The National Asset Management Agency (NAMA) has today published its Annual Report and Financial Statements for 2016.
NAMA reported an after-tax profit of €1.5 billion for 2016 – its sixth consecutive year of profitability – and has increased its projected lifetime surplus, subject to market conditions prevailing, to €3 billion (previous forecast €2.3 billion).
During 2016, NAMA generated €5.4 billion in cash, including €5.0 billion realised from the sale of loans and property. NAMA’s strong cash generation allowed it to redeem senior debt totalling €5.5 billion during 2016. This, coupled with further debt redemptions in early 2017, means that NAMA has now redeemed €29.7 billion, 98% of the €30.2 billion of senior debt originally issued.
It is expected that the residual senior debt- €500m – will be redeemed by the end of 2017.
NAMA adopted a target of funding the delivery of 4,500 homes on a commercial basis by the end of 2016; some 4,700 homes were delivered. Between the start of 2014 and end-March 2017, NAMA had funded the construction of 4,840 new homes. Another 2,064 units are under construction and funding has been approved for an additional 1,114 new homes which have received planning permission but are not yet under construction.
Speaking today, NAMA Chairman, Frank Daly said, "Later this year, NAMA will redeem the last €500m of its original €30.2 billion of senior debt. Elimination of this State-guaranteed contingent liability for Irish taxpayers is a significant achievement for NAMA and one that few thought possible when NAMA was established in late 2009. More importantly it is a significant plus for our country."
He added, "The progress that was made in reducing our senior debt by two-thirds (€20 billion) over the past three years contributed enormously to a stabilisation and reduction in the funding cost of Ireland’s debt."
Source: www.businessworld.ie