Ireland’s Bad Bank NAMA Set to Top Profit Forecast, CEO Says

(Bloomberg) -- Ireland’s so-called bad bank is set to beat its 4 billion euro ($4.8 billion) lifetime surplus forecast, according to the agency’s chief executive.

“I don’t think we’ll be too far away” from about 4.8 billion euros including tax paid to the government by the time the National Asset Management Agency finishes its work, Brendan McDonagh said in an interview Tuesday.

The Irish government set up NAMA in 2009 to purge the country’s banks of more than 70 billion euros of risky commercial real estate loans. The agency paid more than 30 billion euros for the assets, going on to sell loans and real estate to some of the world’s biggest investors, who moved into Ireland in the wake of the nation’s 2008 crash.

The agency recorded a profit of 40 million euros between July and September, it said Wednesday. It generated about 455 million euros in cash during the third quarter.

NAMA transfers its surplus to the state.

NAMA had about 1 billion euros worth of assets at the end of 2020, down from 1.5 billion euros at the end of June, McDonagh said.

While the par value of that debt was about 22 billion euros, the recoverable debt is about 1 billion euros, McDonagh said. Much of the remainder relates to landbanks around Dublin that may be used for building homes.

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