ProCredit delivers a strong half-year result and a 14.2% return on equity; ProEnergy solar park marks important milestone for the group in achieving climate neutrality

• Result of EUR 64.1 million in H1-23 corresponds to a return on equity of 14.2% and thus underlines the group’s medium-term guidance
• Net interest margin continues to develop positively, and at 3.5% is around 40 basis points higher than at the end of the previous year
• Adjusted for non-recurring effects, cost-income ratio improves to 58.3%
• Cost of risk at a low level of two basis points based on stable loan portfolio quality
• Deposits increase by 2.7%, loans by 0.8% with positive growth dynamics especially in the second quarter
• Group opens 3 MWp ProEnergy solar park in Kosovo, with which it plans to offset its own emissions almost completely
• Conversion of legal form to stock corporation (AG) expected to be completed in the third quarter

Frankfurt am Main, 14 August 2023 - The ProCredit group, which is mainly active in South Eastern and Eastern Europe, reported a strong financial result of EUR 64.1 million for the first half of 2023. Return on equity significantly improved to a level of 14.2%, thereby underlining the group’s medium-term guidance. The cost-income ratio improved slightly by 0.4 percentage points to 59.7% and, adjusted for non-recurring effects, to 58.3%. The results were mainly driven by continued positive net interest margin dynamics as well as stable credit risk indicators, resulting in an overall low cost of risk of two basis points. In the areas of environment and governance, the ProCredit group also achieved important milestones in the period. The opening of ProEnergy, the group’s own solar park in Kosovo, marked a significant step towards achieving CO2 neutrality. Following the approval of the Annual General Meeting for the conversion of the legal form into an AG, the next concrete steps were taken, and the conversion is expected to reach completion in the course of the third quarter of 2023.

The loan portfolio increased by EUR 48 million or 0.8% in the first half of the year (H1 2022: 6.2%). In the second quarter alone, growth of EUR 95 million or 1.6% was achieved. Deposits increased by EUR 169 million or 2.7% (H1 2022: 3.6%), attributable in particular to private clients. Compared with the previous year’s period, the ratio of deposits to the loan portfolio increased by 13.7 percentage points to a good level of 104.9% (H1 2022: 91.2%). The CET1 ratio stood at 14.2% at the end of the second quarter. The increase compared to the year-end 2022 level is partly due to a further increase in RWA efficiency.

Significantly higher financial result underlines the group’s earnings potential and the sustainability of its business model

The group’s half-year result of EUR 64.1 million was substantially higher than in the previous year (H1 2022: EUR 7.7 million) and corresponds to a return on equity of 14.2% (H1 2022: 1.8%). In this context, the group’s operating income increased by 19.7%, driven by higher net interest income and higher net fee and commission income.

Net interest income increased by EUR 30.8 million or 24.7% to EUR 155.7 million (H1 2022: EUR 124.8 million). The net interest margin increased by around 40 basis points year-to-date to a level of 3.5%, mainly due to higher key interest rates.

At EUR 28.9 million, net fee and commission income was 9.9% above the level of the previous year (H1 2022: EUR 26.3 million). Income from transaction and card business developed particularly positively. Net other operating income decreased by EUR 1.9 million due to non-recurring positive effects in the previous year’s period, contributing EUR 7.2 million to total earnings (H1 2022: EUR 9.1 million).

Overall, the group’s operating income improved by EUR 31.6 million, while personnel and administrative expenses increased by EUR 18.2 million. This resulted in a slight improvement in the cost-income ratio of 0.4 percentage points to 59.7% (H1 2022: 60.1%) and a strong EUR 13.4 million or 21.0% increase in profit before tax and loss allowances. In a persistently inflationary environment, the increase in personnel and administrative expenses was also due to higher costs for staff, IT, marketing and travel, as well as extraordinary advisory expenses related to the planned conversion of the legal form. Excluding non-recurring effects, the cost-income ratio improved by 1.5 percentage points to 58.3% (H1 2022: 59.8%).

Loss allowances were at a low level of EUR 0.5 million (H1 2022: EUR 57.3 million), which is primarily due to the stable portfolio quality of the banks in the ProCredit group. At group level, the share of defaulted loans decreased slightly from 3.3% at year-end to 3.2%. For the group excluding Ukraine, this indicator also decreased from 2.4% to 2.3%.

