As intended, our production of new loans was mainly concentrated in
commercial real estate. In doing so, we aim to be active in the market
for real estate investment by financing and guiding clients through a
number of phases before a property is accepted into an investment
portfolio. Interesting contacts were also made in the sector concerning
the composition of private investment portfolios; our active guidance
was an important stimulating factor. Furthermore, we also focussed
on financing commercial real estate for owner occupancy, for which
we - sometimes in cooperation with trading banks - offer long term
financing to consolidate short term debt.
The merits of our Deposit Mortgage, a product introduced in 1983, are
becoming increasingly evident and it is clear that it fills a gap in the
market.
The production of loans in the Netherlands came to around
Dfl 770 million (1982: about Dfl 210 million).
Stimulated by declining interest rates, and as a result of several large
scale sales from joint ventures, redemptions received in the
Netherlands amounted to about Dfl 960 million (1982: about Dfl 1,200
million). The entire portfolio, taking into account the developments
abroad and including other credits remained virtually unchanged at
about Dfl 5,480 million (1982: Dfl 5,580 million).
In 1983, once again borrowers in difficulty demanded a good deal of
attention. Their number, however, decreased and opportunities of
selling foreclosed properties which we did not wish to incorporate
into our own investment portfolio were improved. We auctioned
properties in 367 cases (1982: 457); at the end of 1983 there was a
remaining inventory of 326 foreclosed properties (1982: 286) to be
sold.
FGH Real Estate
Notwithstanding substantial sales, our own real estate portfolio has
not yet decreased. One of the reasons for this was that we continued
to invest in projects under development, which we had previously
committed to.
Preparations for a commercial building in Amsterdam were made.
The entire building has been pre-leased.
Preparations were completed for the construction of 2,600 m2* of
office space and a number of government subsidized condominiums
in The Hague and for the addition of 100 houses and a sportscenterto
the recreational park in Loohorst, Horst. Construction has already
commenced.
The construction of 100 government subsidized rental homes in
Amsterdam, 87 service apartments in Rotterdam, a combined office
and exhibition space project in Nieuwegein and the World Trade
Center in Amsterdam showed satisfactory progress this year. Office
facilities in The Hague, Ede and Leeuwarden were completed in 1983,
and most of these have been sold in the meantime. Our policy in 1984
will continue to be aimed at reducing our real estate portfolio.
In the future we will primarily confine our activities to mortgage
*1 m2 1 square meter, approximately 10 square feet.
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