THE owner of Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks is selling an additional £1.2 billion parcel of higher risk UK real estate loans to an affiliate of Cerberus Global.

National Australia Bank said the sale of mainly bad debts was expected to show a small gain in its March 2015 half year accounts. The deal would release an estimated £127 million of capital for the group. The sale will reduce its level of higher risk loans by 93 per cent .

Andrew Thorburn, NAB group chief executive, said: “The sale of these higher risk loans is another important milestone in our strategy of reducing our low returning legacy assets and sharpening our focus on our core Australian and New Zealand franchises.”

In October NAB announced plans to exit UK banking, with the Yorkshire and Clydesdale banks being readied for flotation on the stock market.