Sareb sells over 8,900 properties in first nine months of the year
Sareb sold 8,930 properties up until September, up 12% y-o-y, according to the company’s preliminary figures. 5,109 of the properties sold were owned by Sareb, whilst the remaining 3,821 were sold via Sales Grouth Plans (PDVs).
According to the company’s half yearly business report, during H1 2016, Sareb’s total revenue reached €1,395 million, 14% down y-o-y. Since June, this downward trend has been turned around by Sareb’s heightened activity and the success of the company’s campaigns, such as ‘Your home by the sea’. In fact, revenue up until September reached €2,270million, 9.7% down y-o-y.
This came as a result of a combination of two factors that shaped H1 2016. Firstly, the Bank of Spain’s new assets valuation accounting standards that came into force and secondly, the gradual integration of the four servicers working with Sareb: Altamira Asset Management, Haya Real Estate, Servihabitat and Solvia.
Furthermore, the Bank of Spain’s new accounting framework requiring all of Sareb’s assets to be individually valued, meant that in H1 2016 the company had to write-down €2,044 million, in addition to the €968 million set aside in the previous two financial years. To cover this write-down, €2,170 million of its subordinated debt was converted into capital, such that Sareb’s shareholder equity structure comprised €953 million capital and €1,429 million subordinated debt.
In H1 2016, Sareb sold a total of 5,589 properties, of which 3,312 were its own assets and 2,277 were collateral for loans sold via Sales Grouth Plans (PDVs). During the same period, 625 plots of land were sold, the majority of which were in Valencia, Catalonia, Madrid, Murcia and Andalusia.
In H1 2016, the company reduced its portfolio by €704 million to €42,287 million. Since the company was founded, it has sold assets to the value of €8,494 million, 16.7% of the portfolio.
The company has also amortised debt to the value of €7,723 million, €419 million of which was cancelled between January and June.
Sareb continues to develop initiatives to create value uplift in its portfolio of assets obtained via both land management and the completion of developments that were received unfinished. In H1 2016, the company completed 11 developments, comprising a total of 191 homes, which were initially received unfinished.
New members of the Board of Directors
Sareb’s Board of Directors has agreed to recommend the appointment of two new Non-executive board members: Javier Bartolomé, CEO of Multiasistencia and Iñaki Goikoetxeta, Professor at the Universidad de Deusto and Managing Director of the law firm Acies Abogados. They will fill the positions previously held by Luis Sánchez-Merlo and Emiliano López Atxurra following their voluntary resignations.
The Board of Directors has also recommended appointing Lucía Calvo, the current the Director of the Legal Division and Secretary of the FROB’s Steering Committee. Following these appointments, which will be submitted for approval at the next General Shareholders Meeting, Sareb’s Board of Directors will once again comprise 15 members, a third in a Non-executive capacity pursuant to Royal Decree 1559/2012, which regulates the operation of Sareb.
Javier Bartolomé is the CEO of the Spanish multinational Multiasistencia and the Managing Director of the majority of its international subsidiaries. He was previously a manager at The Boston Consulting Group and Director of Logistics and Distribution at Pepsico. He holds a degree in Economics and Law, as well as an MBA from INSEAD.
Iñaki Goikoetxeta holds a degree in Law from the Universidad de Deusto, as well as a degree in Business Economics from the Universidad Autónoma de Bilbao. He specialises in Public Law, has occupied several managerial positions in local, provincial and regional administrations in the Basque Country. Since 1992, he has worked at both the Acies Abogados law firm, as well as lectured at the Universidad de Deusto Law School.
Lucía Calvo holds a degree in State Law and is currently the Director of the Legal Division and Secretary of the FROB’s Steering Committee. She was previously Head of Legal Relations with subsidiary companies of the FROB. As well as her role at the FROB, she also lectures and has co-written several legal publications.
The Executive Chairman of Sareb, Jaime Echegoyen, has thanked on his and on the behalf of the whole board the two outgoing board members, Luis Sánchez-Merlo and Emiliano López Atxurra, both for their dedication and their valuable contributions to the company since they very first joined in Sareb’s early days; “I would like to highlight the immense value of their work and how important it has been in helping Sareb get off the ground and start achieving what it was mandated to do”.
Jaime Echegoyen has also congratulated the new members on their appointment, who will strengthen the Board’s multidisciplinary outlook thanks to their vast experience.
