Filenews 19 June 2023
In its almost five years of operation, KEDIPES has repaid to the state a total amount of €1 billion in cash related to the State aid received by the former Cyprus Cooperative Bank, KEDIPES Board of Directors President Lambros Papadopoulos said in a statement on Monday.
"The amount of one billion in cash is considered satisfactory, taking into account the significant internal and exogenous challenges that the company has faced since the beginning of its operations," Papadopoulos noted, adding, in addition, that real estate assets approaching €140 million. It will be transferred to the state soon.
In the first quarter of 2023, a payment of €60 million was made against state aid, bringing the total amount of repayment of state aid in cash to €940 million from the start of KEDIPES operations in September 2018 until the end of the first quarter of 2023. In addition, following a decision by the Board of Directors, an amount of €15 million was paid on 2023 June 60, bringing the total amount of repayment of state aid in cash to €1 billion.
According to Papadopoulos, KEDIPES also maintains additional cash reserves of approximately €150 million including €60 million which concern possible future real estate purchases, within the framework of the "Rent For Instalment" Scheme. For the implementation of the Plan, the positive response of the European Commission's Directorate-General for Competition is expected soon, Mr. Papadopoulos reminds.
Financial Developments First Quarter 2023
Total cash inflows for the first quarter of 2023 amounted to €106.7m, recording a decrease of 6.5% compared to €114.1m of the fourth quarter of 2022 and a decrease of 8,3% compared to €116,3m. of the first quarter of 2022. It is noted that the inflows of the first quarter of 2023 amounting to €105.6 million. From the management of loans and real estate, they include the completion of the sale of specific high-value properties, excluding which, the relevant inflows of the quarter show a decrease of 24% compared to the first quarter of 2022.
KEDIPES' cash inflows came under significant pressure due to the cumulative impact of the ongoing blanket suspensions of foreclosures, Papadopoulos said, "an issue we had warned about in the past," he noted. In addition, the problems that arose for a long time in the electronic systems of the Land Registry had a negative impact, he said, noting that the normalization of the above challenges helped the results of the second quarter of 2023 to be presented improved with the comparable cash inflows of the first quarter.
Cumulative cash inflows from the commencement of operations of KEDIPES on 1 September 2018 until 31 March 2023 amounted to €1,770 million. Receipts from loan and real estate management amounted to €1,695.5 million or 21.1% of the nominal value of the €8,051m loan and real estate portfolio on 1/9/2018.
Operating expenses and asset management expenses for the first quarter of 2023 amounted to €26.9m, up 3.7% from €25.9m in the fourth quarter of 2022 and decreased by 4.6% from €28.2m in the first quarter of 2022.
Loans at nominal value amounted to €6,127 million at the end of the first quarter of 2023 from €6,144 million. at the end of the fourth quarter of 2022 and €6,374 million at the end of the first quarter of 2022. Total deleveraging since the commencement of operations of KEDIPES from 1 September 2018 to 31 March 2023 amounted to 16.9% and excluding contractual interest on loans amounted to 35.3%.
Total restructuring and/or recovery solutions through Altamira amounted to €93 million. for the first quarter of 2023 against €179 million for the fourth quarter of 2022 and €144 million in the corresponding quarter of the previous year. According to Mr. Papadopoulos, the decrease is due to the important reasons mentioned above and which negatively affected both restructuring and/or recovery solutions and real estate sales.
Total solutions from the start of operations of KEDIPES until the first quarter of 2023 amounted to €3,361 million or 45.6% of the initial outstanding amount of €7,371 million.
Assets at the end of the first quarter of 2023 amounted to €6,829m in nominal value and include cash of €148 million, real estate with a total value of €525 million and performing loans of €660 million. Total deleveraging from the start of operations from 1 September 2018 to 31 March 2023 amounted to 17.2% and excluding contractual interest on loans to 33.7%.
Net cash flow, after the payment of expenses and liabilities for the first quarter of 2023, amounted to €78.3m, recording a decrease of 11.1% compared to €88.1m for the fourth quarter of 2022, and a decrease of 10,7% compared to €87,8m for the first quarter of 2022. Cumulatively, since the commencement of operations of KEDIPES, net cash flow after payment of expenses amounted to €1,006.8m.
Concerns about foreclosures
"We are concerned about the proposed law proposals that are currently in the spotlight, which concern changes to the legal framework governing foreclosures, with the aim of suspending/stopping the foreclosure process on the basis of court proceedings for reasons such as contesting the balance of the debt," Papadopoulos added in his announcement.
He noted that, as stated by KEDIPES in the letter submitted to the Committee on Finance and Budget of the Parliament, the proposed amendments will deprive KEDIPES of the ability to effectively use the tool of foreclosures, where necessary and consequently will have a negative impact on cash inflows, resulting in a reduction in KEDIPES' ability to repay state support.
Loan Guarantee Scheme
In relation to the Asset Protection Scheme for Hellenic Bank, the contract value of the assets covered by the Scheme as at 31/12/2022 amounts to €1,561 million compared to €2,608 million. at its inception, showing an overall reduction of 40% since the start of the Scheme. The reference price of assets as at 31/12/2022 amounts to €1,220 million compared to €2,271 million at the beginning of the Scheme (reference price is the amount covered by the Scheme) showing an overall decrease of 46% from the start date.
In the context of the Scheme, claims totalling €105.5 million have been submitted by Hellenic Bank to date. for the period 1 September 2018 until 31 December 2022. KEDIPES has made total payments of €78.2 million or 74% of the claims submitted to date. KEDIPES and Hellenic Bank are in the process of consulting to confirm the remaining amount of the claims, Papadopoulos adds.
Hellenic Bank's payments to the Republic of Cyprus as guarantor of the Scheme cumulatively amounted to €43.1 million.
CNA
