Irish Bad Bank Set to Lift Profit Forecast to About $4.5 Billion

(Bloomberg) -- Ireland’s so-called bad bank is poised to lift its lifetime profit forecast, according to two people familiar with the matter.

The National Asset Management Agency will deliver a surplus close to 4 billion euros ($4.5 billion) to the government, according to the people, who asked not to be named because the figures aren’t yet public. The organization had previously forecast 3.5 billion euros. The agency is due to release its annual report in Dublin on Thursday.

The Irish government set up NAMA in 2009 to purge the country’s banks of more than 70 billion euros of risky commercial real estate loans. It has since consistently outpaced expectations, as Dublin’s commercial real estate market boomed. Three years ago, it was projecting a surplus of 2.3 billion-euro profit.

An outside spokesman for the agency declined to comment.

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