Suncorp non-core book review
Suncorp will be in a position to return around A$500 million of capital from its non-core bank to the core bank, with half of this amount to be distributed in the 2012/13 financial year, according to a UBS review of the group.Last week, UBS Investment Research published a review of the group's December 2011 half-year results, focusing on the non-core bank. It said: "Of the various issues that are impacting Suncorp's share price the treatment of the non-core bank is one of the more controversial."With much of the low hanging fruit now picked, non-core faces a crucial test over the next couple of years. Suncorp's worst loans are becoming an increasingly large proportion of the runoff book."UBS rates Suncorp a Buy and has a 12-month price target of $9 on the stock - 10 per cent above Friday's close of $8.19. The stock has come off its most recent high of $8.70, which was in January.Suncorp quarantined a portfolio of property and development loans in 2009. The value of these non-core loans was $17.5 billion. Since then the value of this book has fallen to $5.7 billion, with impaired assets of $2.2 billion. Development loans make up one-third of outstanding and about two-thirds of impaired assets.Total provisions at December were $531 million, representing 24.5 per cent of impaired assets and 9.4 per cent of gross loans. Specific provisions made up $342 million of the total, representing 16 per cent of impaired assetsThe impairment loss on the book for the December half was $122 million. The non-core bank reported a loss of $54 million for the half.UBS said the level of provisions looked reasonable and supported its view that Suncorp would achieve a return of capital of around $500 million from the non-core bank.