Significant result improvement and stable portfolio quality at ProCredit Bank Ukraine; increase in the agreement with Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA)

ProCredit Bank Ukraine recorded a half-year result of EUR 12.4 million (H1 2022: EUR -34.3 million), which corresponds to a return on equity of 39.7%. Due to stable credit risk parameters, loss allowances remained at a low level of EUR 0.4 million (H1 2022: EUR 56.5 million). Since the beginning of the year, the bank’s loan portfolio decreased by EUR 33.3 million due to tightly controlled new business, while deposits recorded strong growth of EUR 70.0 million. The share of defaulted loans stood at 12.4% at the end of the second quarter (FY 2022: 11.9%). The increase in the Multilateral Investment Guarantee Agency (MIGA; member of the World Bank Group) guarantee facility for ProCredit Bank Ukraine by more than EUR 23 million on 21 June 2023 has released further capital that is to be used for continued, albeit selective, lending to business clients in Ukraine.

ProCredit achieves important milestones in the areas of environment and governance

With the connection of the group’s own solar park, ProEnergy (3 MWp), to the electricity grid in Kosovo, the ProCredit group has reached an important milestone towards achieving its climate neutrality. The group set this goal for itself already back in 2018. The expected annual production of the 3 MWp solar park is 3,711 MWh, which could supply up to 450 households with an average monthly electricity consumption of up to 700 kWh. In addition, this project is intended to contribute to the transformation of Kosovo’s energy landscape, build local expertise, and stimulate further private investment.

The ProCredit group has also made progress in the planned conversion of the parent company’s legal form to an AG. After the Annual General Meeting of ProCredit Holding voted 99.9% in favour of the conversion, it was possible to initiate the next steps and even implement them to a large extent already. The Management Board currently expects the change of legal form to be completed in the course of the third quarter of 2023.

Management Board confirms improved guidance from 30 May 2023

On 30 May 2023, the Management Board increased the outlook for return on equity to 8%-10% (previously 6%-8%) and for the cost-income ratio to 62%-64% (previously approximately 64%) due to continued strong financial results. This short-term guidance also includes an assumption of customer loan portfolio growth in the mid-single-digit percentage range and a CET 1 ratio of over 13%.

In the medium-term, the return on equity is expected to be structurally at a level of around 12%, and the cost-income ratio (excluding non-recurring effects) at around 57%. The customer loan portfolio of the group is expected to show annual growth in the mid- to high-single-digit percentage range in the coming years, with green loans accounting for 25% of the total portfolio. This guidance does not take into account any significant upside potential in Ukraine.

Chair of the Management Board Hubert Spechtenhauser: “We are of course very pleased with the half-year results and feel we are on track to achieve our target for the year. It is even more important to us that the results underline our medium-term targets and demonstrate the medium- and long-term earnings potential of our business model. Due to the ongoing war in Ukraine, we continue to plan cautiously for the current financial year and confirm our current guidance, which is based on conservative adverse assumptions regarding margins and cost of risk for the remainder of the year. In light of the two milestones we achieved this quarter in the areas of environment and governance, we also want to emphasise the relevance of ESG criteria for our actions, and we see the ProCredit group further strengthened in this respect as well.”

The ProCredit group’s Interim Group Management Report for H1 2023 is available as of today on the ProCredit Holding website under Investor Relations at https://www.procredit-holding.com/en/investor-relations/reports-publications/financial-reports  

H1 2023 results at a glance

Contact:

Andrea Kaufmann, Group Communications, ProCredit Holding, Tel.: +49 69 95 14 37 138,
E-mail: Andrea.Kaufmann@procredit-group.com

About ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA

ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA, based in Frankfurt am Main, Germany, is the parent company of the development-oriented ProCredit group, which consists of commercial banks for small and medium enterprises (SMEs). In addition to its operational focus on South Eastern and Eastern Europe, the ProCredit group is also active in South America and Germany. The company’s shares are traded on the Prime Standard segment of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. The core shareholders of ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA include the strategic investors Zeitinger Invest and ProCredit Staff Invest (the investment vehicle for ProCredit staff), KfW, the Dutch DOEN Participaties BV and, since very recently, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development. As the group’s superordinated company according to the German Banking Act and as the parent financial holding company of the ProCredit financial holding group, ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA is supervised on a consolidated level by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (Bundesanstalt für Finanzdienstleistungsaufsicht, BaFin) and the German Bundesbank. For additional information, visit: www.procredit-holding.com.

Forward-looking statements

This press release contains statements relating to our future business development and financial performance, as well as statements relating to future actions or developments affecting ProCreditHolding which may constitute forward-looking statements. Such statements are based on the management of ProCredit Holding’s current expectations and specific assumptions, many of which are beyond the control of ProCreditHolding. They are therefore subject to a multitude of risks, uncertainties and factors. Should one or more of these risks or uncertainties materialise, or should underlying expectations or assumptions prove incorrect, then the actual results, performance and achievements (both negative and positive) of ProCredit Holding may differ significantly from those expressed or implied in the forward-looking statement. Beyond the legal requirements, ProCredit Holding does not undertake any obligation to update these forward-looking statements or to correct them in the event of deviations from the expected development.