Spain’s bad bank Sareb (Sociedad de Gestión de Activos procedentes de la Banca), has sold a portfolio of non-performing loans (NPL) without associated mortgage guarantees, valued at €1.5 billion, to the Norwegian fund Axactor, which specialises in this type of operation.

As confirmed to EFE by Sareb sources, who did not disclose the proceeds of this operation, this is the second portfolio that the company has sold to this company, after transferring another one last year valued at €3 billion.

These are loans granted by the former savings banks to property developers, which remained unpaid when these companies went bankrupt and which are difficult to sell because they are not backed by any property or mortgage guarantee.

For this reason, the company has opted to package them in order to facilitate their purchase by this type of fund, which specialises in their recovery.

Sareb, which was created in 2012 to manage and sell the troubled assets of the former savings banks that received public aid, lost €2.198 billion in 2023, 46% more than in the previous year, due to capital losses on the assets sold, i.e. the differences between the book value of the assets and the selling price, and the increase in financial expenses.

However, the company managed to increase its income by 16%, to €2.748 billion, and to repay more than €1 billion euros of its debt, to around €29 billion at the end of 2023.

Original Story: Investing
Edition and translation: Prime Yield