Banca IFIS S.p.A. : record profits in the first six months of 2015

PRESS RELEASE - FIRST HALF 2015

Banca IFIS, record profits in the first six month of 2015 (+161,3%)

The CEO Giovanni Bossi: "Expecting to raise the dividend per share by 10 to 15% in 2015"

Table of Contents

1st half 2015
1 January - 30 June

- Net banking income: 264,7 million Euro (+85,1%);
- Net profit from financial activities: 247,8 million Euro (+103,4%);
- Profit for the period: 130,8 million Euro (+161,3%);
- Bad loans ratio in the Trade Receivables sector down from 1,3% to 1,2%;
- Cost of credit quality: 112 bps;
- Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1): 15,43% (13,89% at 31 December 2014);
- Total Own Funds Capital Ratio: 16,11% (14,21% at 31 December 2014);
- Hiring up: 98 new resources added.

2nd quarter 2015
1 April - 30 June

- Net banking income: 193,5 million Euro (+162,8%);
- Net profit from financial activities: 182,7 million Euro (+200,2%);
- Profit for the period: 104,6 million Euro (+312,0%).
   

Comment on operations

Mestre, 28 July 2015 - The Board of Directors of Banca IFIS met today under the chairmanship of Sebastien von Fürstenberg and approved the interim financial report for the first half of 2015.
"We present the market with outstanding half-yearly results," said Giovanni Bossi, Banca IFIS CEO, adding: "They prove once more that Banca IFIS's model works, the actions taken are effective, and the Group is on an innovative path that will stand the test of time. The Bank's current equity will allow all core businesses to grow steadily. 
Bolstering our capital base allows us to tackle market challenges with assurance. In light of the results achieved - stressed Mr. Bossi - and the evidence pointing to favourable operating performance expected in the second half of the year, the Board of Directors believes it possible to propose an increase of the dividend per share by 10 to 15% compared to 2014".

Operating performance

Consolidated Income Statement analysis
Net banking income amounted to 264,7 million Euro, +85,1% compared to the prior-year period. The 143,0 million Euro increase was attributable to the surge in the DRL (+50,0%) and Tax Receivables (+72,3%) segments, as well as the gains related to the rearrangement of part of the government bond portfolio completed in April 2015 (gross 124,0 million Euro).
The result of the trade receivables segment (77,3 million Euro compared to 78,6 million Euro in the first half of 2014, -1,7%) was influenced by opposite performance trends in the Credi Impresa Futuro and Pharma business areas. The Pharma business area's net banking income fell 15,9% in the first half compared with the prior-year period. This was the result of lower purchase commissions charged to the seller and classified as interest income: since late 2014, the Pharma business area has changed its market approach, buying packages of receivables at par value (or slightly below par). Therefore, the Bank makes profits on the interest accrued on late payments, conservatively recognising it below the rate of interest on arrears, as well as settlements entered into in the period. The Bank is currently improving the accounting for this component in accordance with the reference regulatory framework to better reflect the actual profitability of this business area. Credi Impresa Futuro's performance was essentially in line with the prior-year period. The trade receivables sector reported a turnover of 4,6 billion Euro (+22% from June 2014), outstanding loans totalling 2,6 billion Euro (+21,1% from June 2014), and a 7% rise in the number of financed SMEs compared to the first half of the previous year.
Net banking income in the DRL segment, which deals with acquiring and managing non-performing loans in the unsecured segment, totalled 19,4 million Euro compared with 13,0 million Euro in the prior-year period (+50,0%). The excellent first-half performance was the result of the robust trend in bills of exchange and expressions of willingness-rising 22% overall (83,4 million Euro compared to 68,2 million Euro at 30 June 2014)-and the acceleration in the Legal Factory's judicial collection operations. It should be noted that net banking income alone is not representative of the DRL segment's performance since, as far as bad loans in the DRL segment are concerned, it does not account for the economic impact of the changes in expected cash flows, which are recognised under net impairment losses/reversals on receivables.
The Tax Receivables segment generated 7,5 million Euro (4,4 million Euro in the first half of 2014, +72,3%), thanks largely to the considerable amounts collected during the period and the reduction in debt collection times compared to initial estimates.
The Governance and Services segment posted 160,4 million Euro, compared to 47,0 million Euro at 30 June 2014 (+241,1%). The gain on the securities sold as part of the mentioned rearrangement of the government bond portfolio contributed to this result. In addition, the segment improved its profitability thanks to lower retail funding costs-the result of a planned reduction in funding and interest rates.
In the second quarter, net banking income stood at 193,5 million Euro (69,5 million Euro net of the gains on the rearrangement of part of the government bond portfolio), compared to 73,6 million Euro in the prior-year period. Trade receivables contributed 37,9 million Euro (vs. 41,1 million Euro), the DRL segment 12,0 million Euro (vs. 6,4 million Euro), tax receivables 3,6 million Euro (vs. 2,2 million Euro), and the Governance and Services segment 140,0 million Euro (nearly 16 million Euro net of the gains on the rearrangement of the government bond portfolio) compared to 23,9 million Euro in the same period last year. 

