Is there a bank in Italy today that has a Roe of over 20%? Yes, and it is the one that focuses on the financing of SMEs and the recovery of non-performing retail credits. In 2014 the Venetian Banca Ifis, 56% owned by Furstenberg Sebastien Egon, son of Clara Agnelli and Tassillo Fu¨rstenberg, closed the financial statements with growing profits and a reduction in the cost of credit risk: profits rose by 13% to 95,9 million euro, net value adjustments due to impairment of loans fell to 31,3 million from 44,5 at the end of December (-29,7%) with the consequent reduction in the cost of risk credit in the last 12 months to 145 basis points from 244. “Which means – commented the CEO Giovanni Bossi during the presentation of the results to the press – that we do credit well while losing a little. This value is not very low but we give credit to companies that other banks finance little". The Bank is the first among the financial institutions to present the 2014 accounts.
Banca Ifis is helped by the business model on which it is based, factoring: it buys the credit risk from small businesses and is paid by the big ones, the various Fiats, Brembo, Barilla. Contrary to what traditional banks do which have to recover the loans disbursed to SMEs by the same small and medium-sized enterprises. The result is a 13% increase in financed companies (4.279 companies) and a 26,7% increase in loans to 2.455 million. Among the major sectors financed are manufacturing, construction, transport and agriculture. From North to South: the top ten provinces for loans disbursed are Milan, Turin, Rome, Catanzaro, Bergamo, Catania, Florence, Palermo, Salerno.
Overall, net non-performing assets in the trade credit sector (the only ones – the bank specifies in the note on the accounts – whose dynamics are of effective interest for the purpose of considering the bank's credit quality) amounted to 112,6 million euro from 162,6 million at the end of 2013, with a decrease of 30,7%. And they are equal to 4,6% of total loans and 25,7% of the Bank's net assets. The ratio between net non-performing loans and loans in the Trade Credits sector drops to 1,3% from 2,6%.
"Increase in loans to SMEs (+13,1%) and excellence in non-performing loans (-30,7%) are figures in absolute contrast", commented Bossi who noted how the bank "managed to increase support for more and more businesses and households making the best use of their assets, their liquidity and their ability to offer suitable solutions in a markedly negative external context". “The excellent results in the corporate financing sector – continued Bossi – are even more significant taking into account the following factors: net non-performing loans are just over 1% in relation to trade receivables; the bad debt coverage ratio reaches excellent levels, at 86,4%, a percentage that cannot be found in the system; total non-performing loans amount to less than 30% of shareholders' equity. These results deliver to the market a Bank that has been able to navigate the storms of what we can no longer consider a "crisis" but a new "normality" that will see us present, with perseverance and determination, alongside businesses, households, savers and stakeholders". .
Alongside the trade receivables area, which accounts for 55,4% of the intermediation margin and has filed a net result of financial management up by 50,7% to 122,5 million, Banca Ifis is active in distressed retail (10,7% of the intermediation margin), in tax credits (3,9%) and in the sector called Governance & services (30%) which concerns the securities portfolio in the bank's belly.
As regards distressed retail loans, it closed the year with a net result from financial management up 13,1% to 27,8 million. “We are the only Italian bank – says Bossi – that goes to buy non-performing loans from other banks. We are going to collect receivables with sustainable plans through the balance and write-off, bills of exchange but also a new credit recovery method which provides for greater recourse to the signing of repayment plans (expressions of will) compared to bill collection". Lastly, the securities portfolio was reduced to 5 billion from 8,3 and will be brought to maturity.
Overall, the main overall numbers indicate assets up by 15,1% to 437,8 million, loans of all units up by 22,5% to 2.814,3 million, an operating margin up by 6,3, 280,9% to 249,6 million, a net result from financial management of 13,7 million (+7.742,4%) and deposits down to 28,6 million (-23,5%), impacted by lower needs of the bank's liquidity against the repayment of government bonds. Roe stood at 24,8%, although slightly down from 2013% in 1. Core Tier 3 and Solvency ratio, calculated according to Basel 13,9 regulations, respectively recorded a value of 14,2% and 2014%. In 125, new hires for the institute also increased, amounting to 20 units included in the group (+XNUMX% on the previous year).
“For 2015 the sentiment is positive – concludes Bossi – analysts ask us questions about the substitutability of government bond yields (which in recent years have boosted the results of all Italian banks ed). We are confident that we will replace them with the core business because we think we have a corporate financing model in hand that allows us to limit credit risk and at the same time we believe that we will decrease the cost of funding, with the exception of Rendimax which costs 1,26% and which goes on for a maximum of two more years (when it expires ed.)”. The Bank also notes that it will continue to "evaluate further new opportunities that may arise on the market".
