FINANCE: The Co-operative Bank reduced its non-core assets, which include commercial real estate loans and residential mortgages, by £2.1bn to £12.5bn last year.
The troubled bank said the lion’s share of this reduction was booked in the second half, when its non-core book fell by £1.5bn.
In its full-year results to the end of December, released this morning, the bank said its “run-down and exit of non-core was under way with disposals programme ahead of schedule.”
It has set new goals for this year and is now aiming to reduce its non-core loans to circa £11bn by December, down from its previous stated target of less than £11.5bn.
The bank, which has previously said its poor real estate loans were from its takeover of the Britannia Building Society in 2009, said it had a corresponding reduction in non-core credit risk weighted assets from £10.9bn to £8.3bn.
bridget.o’connell@estatesgazette.com
