The president of the Fund for Orderly Restructuring of Banks (FROB), Álvaro López Barceló, announced that Sareb will launch one of its main affordable rental housing projects this month. The FROB, the fund through which the State directed the rescue of the old savings banks, is the largest shareholder of Sareb, the “bad bank” which brought together the bankrupt real estate assets of the bank and of which it holds more by 50%. of the capital.
A percentage of control essential to determine the strategy of Sareb, which has two key years ahead of it to sell its assets, because in November 2027, if its mandate is not extended, it should be put into liquidation.
López Barceló appeared before the Economy Commission of the Congress of Deputies and did not assess whether Sareb’s life would be extended beyond November 2027, but he gave details of his strategy for social and affordable housing. This is where the so-called Vienna project comes into play, which consists of expanding the social housing stock.
“Sareb has a link with the real estate market, that’s obvious, given the type of assets,” López Barceló recognized. “Hence the importance of their performances. The Viennese project is about to launch in October to collect offers from third-party investors for surface rights for housing which will be launched at affordable rents 20% below the market price,” he said. declared. “Vienna in this first phase in October. The construction of 3,770 housing units will be launched, which represents 460 million euros of investment. This figure will gradually reach 15,000 housing units and “rents will be affordable, below the market average,” he stressed.
Sareb management approved the Vienna project in July. This involves the initial construction of more than 10,600 housing units on land belonging to Sareb, which will then be managed according to an affordable rent regime and which can be extended to the 15,000 announced by the head of the FROB.
According to Sareb, the project will take place in several phases. The first is the place where competitions take place to select investors to whom the “bad bank” will grant the use of a total of 133 finalist plots of land, through a long-term surface right, for the promotion of affordable rental housing. .
“At the end of this transfer, the housing will return free of charge to the public entity that owns the land. Rent prices will be affordable for average incomes and will be established in coordination with the Ministry of Housing,” the company said in July. In this project, the consulting firm PWC was engaged to identify populations where there is a demand for affordable rentals and the selection of land that makes up this initiative.
The head of the FROB also recognized that Sareb, which still has 30 billion in debt to repay, will not be able to reset its account with the State. During the presentation of the results, the company has already recognized that, with the figures of recent years and the business plan that it has on the table, if it closes its doors in 2027 as planned, it could still have more than 14 billion euros to be returned. “I can’t make a projection for you, when sales activity is greater, there is revenue but losses occur because of asset prices. This exists and gives rise to the figures,” he told the Congress of Deputies.
Comfortable with the position at Caixabank
Even if the figures are not published in Sareb, the head of FROB recognized that the situation is opposite in Caixabank, where the State holds 17% of shareholders. In principle, the FROB – through the BFA – must liquidate its participation at the end of 2025, but leaves the door open to an extension of the deadlines “as has been done several times since 2017”, with the aim of maximizing the value of the participation.
“Caixabank appreciated by 50% last year and 250% since the merger” with Bankia. “Strip [antes] “This would have meant a drop in income and less recovery of public aid.” Hence, he stressed, the need to evaluate the upside potential of the stock, the value of the entity, the capacity to absorb demand, the prospect of receiving dividends and volatility. market at any time, he stressed. “The consensus of analysts sees a 25% upside potential for the stock and recommends that any investor or shareholder maintain the stock or increase their exposure,” he explained. This is the “reason why the FROB decided not to carry out transfers, we ensure shareholder stability, we do not intervene in management, we do not intervene in daily life and we have full confidence in the management team,” he explained.
“In November”, he underlined, Caixabank plans to present its strategic plan for the years 2025 to 2027 and “the results, the upside potential that analysts, the management team and the economic situation appreciate make us confident in the continuation of the data. be positive.
In this sense, he recalled that the FROB received 800 million in dividends through BFA and that it closed the year 2023 with a positive result of 456 million euros.
