Nama transfers to exchequer reach €3.25bn

Financial crash-born agency plans to pay further €250m by end of year

Nama chairman Aidan Williams and chief executive Brendan McDonagh: “Today’s payment of €250 million brings total cash delivered from Nama to the State to €3.666 billion,” says Mr McDonagh.  Photograph: Alan Betson
Nama chairman Aidan Williams and chief executive Brendan McDonagh: “Today’s payment of €250 million brings total cash delivered from Nama to the State to €3.666 billion,” says Mr McDonagh. Photograph: Alan Betson

The National Asset Management Agency has completed a €250 million transfer to the exchequer, bringing the total of surplus cash it has paid over to date to €3.25 billion.

Nama, which was created in 2009 to take over tens of billions of euro of toxic commercial property loans from the State’s then ailing banks, also plans to transfer a further €250 million to the exchequer by the end of this year, with €1 billion more expected to be handed over in coming years, it confirmed on Tuesday.

Nama has also paid €416 million in corporate tax, it said.

“Today’s payment of €250 million brings total cash delivered from Nama to the State to €3.666 billion,” said Brendan McDonagh, Nama’s chief executive. “This is a considerable achievement enabled by our strong cash position and continued profitability.”

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Earlier this month, Nama said that its lifetime surplus would now be €4.5 billion, up from the €4.25 billion it projected last year. The agency has repeatedly upgraded its lifetime surplus forecast in recent years.

Nama originally paid almost €32 billion for €70 billion worth of property-linked debt from Irish banks faced with insolvency after fuelling a credit bubble.

By the end of last month, Nama had generated a total of €47 billion in cash over its lifetime.

Its latest annual report shows it made a €195 million post-tax profit last year. Mr McDonagh said 2021′s profit was the result of long-term strategies implemented over the organisation’s lifetime.

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan

Joe Brennan is Markets Correspondent of The Irish Times