• 9M23 Reported Profit at €115.0m, +24% YoY, Adjusted Net Profit at €122.5m, +16% YoY, a new 9M record high.
• Loan Portfolio at €5.3bn, +12% YoY, with double-digit growth in several countries,confirming positive trend.
• Loan/Deposit ratio at 71%, solid Balance Sheet with funding deriving primarily fromstable retail (4x YoY) and operational deposits.
• Reduction in Total Assets and increase in loan book YoY, with Leverage Ratio slightlyimproved.
• Strong asset quality with 0.1% Net NPLs/Loans ratio excluding Italian municipalities inconservatorship.
• Very solid capital position: CET1 ratio at 15.5% and TCR at 20.8%. €101m of excess capital vs. 12% CET1 ratio target, after payment in Sep-23 of €0.438 p.s. of 1H23 interim dividend.
• €40.5m (€0.218 p.s.) of accrued dividend in 3Q23, next semi-annual payment after AGM of Apr-24. No impact from windfall tax on dividends and payout ratio throughout Business Plan horizon.
The Board of Directors of BFF Bank S.p.A. (“BFF” or the “Bank”) approved BFF’s first nine months 2023 consolidated financial accounts.
CONSOLIDATED PROFIT AND LOSS
9M23 Adjusted Total Revenues were €547.4m (+75% YoY), of which €293.7m coming from Factoring, Lending & Credit Management business unit, €45.7m from Payments, €18.9m from Securities Services and €189.1m from Other Revenues, of which €127.2m from the Government bond portfolio. 9M23 Cost of Funding was at €248.3m, with liabilities repricing faster than assets, and Adjusted Total Net Revenues were €299.1m (+9% YoY). Total Adjusted operating expenditures, including D&A, were €130.7m (€121.2m in 9M22), and Adjusted LLPs and provisions for risks and charges were -€2.6m.This resulted in an Adjusted Profit before taxes of €165.8m, and an Adjusted Net Profit of €122.5m, +16% YoY. 9M23 Reported Net Profit was €115.0m, +24% YoY.
With regard to the business units’ KPIs and adjusted Profit & Loss data, please refer to the “9M 2023 Results” presentation published in the Investors > Results > Financial results section of BFF Group’s website. Please note that the Corporate Center comprises all the revenues and costs not directly allocated to the three core business units (Factoring, Lending & Credit Management, Payments and Securities Services).
CONSOLIDATED BALANCE SHEET
As of 30th September 2023, the consolidated Balance Sheet amounted to €12.5bn down by €0.6bn (-4%) vs. the end of September 2022, despite the increase in Loan Book YoY.
The Loan Book was at €5,325m, up by €565m YoY (+12%), with double-digit growth in Italy (+12%), Greece (+37%), Spain (+18%) and Portugal (+13%).
At the end of September 2023, the Government bond portfolio was classified entirely as Held to Collect or “HTC”. The bond portfolio was equal to €5.3bn at the end 9M23, vs. €6.7bn at the end of September 2022, with a strong reduction of fixed bonds, at 20% of the total portfolio in 9M23 vs. 41% in 9M22. The fixed bond portfolio residual average life was 44 months, with a yield of 0.69%; the floater bond residual portfolio average life was 66 months, with a spread +0.90% vs. 6-month Euribor and a running yield of 4.52% as of 30th September 2023. Gross mark to market of fixed bond portfolio amounted to -€121.1m at the end of September 2023, while for floaters it was equal to -€51.5m. Cash and Cash Balances were €421m as of end of September 2023, up by €172m (69%) YoY.
On the Liabilities side, the main changes vs. end of September 2022 are the following:
• deposits from Transaction Services were €5.3bn at the end of September 2023, down by €1.2bn YoY (stable YoY excluding Arca), primarily due to Arca’s exit;
• on-line retail deposits at end of September 2023 amounted to €2,140m vs. €585m at the end of September 2022, up by €1,554m (>250%) YoY, primarily raised in Spain and Poland;
• Passive Repos (refinancing operations related to Italian Government Portfolio) amounted to €3.7bn at the end of September 2023, vs. €4.8bn at end of September 2022, down by 22% YoY;
• BFF did not have any outstanding Senior unsecured bonds at the end of September 2023 (vs. €39m at end of September 2022), due to the repayment at maturity of the residual amount of €39m of the senior preferred bond, with maturity May 23rd 2023.
Cost of funding in 9M23 was 2.99%, lower than the average market reference rates.
BFF does not have European Central Bank “ECB” funding to be refinanced (PELTRO, TLTRO, etc.).
The Group maintained a strong liquidity position, with Liquidity Coverage Ratio (LCR) at 177.2% as of 30th September 2023. At the same date, the Net Stable Funding Ratio (NSFR) was 171.9% and Leverage Ratio 4.7%, stable vs. 4.6% at YE22.
