The number of loans and guarantees increased by 8% with respect to the same period of 2014. 97% of recipients were SMEs or self-employed workers.
Institut Català de Finances (ICF) provided access to finance, via loans and guarantees, to a total of 787 businesses, for a total amount of €343.2 million, in the first half of 2015. SMEs and self-employed workers accounted for 97% of recipients,
The number of loans and/or guarantees granted by the Catalan government-owned financial institution increased by 8% with respect to the same period of 2014, to a total of 1,105 transactions, while the aggregate volume of funding was 8% lower. The average transaction amount was €311,000. This funding made it possible to create or maintain over 28,300 jobs.
82% of the total amount of loans was for new funding, compared with 65% in 2014. The number of refinancing operations declined by 25%, and their amount declined by 53% with respect to the same period of 2014.
As for location, 77% of the funding was concentrated in the greater Barcelona area, in line with this district's percentage of Catalonia's GDP. The other regions, in decreasing order of funding, were: Tarragona (€31 million), Central Catalonia (€21 million) and Girona (€17 million). In terms of the number of transactions, the Barcelona area ranked first, followed by Central Catalonia (99 loans and/or guarantees), Girona (65) and Lleida (56).
In the first half of 2015, ICF hired three sales representatives for the Tarragona, Girona and Lleida districts to advise companies on its financial solutions.
Results for the first half
In the first half of 2015, the ICF group obtained €5.7 million in pre-tax profit, in line with its budget, basically in the form of returns on its activities and also as a result of optimising its cost of debt. ICF is not financed out of the Catalonia Regional Government budget; rather, it raises funds on the market and grants finance under market conditions, in parallel with private-sector financial institutions.
As of 30 June 2015, ICF had a very high capital ratio (30.8%), far superior to the 8% level required of the financial sector, due to reinvesting profits, among other reasons. It has a non-performing loan (NPL) ratio of 15.2% and an NPL coverage ratio of 65%.