Net impairment losses on receivables stood at 12,7 million Euro, compared to 21,2 million Euro at 30 June 2014 (-40,1%). In the trade receivables segment alone, the consistently downward trend is attributable to the continuous monitoring of how the counterparty's risk profile evolves. All along, the Bank has maintained a rigorous and consistent policy for assessing borrowers' creditworthiness. The decrease in impairment losses resulted in a significant improvement in the ratio of credit risk cost concerning trade receivables to the relevant average loan balance over the last 12 months, down to 112 bps.
The ratio of bad loans to loans in the trade receivables sector improved to 1,2% from 1,3% at 31 December 2014.
The bad-loan coverage ratio of the trade receivables segment was 87,2%, up from 86,4% at 31 December 2014.

The Group's net profit from financial activities was 247,8 million Euro (123,8 million Euro net of the mentioned portfolio rearrangement), compared to 121,8 at 30 June 2014 (+103,4%).
Net profit from financial activities in the Trade Receivables segment rose 13,6% to 63,8 million Euro compared to 56,2 million in the first half of 2014, largely because of the fall in impairment losses on loans and receivables; the DRL segment stood at 20,2 million Euro, compared to 14,3 million at 30 June 2014 (+41%), due to the new collection methods introduced in the DRL segment by the CrediFamiglia brand; the Tax Receivables segment stood at 7,5 million Euro, compared to 4,3 million at 30 June 2014, up 75,6% for the reasons already explained in the "net banking income" section. Finally, net profit from financial activities in the Governance and Services segment, excluding the impact of the mentioned rearrangement of the government bond portfolio, fell 31,5% to 32,2 million Euro, compared to 47,0 million Euro in the prior-year period. Please note that this result was affected by the impairment losses (4,2 million Euro) recognised on two unlisted equity instruments after testing them for impairment.
In the second quarter, net profit from financial activities totalled 182,7 million Euro (60,9 million Euro in the second quarter of 2014). Trade receivables contributed 30,0 million Euro (+7,9% compared to 27,8 million Euro in the second quarter of 2014); the DRL segment 11,3 million Euro (+60,2% compared to 7,1 million Euro in the prior-year period); tax receivables 3,6 million Euro (+76,2 % compared to 2,0 million Euro in the second quarter of 2014); and the Governance and Services segment totalled 137,8 million Euro, compared to 23,9 million Euro at 30 June 2014.

