Madrid, May 20, 2019.- The Spanish Development Finance Institution, COFIDES, S.A., S.M.E., has significantly increased its activity in 2018, with a notable increase in both its own portfolio and managed portfolios. This is reflected in the company's Annual Accounts, approved by the General Meeting of Shareholders.

COFIDES's total investment portfolio has reached a record high, with a figure of 1.0538 billion euros, and this is the first time that it has gone over the billion mark, with an increase of 12% with respect to the total portfolio in 2017.

The COFIDES chairman, José Luis Curbelo, has highlighted the fact that the company has increased its revenue in all lines of business, while also strengthening its commitment to impact investing "with the objective of promoting sustainable growth, based on the Sustainable Development Goals."

“All of this has been possible with moderate growth in operating expenses, controlled levels of delinquency and an increase in profit and turnover", he said.  In his opinion, this is truly commendable in an environment of low interest rates and responds to a significant effort in business development and portfolio expansion. 

The chairman also highlighted "two milestones that have left their mark on COFIDES's activity in 2018 and that will have a decisive influence on the company's consolidation as a development finance institution”. “One of them is that COFIDES has managed to become an entity accredited by the Green Climate Fund" and the other, he explained, "the approval, by the European Union, of the Huruma Fund, the first blended finance project led by COFIDES, consisting of the creation of an impact investing fund whose objective is to improve access to financing for small or excluded farmers in Latin America and the Caribbean, Sub-Saharan Africa and Asia”.

HIGHEST LEVEL OF FORMALISED OPERATIONS

In 2018, COFIDES formalised 44 projects for a volume of 307.5 million euros, a record high since the start of the company's activity.

On the other hand, in 2018, COFIDES approved 49 projects for a total commitment of 250.3 million euros, compared to 65 projects approved in 2017 for an amount of 216.84 million euros. The average amount per project approved in 2018 was 5.1 million euros, higher than in 2017, which was 3.3 million euros, and at a level that is very similar to the average amount approved in previous years. 

With respect to the disbursements, the total volume in 2018 was one of its highest levels, reaching 210.8 million euros.

40% OF RESOURCES VIA CAPITAL

40% of the resources invested in the set of operations that were formalised during 2018 have been in the form of capital, thus consolidating COFIDES's tendency to offer financing through financial products that are complementary to those of the market.

In this regard, the COFIDES OMAN FUND, a venture capital fund that began operating in 2018, intends to take a stake in Spanish companies or groups with an international expansion strategy whose focus is the Sultanate of Oman, countries in the Gulf Cooperation Council, East Africa, South Asia (especially India), Southeast Asia and other geographical areas, including Latin America, among others.

COFIDES is a public-private company which has been offering financial support to Spanish companies investing abroad since 1988. It is accredited with the EU to manage Community budgets, allowing it to structure transactions with a high impact on development. It is also accredited with the UN’s Green Climate Fund and can structure operations on climate change mitigation and adaptation with the GCF. It is the exclusive manager of FIEX and FONPYME funds on behalf of the Secretariat of State for Trade attached to the Ministry of Industry, Trade and Tourism and supports AECID in managing FONPRODE funds. Shareholders include Banco Santander, Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA), Banco Sabadell and CAF-Development Bank of Latin America.