infinite Lifestyle concept of the Ikos Resorts brand.

Created only three years ago, Ikos Resorts is an innovative owner-operator of luxury all-inclusive resorts throughout the Mediterranean that currently manages two operating properties in Greece with two others being delivered in May 2018 and May 2019, respectively (…) Ikos Andalucía, which will be the fifth hotel within the Ikos Resorts’ platform, is the venture’s inaugural resort in Spain (…).

Ikos International 

Ikos International, established in 2018, by main shareholders Andreas Andreadis, Mathieu Guillemin, Oaktree Capital Management LP, Goldman Sachs Asset Management, Hermes GPE and two family offices is responsible for the international expansion of Ikos Resorts, a leading European luxury hospitality company with in excess of 1,800 rooms being owned and operated or under development (…).

About HFF

HFF and its affiliates operate out of 26 offices and are a leading provider of commercial real estate and capital markets services to the global commercial real estate industry (…).

Original story: Business Wire

Edited by: Carmel Drake

Greece to Auction Liened Properties to Qualify for Eurogroup’s Latest Tranche

23 January 2018

Despite the good news coming from the Eurogroup meeting, which saw the conclusion of a political agreement to release the fourth tranche of the European Stability Mechanism program, 2018 will be another year of austerity in Greece. The Greek government still needs to implement additional measures which are likely to affect the middle class particularly badly.

The Eurogroup’s political agreement to release a €6.7 billion tranche for Greece will imply further austerity measures. Despite complimenting the Greek government’s policies, and the fact that some targets have not only been met but exceeded, Greece will have to increase its austerity measures, which will fall heavily upon a middle class which has already been hit before.

According to a document containing the Eurogroup’s new demands on Athens, which was reviewed by the Greek newspaper To Vima, the Greek state will have to move ahead with the sale of 10,000 real estate assets later this year and to auction a further 40,000 properties between 2019 and 2021.

According to To Vima, this requirement will inevitably lead to the sale of the primary residences of many families whose mortgages have gone into arrears, which would very likely trigger a wave of social dissent, as the middle class will be especially hard hit.

This Monday, Mario Centeno’s debut as the president of the Eurogroup, Eurozone finance ministers agreed at a political level to unblock part of the fourth tranche of the Greek financial assistance program agreed upon in the summer of 2015.  Total lending under the program could reach 86 billion euros.

However, the release of 1 billion is conditional on the pursuit of “prior actions” that will have to be applied “urgently,” the Eurogroup wrote in the final communiqué following yesterday’s meeting.

After the eurozone’s ministers gave the green light, the European Stability Mechanism (ESM) will also have to review the third periodic evaluation of Athens’ compliance with the Greek memorandum.

The first €5.7-billion tranche could then be released in February, an amount to be used for debt servicing, the payment of debts to suppliers that are currently in arrears and to create a buffer to boost Greece’s cash reserves. This last is considered to be the most critical, as it would aid in Greece’s ability to tap financial markets.

The remaining €1 billion could be released in spring by the European Stability Mechanism, and its German managing director, Klaus Regling, after European institutions confirm compliance with the new measures.

Higher Levels of IRS and VAT on exempt islands

In addition to the need to auction off real estate tied to non-performing loans, the Greek authorities will also have to bring forward a reduction (to 2019, initially planned for 2020) of the minimum level at which Greek taxpayers are subject to income taxes, from around an annual income of 8,700 euros to €5,700. However, this measure will only have to be implemented if the country fails to meet the primary budget surplus target of 3.5% of GDP.

Also, according to the document that To Vima reviewed, in the coming months, Alexis Tsipras’ government will be required to move ahead with a new wave of privatizations aimed at raising a billion euros in revenues. It would also have to impose a further increase in the VAT charged on Greek islands that have so far benefited from a temporary exemption/rebate.

The three-year program is set to expire on August 20 of this year, and between the third review, which is still ongoing, and the fourth review of Greece’s compliance with the memorandum, Athens will also have to implement 88 new measures linked to structural reforms that are being demanded by the troika.

European leaders confident of a happy end to Greece’s troubles

“We have reached a political agreement on the review, an agreement that reflects the enormous effort and cooperation between the Greek government and the [troika’s] institutions,” the Portuguese ex-minister of Finance, Mário Centeno said in Brussels yesterday.

In the statement, the Eurogroup underscored the Greek government’s commitment to reach a surplus of 3.5% in its Budget for 2018 and highlighted the capacity of the Tsipras-led team to exceed the fiscal targets set for the previous three years. It highlighted the improvements in the capacity of the Greek government’s ability to collect taxes and the improved business environment.

In addition to the progress made by Athens, which was highlighted by Centeno and Regling, Spain’s Economy Minister Luis de Guindos said Tuesday that he was sure that the third revision would merit a validation by the ESM. Germany’s Finance Minister Peter Altmaier said he did not see any need for a fourth assistance program for Greece once the current one is completed.

So far, the ESM – responsible for implementing the Greek memorandum – has already disbursed €40.2 billion for Greece. Athens made early repayments of €2 billion. Of the €86 billion rescue, €45.8 billion remains to be disbursed, part of which is earmarked for after the memorandum of understanding’s last revision.

Original Story: Jornal de Negócios – David Santiago

Translation: Richard Turner

 

The ECB Demands Higher Provisions For Doubtful Debts From 2018

10 October 2017 – Cinco Días

The ECB has proposed a tightening of the provisions required by banks for any loans that they classify as doubtful from 1 January onwards. The ECB has subjected the draft legislation, currently posted on the body’s website, to public consultation. The standards that the supervisor is preparing complement those published in March of this year. In this way, banks will have to set aside more money from 2018 onwards to cover 100% of the loans that they reclassify, in other words, those that go from being standard to doubtful. The ECB will establish different terms depending on the type of loan: those that are secured by a real estate asset may be provisioned at 100% over seven years from the date of their reclassification. For loans without any type of guarantee, entities will have just two years to constitute the 100% provision.

