In its fourth consecutive year of profitability, Ireland’s National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has announced an after-tax profit of €458m (£326.7m) — more than double the €214m (£152.7m) surplus it made during 2013.
Releasing the agency’s 2014 annual report, NAMA chairman Frank Daly underlined his previous prediction that the state’s ‘bad bank’ could well make a potential surplus of €1bn (£713m) by the time of its 2020 wind-up. He said the agency’s “core work” would be complete by 2018, “well ahead of our original target of 2020”.
NAMA generated €8.6bn (£6.1bn) in cash last year, almost double its 2013 figure. Since its establishment at the height of the recession it has generated a total of €26.6bn (£190bn) from property and debt sales.
The agency also announced that it has redeemed 64 per cent of the €30.2bn (£21.5bn) in senior debt that it used to purchase loans from Irish banks five years ago. Daly confirmed that 630 debtor connections remained in place at the end of 2014, from an original 780. “This number will substantially reduce when we bring ‘Project Arrow’ to market shortly,” he said.
Project Arrow — which involves almost 500 smaller debtors — will be the largest loan portfolio sale in NAMA’s history. Valued at €8.4bn (£5.9bn), it is secured by 90 per cent Irish and 10 per cent UK real estate, and is virtually all non-performing. By sector, Project Arrow is approximately 50 per cent Irish residential, with the remaining half made up of a mix of offices, retail, mixed-use, hotels and land.
The report also showed that some €3.2bn (£2.2bn) has been approved in capital advances to debtors and receivers to enhance various assets secured on NAMA loans.
“This was a year of major achievement for NAMA,” explained its chairman. “It is the fourth year in a row in which we reported a profit. We are now almost two-thirds of the way towards repaying our senior debt and have made excellent progress in removing this contingent liability from the Irish State.
“We are well placed to fulfil the mandate set out for us by parliament. In doing so, we will also strive to facilitate via funding the delivery of major development projects in Dublin Docklands and thousands of homes for people who need them,” Daly added.
Commenting on the agency’s showing, its chief executive, Brendan McDonagh, said: “This was a very strong performance in 2014. NAMA made tremendous progress last year in reducing its senior debt and we are very hopeful that we can generate a surplus for the taxpayer over our lifetime.
“We took full advantage of a strong recovery in the Irish economy since mid-2013 and of the increased demand for Irish property assets among international investors,” he concluded.
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