Uberior Investments, the HBOS property joint venture vehicle, pushed further into the black last year, buoyed by £140m of payments from subsidiaries.
Accounts filed this week at Companies House by the firm, now part of Lloyds Banking Group, reveal a profit of more than £165m for the 12 months to 31 December. This compares with a 2010 profit of £133m after a dire 2009 when losses totalled £576m.
Uberior said that during the year it recognised £140m of dividends from subsidiaries, boosting income to £154m compared with 2010 when no dividend payments were received and income totalled £42m.
The numbers were also helped by a further reduction in impairments, which fell from £17.4m last year to £14.5m over the period.
The dividend boost and minimal write-downs made up for a fall in the vehicle’s other main source of income – profit on disposal of investments – which fell 70% from £123m to £35m.
The company said that it aimed to “hold each investment for the appropriate time period which will maximise returns to the LBG Group, and therefore profits recognised on disposals can fluctuate year on year”.
Total assets on Uberior’s balance sheet fell by 16% over the period from £544m to £456m. It made just one new investment of £53m over the period.
The accounts were published as Lloyds selected a shortlist of four to submit second-round bids to buy its £625m Project Harrogate loan portfolio.
Oaktree Capital Management, Lone Star, Cerberus Capital Management, and a joint bid from Kennedy Wilson and Deutsche Bank are all vying for the pool of around 70 loans.
Bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
