Royal Bank of Scotland shrunk its exposure to commercial real estate loans by more than £10bn last year.
The bank had commercial real estate assets of £63bn at the end of 2012 and had reduced this by 17% to £52.6bn by December 2013, according to its full year results.
In the non-core division, its exposure to legacy loans fell from £26.4bn to £19.3bn in the period.
The year end total comprised £11.6bn of investment loans and £7.7bn of development facilities.
By division, some £10.1bn of its non-core exposure was related to Ulster Bank, followed by its International Banking division on £7bn.
Its core commercial real estate loan book shrank from £36.6bn to £33.2bn in the period, and the lion’s share of this – some £24bn – was from the bank’s UK corporate division.
By geography, £26bn of £40.5bn of investment loans to commercial and residential real estate were related to the UK excluding Northern Ireland, followed by Ireland (ROI and NI) on £5.4bn.
Western Europe and the US accounted for around £4bn respectively.
The majority of £12bn of development loans by geography were related to Ireland with £7.5bn followed by the UK on £4.4bn.
The bank also provided an update on its new internal bad bank, RBS Capital Resolution, which will manage the accelerated run down of £29bn of assets – down from the £38bn that were projected to be transferred when RCR was announced at the end of 2013.
bridget.oconnell@estatesgazete.com
