Tag: sales of NPLs

Spain’s Banks Sell Off Debts to Reduce NPL Ratios

 January 2020 – During the end of 2019 and the beginning of the new year, Spanish banks have sold, or are about sell, more than €8 billion in overdue loans. Almost all the country’s major banks have been steadily selling off large portfolios of debt, which increasingly are made up of unsecured loans. That represents a change from the focus on mortgages since the end of the real estate crisis. These days, delinquency rates on consumer loans have surpassed 5% of the total, with €5 billion in overdue loans and annual growth above 10%.

BBVA has recently sold the largest portfolios of debt, up to five billion euros in non-performing loans. Half of that has been in the form of unsecured debt, or, in other words, debts with no collateral. BBVA sold its Project Juno to Intrum last year. The portfolio included 300,000 unpaid loan contracts. The bank also recently sold the €2.5-billion Project Hera, made up largely of loans to SMEs, to Cabot and Carval Investors.

CaixaBank, for its part, sold the €865-million Astún portfolio, a group of unsecured loans to companies and individuals. Intrum also acquired the portfolio, along with 50% of the Vento portfolio, sold by Banco Sabadell.

Durante el final de 2019 y el comienzo del nuevo año, los bancos españoles han vendido, o están a punto de vender, más de € 8 mil millones en préstamos tóxicos. Casi todos los principales bancos del país han estado vendiendo constantemente grandes carteras de deuda, que se componen cada vez más de préstamos no garantizados. Eso representa un cambio del enfoque en las hipotecas desde el final de la crisis inmobiliaria. En estos días, las tasas de morosidad de los préstamos al consumidor han superado el 5% del total, con € 5 mil millones en préstamos vencidos y un crecimiento anual superior al 10%.

BBVA ha vendido recientemente las carteras de deuda más grandes, hasta cinco mil millones de euros en préstamos morosos. La mitad de eso ha sido en forma de deuda no garantizada, o, en otras palabras, deudas sin garantía. BBVA vendió su Proyecto Juno a Intrum el año pasado. La cartera incluía 300,000 contratos de préstamos impagos. El banco también vendió recientemente el Proyecto Hera de 2.500 millones de euros, compuesto principalmente por préstamos a pymes, a Cabot y Carval Investors.

CaixaBank, por su parte, vendió la cartera de Astún de 865 millones de euros, un grupo de préstamos no garantizados a empresas y particulares. Intrum también adquirió la cartera, junto con el 50% de la cartera de Vento, vendida por Banco Sabadell.

Original Story: El Confidencial – Óscar Giménez

Translation/Summary: Richard D. Turner

Bbva Completes Its Second Sale of Written-Off Loans in Less Than a Week

5 January 2020 – BBVA sold two of its largest portfolios of written-off loans. Following the sale of “Project Juno”, the bank signed the transfer of a portfolio comprised of loans to small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) with an approximate gross value of €2.1 billion.

BBVA signed an agreement to transfer a portfolio of written-off loans (named “Project Hera”) to Cabot and funds managed by CarVal Investors. The loans were to SMEs, with a gross value of approximately €2.1 billion.

On Wednesday, BBVA announced another sale of a portfolio of written-off loans (known as “Project Juno”). In this case, the portfolio consisted of loans to consumers with a gross value of €2.5 billion. The operation was BBVA’s largest sale of a portfolio of written-off loans so far.

Over the past two years, BBVA has carried out several operations involving the sale of loan portfolios – mostly loans to developers and mortgages. Among them, the sale announced in December 2018 stands out. It was a portfolio of loans (known as (“Ánfora”) with an approximate gross value of €1.2 billion, primarily consisting of mortgages (both doubtful and bad loans). In addition, in June 2018, the bank sold a portfolio of loans to developers with a gross value of €1 billion, called “Sintra”; and in July 2017 it sold another portfolio of loans to developers with a gross value of around €600 million, known as “Jaipur”.

In November 2017, BBVA announced the transfer of its real estate business in Spain to Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., an operation that was completed in October 2018.

En español

BBVA ha cerrado un acuerdo para transferir a Cabot y a fondos gestionados por CarVal Investors una cartera de préstamos fallidos (bajo el nombre de ‘Proyecto Hera’) provenientes de pymes, con un valor bruto cercano a los 2.100 millones de euros.

BBVA anunció otra venta de una cartera de créditos fallidos (conocida como ‘Proyecto Juno’), en este caso compuesta de préstamos a consumidores, por valor bruto de 2.500 millones de euros. Esta operación fue la mayor venta de una cartera de créditos fallidos que ha realizado BBVA hasta la fecha.

En los últimos dos años, BBVA ha cerrado varias operaciones de venta de cartera de préstamos, en su mayoría, de crédito promotor e hipotecario. Entre ellas, destaca la venta anunciada en diciembre de 2018 de una cartera de créditos (conocida como ‘Ánfora’), por un valor bruto aproximado de 1.200 millones de euros, compuesta principalmente por créditos hipotecarios (dudosos y fallidos). Asimismo, en junio de 2018 firmó la venta de una cartera de crédito promotor por valor bruto de 1.000 millones de euros, llamada ‘Sintra’; y en julio de 2017, otra cartera de préstamos al sector promotor, con un valor bruto cercano a los 600 millones de euros, bajo el nombre de ‘Jaipur’.

En noviembre de 2017, BBVA anunció el traspaso de su negocio inmobiliario en España a Cerberus Capital Management, L.P., operación que se cerró en octubre de 2018.

Original Story: BBVA

The Pace of NPL Sales Falters in Spain

6 December 2019 – Spanish banks have reduced their pace of sales of NPLs this year, as CaixaBank, Sabadell, Bankia, Bankinter, Unicaja and Liberbank unloaded a total of just 4.9 billion euros in the first nine months of 2019. Those financial institutions wrapped up the quarter with €35.006 billion of such assets on their books, 12% less than at the beginning of the year. In contrast, Spain’s banks in sold off €90 billion in non-performing loans and REOs in 2018.

Standard & Poor’s, on the other hand, published a report in February estimating that Spain’s banks should rid themselves of €30 billion in NPLS between 2019 and 2020. That figure would have lowered their collective NPL ratio to below 4% compared to 7% at the time. Both S&P and Spain’s central bank also argued that the banks needed to increase the pace of sales to prepare for a potential slowdown in the economy.

Original Story: El Economista – Eva Díaz

Adaptation/Translation: Richard D. K. Turner