Bankia in talks to sell 450mn euro property portfolio

MADRID: Spain's state-owned lender Bankia is in talks to sell a non-performing real estate asset portfolio for an expected 450 million euros ($525.38 million), two sources with knowledge of the deal said.

Spain's property market is enjoying a rebound but lenders are still working to sell real estate debt that soured during the financial crisis as the European Central Bank urges banks to remove non-performing assets from their balance sheets.

The process is still at an early stage and Bankia would begin by accepting non-binding offers throughout the summer, one of the sources said.

Bankia declined to comment.

The portfolio is part of 4.9 billion euros of foreclosed assets Bankia is trying to remove from its balance sheet. By end March, Bankia had non-performing assets (non-performing loans and foreclosed assets) with a gross value of 16.6 billion euros.

As part of its ongoing effort to clean up its balance sheet, Bankia's strategy is to reduce its non-performing assets by 9 billion euros over the next three years.