The provisions will be applied on a linear basis from the date of recognition of the doubtful debt until the date the coverage ratio equals 100%, but national supervisors may require the recognition of provisions more quickly in certain cases. Moreover, loans that are partially covered by real estate assets must be provisions in two parts and with two doubtful rates.

In March, the ECB published a handbook for doubtful loans to be applied to portfolios of doubtful loans already in existence. It demanded that entities undertake procedures to reduce this load that, in its opinion, is restricting banks’ ability to grant new loans. The handbook is not binding, but banks will either have to “comply or explain”. In other words, they will have to comply with the handbook or explain why they are not complying with it. It also requires that they set specific objectives to reduce their existing portfolios.

Based on the response from entities and the evolution of doubtful balances, the supervisor will present new proposals,at the end of the first quarter of 2018, to attack the excess volume of toxic loans in the banking sector. According to the supervisor, the so-called “significant entities” (almost all of the banking system in Spain and 130 in total in Europe) held €865,000 million in doubtful assets during the first quarter (after that balance decreased by almost €100,000 million in one year). “Many entities have made significant progress and have submitted credible strategies that include reduction plans, but others still have a way to go to improve”, said the ECB.

In March, doubtful loans accounted for 47.05% of the total bank loan book in Greece, 17.75% in Ireland, 19.82% in Portugal and Italy. Based on this criteria, the figure for Spain amounted to 5.86%, but its level of foreclosed assets was very high.

Original story: Cinco Días (by Nuño Rodrigo Palacios)

Translation: Carmel Drake

RE/MAX: The RE Recovery Is Spreading Across Europe

12 June 2017 – El Mundo

The real estate market is growing, not only in Spain, but also in Europe, according to the Housing Report compiled by RE/MAX Europa. This improvement is being reflected in high levels of demand and rising prices, a trend that looks set to continue over the coming months in the property sector of the Old Continent. The good borrowing conditions and the incentives, especially for those buying their first home, are two of the main factors that are driving this growth.

Specifically, in Spain, house prices are stable, with potential for growth. “The increase in wages in Spain, the access to financing, as well as the political stability are posited as the most important factors for driving this upward trend in prices”, explain RE/MAX Europa.

Specifically, since 2015, the sales prices of family homes, as well as of flats and apartments, have increased by 4.5% on average in urban areas, where the average price per square metre has risen from €1,651/m2 to €1,727/m2. House prices in urban areas are expected to increase by 1.8% in 2017 and by 1% in the case of properties located in small towns.

And the picture is even more buoyant in the rental market. Prices per square metre have risen by 9.8% in the large cities and by 7.7% in small towns. In this way, the average monthly rental cost in a Spanish city amounts to around €800/month, whilst in the smaller towns, that figure stands at around €600/month.

The recovery of the real estate sector at the European level is based, above all, on low interest rates and, therefore, loans that are accessible to the public. This situation is “currently being seen in almost every country in Europe”, said the study. “That is resulting in higher demand, which is driving up prices in almost every segment and area”, it adds.

In Slovakia and Estonia, for example, thanks to these favourable conditions, there has been a significant increase in the construction of new homes, said RE/MAX Europa. In Malta, there has also been growth in the rental market, due to the rising number of overseas employees living on the island. Markets such as Portugal, Greece and Scotland “have been recovering really well over the last few years and are now showing clear signs of stable growth, with the prospect of more transactions in the future”.

Cities are improving

The experts at RE/MAX confirm that between 2015 and 2016, sales prices rose for apartments and family homes. In particular, prices per square metre rose significantly in the case of urban apartments, specifically, by 13% in certain cities in Lithuania, Germany and Luxembourg. The sales prices of houses in small towns also rose and are expected to increase by 4% in 2017 in Austria and Estonia. Nevertheless, prices are predicted to remain stable in France, Greece and Switzerland.

Rental prices also increased in 2016. Specifically, by 10% for urban apartments in The Netherlands, Romania and Spain, and by 16% in Malta. The experts at RE/MAX predict that rental prices will increase or remain stable in the majority of Europe during 2017.

One of the most important criteria in determining differences in prices is location. According to Michael Polzler, CEO of RE/MAX Europa, “the sales prices of apartments vary by 64%, depending on whether a property is located in an urban area or in a small town. For family homes, that difference amounts to 44%”.

Original story: El Mundo

Translation: Carmel Drake

Aktua To Manage Assets Of Greek Alpha Bank

26/12/2014 – Expansión

Greece’s Alpha Bank and Spain’s Aktua Financial Solutions have struck up an agreement to establish a joint venture dedicated to managing “a significant amount” of risk assets of the Greek bank, called Aktua Hellas, in which the Spanish institution will control 55% and the Greek institution, the remaining 45%.

Under the agreement, which is subject to the approval of regulatory authorities and definitive documentation, Aktua Hellas stems from a long-term partnership for the exclusive management of a large volume of (non-performing) toxic assets of Alpha Bank.

Aktua Hellas will be a pioneering platform in the Greek market, specializing in the management of risk assets with the aim of speeding up amicable resolutions as well as mutually agreeable and non-judicial solutions.

“It is an important step forward for the continued recovery of the Greek economy and financial system,” said Demetrios Mantzounis, President of Alpha Bank.

Original article: Expansión

Translation: Aura REE