Lloyds looking to dispose of Irish CRE portfolio

Lloyds Banking Group is looking to dispose of its entire residual Irish CRE portfolio, according to reports in Ireland.

“As of the end of 2014, the gross exposure on the portfolio was £1.8bn against £1.4bn provisions, meaning any price in excess of 23p in the pound should trigger further provision write-backs,” analysts at Investec said in a note.

In the second half of 2014, Irish write-backs accounted for 50% of the £119m generated by Lloyds’ run-off portfolios.

“I think we will give even more focus to the value versus volumes given that it is basically achieved and there is no significant risk in the portfolio anymore,” the bank’s chief executive, Antonio Horta-Osorio, said on 27 February.

Lloyds shares were down 0.56% to 80.97p at 11:37 on Monday.