Erste Abwicklungsanstalt continues to wind down portfolio at fast pace

• Transferred portfolio reduced by a total of 34 percent
• Strong reduction in high-risk exposures
• Risk provisions for Greece result in high deficit
• Ready to take over further assets from WestLB

Düsseldorf. By the end of 2011, Erste Abwicklungsanstalt (EAA) had reduced the portfolio it has taken over by more than one third. The nominal volume declined from the original amount of EUR 77.5 billion to EUR 51 billion in exchange rateadjusted terms. In 2011, EAA reduced the portfolio by close to EUR 13 billion. “Overall, we were much faster than originally planned,” said EAA Board members Markus Bolder and Matthias Wargers on the occasion of the presentation of the financial statements for 2011.

They emphasised that the portfolio wind-down was successful in all segments. For instance, EAA, which has been active for about two years, was able to reduce the high-risk (non-performing) loans in its portfolio by 43 percent. The loan portfolios taken over in 2009/2010 have been reduced by more than half (-56 percent). Even the Phoenix portfolio – which primarily comprises structured exposures in the US housing market – has meanwhile been reduced by 20 percent through repayments and sales.