At 30 June 2015, operating costs were up 11,1%, from 46,6 million Euro in the first half of 2014 to 51,8 million Euro. At 23,7 million Euro, personnel expenses rose 11,6% (21,2 million in 2014)- due to new hiring: 98 new staff added in the first six months of 2015, up 15,9% compared to 31 December 2014. This increase is consistent with the goal to strengthen some areas and services supporting the business and the scenario in which the Group operates. At 30 June 2015, the Group employees numbered 681.
Other administrative expenses totalled 27,5 million Euro, up 17,7% from 23,3 million Euro at 30 June 2014, largely because of higher business volumes in the DRL segment. The relevant costs for collecting debts and gathering information on clients (4,1 and 1,6 million Euro, respectively) are currently included in this item of the income statement. Also consulting fees rose due to the re-engineering of business processes and the internal control system. This was necessary to comply with new prudential regulations for banks concerning the internal control and IT system as well as business continuity.

The cost/income ratio stood at 19,6% at 30 June 2015 (36,8% excluding the gain on the government bonds sold from net banking income), compared to 32,6% at 30 June 2014.
Pre-tax profit for the period stood at 196,0 million Euro, compared to 75,2 million Euro at 30 June 2014.
Income tax expense amounted to 65,2 million Euro, compared to 25,1 million Euro at 30 June 2014. The Group's tax rate edged down to 33,3% in the first half of 2015 from 33,4% at 30 June 2014.
Profit for the period totalled 130,8 million Euro, compared to 50,1 million Euro at 30 June 2014 (up 161,3%).
The corresponding figure for the second quarter was 104,5 million Euro (25,4 million Euro in the prior-year period).

Consolidated Statement of Financial Position analysis
The Group's assets, amounting to 7.221,4 million Euro at 30 June 2015 (8.309,3 million Euro at 31 December 2014), mainly consist of loans to customers and available for sale financial assets.
Total loans to customers stood at 3.152,1 million Euro, up 12% from 2.814,3 million Euro at the end of 2014. Specifically, at 30 June 2015 trade receivables amounted to 2.617,2 million Euro, up 162,1 million Euro from the end of 2014 (+6,6%). Receivables due from Italy's Public Administration at 30 June 2015 accounted for 27,6% of total receivables in the segment, compared to 27,1% at 31 December 2014, while receivables due from the private sector accounted for 72,4% (compared to 72,9% at 31 December 2014). Distressed retail loans rose 85,0 million Euro (+62,8%) to 220,4 million Euro, bringing the nominal value of receivables under management to 6.823,4 million Euro, mostly thanks to the several acquisitions of portfolios made during the period. Tax receivables were down 5,2 million Euro to 114,3 million Euro (-4,3%), largely because the Group received payments on two significant exposures during the period. As for the Governance and Services segment, loans to customers were up 95,9 million Euro to 200,3 million Euro (+91,9%), largely due to margin lending with Cassa Compensazione e Garanzia (CCG) related to repurchase agreements in government bonds on the MTS platform.
With regard to activities in support of SMEs, the loans duration was confirmed as short-term, in line with the Group's strategy to support working capital. On average, it takes 3 months to collect receivables due from private sectors entities and 4 to 6 months for those due from the Public Administration.

Total net non-performing exposures, also due to the recent acquisitions in the DRL segment, amounted to 340,3 million Euro at 30 June 2015, compared to 248,1 million Euro at the end of 2014 (+37,2%).
Net non-performing exposures in the trade receivables segment, which actually determine the Bank's overall credit quality, rose 6,4% from 112,6 million Euro at the end of 2014 to 119,8 million Euro. Net non-performing exposures accounted for 4,6% of all trade receivables, in line with the result at 31 December 2014, and totalled 22,9% (25,7% in December 2014) as a proportion of the Group's equity.
Here below is the breakdown of the Group's net non-performing exposures in the trade receivables segment alone:
- At 30 June 2015, net bad loans amounted to 32,4 million Euro, compared to 33,0 million Euro in December 2014; the segment's net bad-loan ratio edged down to 1,2% from 1,3% at 31 December 2014.
- The balance of net unlikely to pay, the new category including loans previously recognised as subjective substandard or restructured loans, was 42,0 million Euro at 30 June 2015, compared to 43,8 million Euro at 31 December 2014 (-4,1%). The decline was largely attributable to the improved coverage ratio, rising from 24,5% at 31 December 2014 to 29,1% at 30 June 2015, thanks to the Bank's thorough and rigorous assessment policy.
- Net past due exposures, which, according to the new definition of the Bank of Italy, include also objective substandard loans in addition to exposures already classified as past due, amounted to 45,5 million Euro at 30 June 2015, compared to 35,8 million Euro in December 2014 (27,1%). Changes in non-performing past due exposures are a normal part of the Bank's business model. These changes referred largely to a single transaction settled in early July. Net past due exposures referred for 3,1 million Euro (3,9 million Euro at the end of 2014) to receivables due from the Public Administration purchased outright as part of financing operations.
 
