Nama 'unlikely to make profit'

Fine Gael finance spokesman Michael Noonan today warned it was almost impossible for Nama to be profitable.

Fine Gael finance spokesman Michael Noonan today warned it was almost impossible for Nama to be profitable.

In a statement today, Mr Noonan noted the Nama business plan revealed only 25 per cent of loans transferred to it are performing, rather than the 40 per cent of loans estimated to perform in its original business plan.

"This means that only one quarter of all property-backed loans in the Nama-covered institutions, in excess of €5 million, are performing. When seen in this way, the task of Nama is truly enormous and it is virtually impossible for Nama to be profitable," he said.

Mr Noonan said it was now clear the economic valuation of the transferred loans was "significantly too high".

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"There is no longer 40 per cent liquidity in Nama's portfolio, so Nama has already taken a huge hit. This raises serious questions for Nama."

"Nama was presented to the Irish taxpayer as a good deal which over time would realise a profit of €4.6 billion. It is now clear that Nama has paid too much for the portfolio, and that losses are inevitable," he said, adding the business plan was further evidence the Government’s banking policy is a "disaster".

The Fine Gael frontbencher said the country now needed assurances from the Minister for Finance that the next batch of loans to be transferred would not under perform to a greater degree than the first tranche.