Bank Of Ireland Group PLC is looking to sell up to €800 million in nonperforming loans throughout 2019, according to the Irish Independent.

The bank has set aside at least €600 million in buy-to-let mortgages that could either be sold or securitized, the March 10 report said. A spokesman for the bank also told the newspaper that it expects to trim its stock of NPL exposures by between €1.0 billion and €1.2 billion in 2019.

Although the bank previously ruled out any loan book sale, CEO Francesca McDonagh said in July 2018 that the bank could off-load bad loans due to changes in the regulatory environment.

The bank's NPE exposure ratio stood at 6.3% at the end of 2018, down from 8.3% at 2017-end.

Bank of Ireland Group is the parent of Bank of Ireland.