UCPB eyes P150M from sale of acquired assets

United Coconut Planters Bank (UCPB) announced yesterday it is eyeing up to P150 million from the sale of its acquired assets through a public auction this month. The auction will be held on April 24 at UCPB’s corporate headquarters in Makati City.

Set to be auctioned are prime properties consisting of subdivision houses and lots, and office, residential condominium units and townhouses located in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces.

UCPB has tapped the services of well-regarded auctioneer Public Forum to conduct the auction via an open bidding. Winning bidders may pay in cash or up to a one-year financing scheme offered by UCPB.

"The forthcoming auction will be the first of several that the bank plans to hold this year as it steps up efforts to liquefy its non-performing assets," UCPB vice president Christine Y. Carandang said. Carandang heads UCPB’s asset management and disposition division.

According to Carandang, UCPB is simultaneously pursuing various options to dispose of its non-performing assets, including the block sale of large real and other assets owned or acquired (ROPOA) under the Special Purpose Vehicle (SPV) Law.

The SPV Law provides incentives to banks disposing their idle assets through asset management companies.

UCPB signed up last month Joaquin Cunanan & Co./PriceWaterhouseCoopers to advise it on the valuation of its ROPOA, develop recovery strategies and carry out the sale of the idle assets under the SPV Law.

Last year, UCPB sold P8 billion of its non-performing assets to the Philippine Deposit Insurance Corp. (PDIC), which boosted the bank’s 2003 net income to P5 billion.