(18 November 2010 – Australia) Suncorp’s “bad bank” has been positively impacted by the improving domestic economy, with the group A$2.3 billion ahead of expectations, as the bank sheds troubled debts.The bank has managed to rid itself of nearly A$7 billion of its A$18 billion of poor-performing debts.
The bank revealed that of the A$11 billion remaining in the portfolio, A$3.7 billion is tied up in development finance, while a further A$4.5 billion is in the troubled property investment markets.
The troubled markets have improved significantly from last year when the two sectors were responsible for A$5.9 billion and A$5.6 billion of loans respectively.
The bank was hit hard when the property and construction markets in Queensland and NSW began a swift decline during the global financial crisis.
Suncorp has since opted to wind down the ‘bad’ bank with the expectation that the run-off amount would be down to just A$2 billion by June 2014. It has since reduced the total by another A$1.5 billion over the past quarter that ended September 30, cutting the overall amount by A$6.4 billion compared to an expected A$4.1 billion.