Available for sale (AFS) financial assets, which include debt and equity securities, stood at 3.803,2 million Euro at 30 June 2015, up +1.463% compared to 243,3 million Euro at the end of 2014. This was largely attributable to the rearrangement of the government bond portfolio completed in April 2015. The relevant valuation reserve, net of taxes, was negative to the tune of 6,7 million Euro at 30 June 2015 (positive 6,0 million Euro at 31 December 2014).

At 30 June 2015, receivables due from banks totalled 114,8 million Euro, compared to 274,9 million Euro at 31 December 2014 (-58,2%). This item includes some securities not listed on an active market with banking counterparties, totalling 5,0 million Euro (-54,6% compared to 31 December 2014), and treasury loans with other lenders, amounting to 109,8 million Euro (-58,4% compared to 31 December 2014), mostly related to maintaining excess liquidity in the system.

At 30 June 2015, the debt securities portfolio totalled 3.798,8 million Euro, broken down into 3.793,8 million Euro in available for sale financial assets and 5,0 million Euro in receivables due from banks.

Funding, net of the rendimax savings account and the contomax current account, shall be analysed in a comprehensive manner based on market trends; it consists of wholesale funding through repurchase agreements (classified under payables due to customers, as they are carried out with counterparties formally other than banks), refinancing transactions on the Eurosystem, and short-term treasury transactions with other lenders. Total funding, which amounted to 6.494,9 million Euro at 30 June 2015, down 16,1% compared to 31 December 2014, is represented for 93% by Payables due to customers (compared to 70,8% at 31 December 2014) and for 7% by Payables due to banks (compared to 29,2% at 31 December 2014).
Payables due to customers at 30 June 2015 totalled 6.037,6 million Euro (+10,1% compared to 31 December 2014). This increase was mainly due to the higher use of repurchase agreements with underlying government bonds and Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia as counterparty, amounting to 3.010,5 million Euro (compared to 2.082,9 million Euro at the end of 2014). Retail funding totalled 2.930,6 million Euro at 30 June 2015, including 2.865 million Euro from rendimax and 65,6 million Euro from contomax, compared to 3.314,2 million Euro at 31 December 2014. This was the result of gradually declining interest rates. The Bank still bears proportional stamp duty costs on rendimax and contomax, which amount to 0,20%.

Payables due to banks, which totalled 457,4 million Euro (compared to 2.259,0 million Euro at December 2014, -79,8%), mainly consisted of 319,7 million Euro in funding from refinancing operations on the Eurosystem, compared to 2.226,9 million Euro 31 December 2014. This amount included 119,7 million Euro in TLTRO loans received in December 2014 at a fixed 0,15% rate and maturing on 26 September 2018. The remainder of payables due to banks consists of interbank deposits, including 120,0 million Euro on the E-Mid platform. The significant decrease in Payables due to banks compared to the end of the previous year was due to the fact that the Bank carried out less refinancing operations on the Eurosystem, rather using the MTS platform and dealing with Cassa di Compensazione e Garanzia as counterparty. The Bank turns to the ECB or the MTS platform exclusively based on which is more convenient in light of interest rate trends.

