Madrid, May 31, 2023. COFIDES General Meeting of Shareholders unanimously approved the annual accounts for the 2022 financial year, in which Company activity reached record levels.
In 2022, operation approvals and formalisations, along with disbursements, recorded all-time highs. In particular, new operations approvals hit 926 million Euros, up 210% from their 2021 level. Meanwhile, formalisations rose to 858 million Euros (+301% year-on-year) and disbursements totalled 671 million Euros (+222% year-on-year). This sharp rise in activity is largely explained by completion of the roll-out of the COVID-19 Business Recapitalisation Fund, or FONREC (Fondo de recapitalización de empresas afectadas por la COVID-19), which was created in 2021 under COFIDES management. Company activity was also driven by its dynamic work to support both the global expansion of Spanish companies and the promotion of development.
As a result of this increased activity, COFIDES revenue reached record highs for the second year in a row, totalling 37 million Euros in 2022. This represents a 12% turnover increase compared to the previous year.
Remuneration for its role as manager of public funds in support of the private sector providing financial support for global expansion (FIEX and FONPYME), development (FONPRODE) and preservation of business solvency (FONREC) continue as the Company's chief means of generating revenue, accounting for 84% of the total. In 2022, however, the returns obtained from COFIDES investment of its own resources in venture capital funds in which the Company acts as an anchor investor and, albeit to a lesser extent, the income associated with the increase in interest rates over the second half of the year, gained more relevance.
HIGHLY PROFITABLE MANAGER
The pre-tax result stood at around 26 million Euros, a level equivalent to 2021, when the Company reached its record high. The post-tax result stood at 20.3 million Euros in 2022. Meanwhile, assets under management amounted to 2,568 million Euros, up 6% on the previous year's level.
COFIDES has been a broadly profitable manager since it was founded, achieving an average annual return for its shareholders of 8% since 1995.
The Chairman of COFIDES, José Luis Curbelo, remarked that “2022 has showcased the outstanding business of COFIDES, which has registered record levels of activity and income while maintaining a highly creditworthy portfolio. The delinquency rate remains at around 3%, below the average for the financial system”, although he noted that the Company will continue to monitor this closely in the current context of rising interest rates. He added that “investments in funds in which COFIDES acts as an ‘anchor investor’ are beginning to yield excellent returns and contribute to the public policy objectives that COFIDES supports through its management of state funds”. He also stated that “new assets have been added to the balance sheet in 2022, including the company's first participation in a green bond, which demonstrates its alignment with public decarbonisation policies”.
The CEO has also expressed confidence that, in the future, “COFIDES will increase its wealth management with more operations and new mandates that we hope to implement shortly linked to the addendum of the Recovery, Transformation and Resilience Plan”.
ABOUT COFIDES
COFIDES, a State-owned company engaging in the management of State and third-party as well as its own funds, pursues a number of aims: internationalisation of Spain’s economy, furtherance of economic development and fortification of the solvency of companies affected by COVID-19. In addition to the Spanish State, its shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and Development Bank of Latin America (CAF).
