ROME--UniCredit SpA (UCG.MI) said Tuesday it has reached an
agreement to sell almost 1 billion euros ($1.37 billion) in
non-performing loans to Cerberus European Investment LLC.
The Italian bank said the sale was part of its ongoing effort to
bolster its credit profile by disposing of non-core assets and that
it expected to close the deal by Feb. 28.
The sale relates to consumer and personal loans with a total
gross value of EUR950 million. The Italian bank said it had a
coverage ratio for eventual potential losses on the loans of more
than 90%.
Italian banks have hefty loads of non-performing loans on their
books. Disposing of them crystallizes losses, some of which are
already registered, but allows lenders to focus on making new
loans.
Bank credit flows to Italian companies have been contracting for
more than a year and the Confindustria business lobby last week
expressed concern they will continue to do so in 2014.
Write to Christopher Emsden at chris.emsden@wsj.com
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