Agency reports strong start to 2024, continues paying off state debt

KEDIPES, Cyprus' state-owned asset management agency, announced a €144 million cash inflow for the first quarter of 2024. The agency also made a €140 million repayment to the state, bringing the total repayment to €1.3 billion since it started in September 2018.

KEDIPES expects even better results next quarter and plans to repay an additional €60 million this month.

KEDIPES was created in September 2018 to handle bad loans and real estate from the former Cyprus Cooperative Bank (CCB) after its performing assets and deposits were sold to Hellenic Bank. The state funded this deal with €3.5 billion, taking over CCB's bad loans and property.

Chairman Lambros Papadopoulos credited the strong Q1 results to selling a loan portfolio to the Bank of Cyprus and a high-value property. Without these sales, cash inflow was €80.7 million, similar to last year.

DoValue, which manages restructuring, handled €94.3 million in Q1 2024, compared to €231.7 million in Q4 2023 and €92.7 million in Q1 2023. By the end of Q1 2024, the total value of loans was €5.82 billion, down from €5.89 billion in Q4 2023 and €6.13 billion in Q1 2023.

KEDIPES' total assets at the end of Q1 2024 were €6.42 billion, including €133 million in cash, €427 million in property, and €657 million in performing loans. The agency has reduced its debt by 22.1% since starting, or 41% when excluding interest rates.

As part of the state-backed "mortgage to rent" scheme, KEDIPES received about 2,000 applications from struggling borrowers, with 1,328 approved so far. The scheme helps borrowers keep their homes by transferring ownership to the state, which pays their mortgages. KEDIPES has set aside €60 million for this program.