At 30 June 2015, consolidated Equity was 524,3 million Euro, compared to 437,8 million Euro at 31 December 2014 (+19,7%).
As for capital adequacy ratios, the Total Own Funds Capital Ratio was 16,11% (14,21% at 31 December 2014) and the Common Equity Tier 1 (CET1) 15,43% (13,89% at 31 December 2014).

Outlook
In the short term, growth forecasts for the Euro Area and especially Italy remain modest.
The temporary resolution to Greece's crisis reduces the fears of potential negative repercussions deriving from the instability in financial markets. The cost of money is still at record lows due to the ECB's monetary policy and extremely limited price increases. The low or zero Inflation rate is the result of the trend in commodity prices and, more generally, the relatively modest use of the factors of production. The market expects monetary policy measures to bring inflation near the central bank's target rates.
It does not appear possible to leave the crisis behind without restarting the flow of credit to the real economy. Against this backdrop, Banca IFIS's ability to provide support to small- and medium-sized enterprises - also thanks to strengthening capital adequacy ratios and increasing liquidity - continues representing a competitive advantage, enabling it to acquire new customers and loans. The market is still characterised by the limited supply of credit and the demand for appropriate solutions - especially for companies that are small in size and have less measurable or low credit standing.
In this scenario, Banca IFIS looks forward to continued strong performance by all business areas for the rest of 2015.
The Bank can play an increasingly important role in the Distressed Retail Loans segment, providing solutions in demand at lenders and financial institutions across Italy. We will continue monitoring and bidding for the portfolios of receivables due from households that originators are expected to place on the market. Although economic conditions remain challenging, Banca IFIS recently introduced organisational and operating solutions for managing NPLs that allow to expect increasing collection rates. Considering the abundant liquidity of the market, with portfolios often traded at significantly different prices based on their quality; the Bank's ability to turn the quality of the portfolios into a strength in dealings with debtors; and the opportunity to scale up operating volumes, benefiting the bank and the debtors involved in its initiatives, Banca IFIS may return to the secondary market to sell already processed portfolios with the goal of freeing up resources, using them to further expand the business.
As for tax receivables, the Bank is consolidating its leadership in this segment, given the good medium-term profitability of these investments.
As for retail funding, we expect the average cost to fall further. In addition, the decline in funding is expected to bottom out based on forecasts and the competitive scenario.
As for government bonds in the portfolio, based on the evidence and the current monetary policy, the Bank believes it will continue refinancing said portfolio at interest rates around or below zero, at least for this year.
As of today, and considering the current dynamics in terms of potential margins from investments in government bonds, the Bank deems its position as appropriate. It may look at potential opportunities in the event market conditions turn favourable.
Finally, the Bank will continue considering further opportunities on the segments it operates in as well as new related markets or those potentially interesting in light of its growth strategies.
In light of the above, the Group can reasonably expect to remain profitable also in 2015.

Significant subsequent events
On 17 June 2015, the Bank launched "Farmacie", the new business unit integrated within the existing "Banca IFIS Pharma" area. This unit aims to meet the medium-term financing needs of over 15.000 pharmacies throughout the country using a new instrument: medium-term financing to support trade payables. Designed for retail entrepreneurs, this instruments allows pharmacists to take out loans backed by their accounts receivable. Thanks to its consolidated know-how and extensive knowledge of the market, bolstered by the addition of a team of professionals with years of experience in the industry, Banca IFIS combines two specialist skills in this business unit: business lending-using factoring to mitigate credit risks-and the presence in the pharmaceutical and health care sector of Banca IFIS Pharma, which specialises in management solutions for companies wishing to factor receivables due from Italy's National Health Service and Public Administration.

Declaration of the Corporate Accounting Reporting Officer
Pursuant to Article 154 bis, Paragraph 2 of the Consolidated Law on Finance, the Corporate Accounting Reporting Officer, Emanuel Nalli, declares that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the company's accounting records, books and entries.