Good news, alongside some other that might seem less positive, but not worrying, comes from the SACE Board of Directors, which met on Tuesday in Rome under the chairmanship of Giovanni Castellaneta to approve the half-year results as at 30 June 2014.
The best data are those relating to gross premiums, climbed to 132,2 million euro, an increase of 13,4% compared to the first half of 2013; and al result of the technical account at 388,5 million euro, more than doubled compared to the 169,9 million euro recorded as at 30 June 2013, largely due to the positive trend in credit recovery activities.
On the other hand, the data on claims, up and on net profit, down, seem less positive; but these numbers must be considered in the more general context of the international situation and the shareholding reorganization that has changed the shareholding structure of the group.
I claims they stood at 201,9 million of Euro, up sharply compared to the 95,1 million euro in the first half of last year, and largely refer to indemnities paid to Italian companies for exports to Iran, where international sanctions have led to growing difficulties in repaying loans. This motivation makes us less concerned about this negative index, for two reasons: first, because the sanctions against Iran are destined to ease, both due to the new geopolitical situation in the Middle East area and due to the change of course of the presidency by Rouhani; second, because sooner or later these claims will be recovered, as happened in the past for both Iran and other countries.
THEhalf-year net profit fell to 212,4 million of Euro, down by 32%, mainly due to the result of financial management, which was influenced by the reduction in interest rates and the performance of portfolio securities, as well as the reduction in shareholders' equity (from 5,9 to 4,8. 1 billion euros) as a result of the extraordinary dividend of XNUMX billion euros distributed to the shareholder last December. Also in this case the two reasons for the drop in profit are reassuring, in the sense that operational management has not worsened at all, on the contrary it has clearly improved.
The portfolio of insured operations stands at €35,1 billion, up 3,7% compared to the first half of 2013. The growing weight of advanced markets and the main emerging markets is confirmed, where Made in Italy has a strong positioning. Of note is the growing attention towards more recently explored markets, including various African destinations, such as Angola, Mozambique and Kenya. Looking at SACE's commitments by sector, the greatest exposure concerns the large industrial sectors of theoil & gas, infrastructure and construction and the cruise sector, in which a large chain of small and medium-sized companies find important opportunities.
"The growth of the portfolio of operations insured by SACE is an important proof of our commitment alongside companies that compete abroad, especially SMEs - he declared Alessandro Castellano, CEO of SACE –. A commitment that we renew every day, strengthened by positive profitability in line with the average of the last ten years, recorded despite the uncertainty of the global situation and the significant compensation paid to Italian companies in geographies affected by international sanctions.”
Meanwhile, SACE's offer for SMEs is growing: with the creation of the new service of Advisory, which allows companies to fully evaluate the consistency of the approach to individual emerging markets and the quality of the risks, and with interventions in guarantee of bond issues or debt securities; and with the launch of Frontier Markets, the SACE program to accompany Italian companies with initiatives Tailor-madetowards high-potential markets characterized by complex and still relatively unexplored operating contexts: the first edition of the program focuses on five African markets (Angola, Ghana, Kenya, Mozambique, Tanzania and Senegal).
The group innovates its offer in the field of direct discounting of credits, introducing Trade Finance, a product that allows exporters to transform insured foreign credits into liquidity, protecting themselves from the risk of non-payment and immediately collecting the amount due. It is basically a product that mixes credit insurance with a factoring operation, i.e. disinvestment of credits without recourse: an operation that satisfies a need of almost all exporting companies. This product is still being defined, but it has all the elements to take off, and in a few months we plan to describe its technical characteristics and first experiences in detail, because it is undoubtedly the most innovative in the Italian trade finance market.
The SACE distribution network is also strengthened: at national level, with the opening of the new office in Naples and the SACE Points in Bergamo, Perugia and Ascoli Piceno; and internationally, with the full entry into operation of the new office in Mexico City.
