German lender Aareal Bank is on course to lend €10bn (£7.8bn) through its structured property financing business by the year end.
The bank, which announced a solid set of figures for the quarter ended 30 September this week, said it had loaned €3.4bn during Q3, up from €2.3bn a year ago, bringing its total lending so far in 2014 to €7.6bn and putting it on track to reach €10bn by the end of the year. The bank had targetted €8bn-€9bn of business during the period.
It said that the increase was attributable to stronger activity in newly originated loans, with volumes in the third quarter almost doubling to €2.3bn.
Big-ticket deals in the year to date include a £300m refinancing of the Hilton London Metropole and Hilton Birmingham Metropole hotels for Tonstate Group and a £190.5m loan to Brockton Capital and Pradera to refinance a collection of UK retail parks.
Despite the rise in activity, the bank said it expected the commercial lending business to remain “highly competitive” as real estate continued to be a sought-after investment.
