(Finance) – illimitythe banking group founded by Corrado Passera and listed on Euronext STAR Milan, closed the first quarter of 2022 with a Net income of € 15.7 million, up 25% compared to the first quarter of 2021 (€ 12.6 million). THE revenues they settled at € 78.5 million (+ 41% y / y, + 1% qoq), more diversified and balanced between the interest margin and service margin components. The Cost income it stood at 57%, down by 8 percentage points compared to the same period of the previous year and by 5 percentage points compared to the previous quarter. The company points out that it had its best first quarter ever in terms of new business volumeswith over 330 million euros of credits and investments originated in the first quarter of 2022, a value more than double compared to what was achieved in the first quarter of the previous year.
“The solid results reported in the first quarter allow us to look positively also at the rest of the year – commented the CEO Corrado Passera – Yes, indeed, a new phase of growth has opened for illimity: our reference markets – performing, restructuring and distressed credit – are set to get even bigger in the current scenario, and the significant generation of investments and loans in the first quarter, together with the robust pipeline, indicate that this trend will continue “.
As of March 31, 2022, the active of the bank amounted to approximately € 4.9 billion, up by 6% compared to the end of 2021 and by 14% compared to the same period of the previous year. The ratio of gross doubtful loans organic and total gross organic receivables as at 31 March 2022 originating from the start-up of illimity’s operations is confirmed at 0.7%. Robust capitalization with CET1 Ratio 17.7% (18.1% pro-forma due to the inclusion of special shares), Total Capital Ratio of 23.2% (23.6% pro-forma) – and, despite the significant use of resources in new credits and investments, solid liquidity position (equal to approximately 1 billion euros).
At the same time as the first quarter results, illimity announced that it had reached an agreement aimed atacquisitionthrough the establishment of a new company, of Aurora Recovery Capital SpA (Arec), a company specializing in the management of Unlikely to Pay (UTP) loans with a focus on the corporate real estate segment. From the integration of Arec and Neprix, illimity’s servicer, a leading operator will be born with over 9 billion euros in assets under management. The acquisition and potential synergies will produce a positive effect on pre-tax profit of the illimity group, which the bank expects to reach around € 8 million in 2023 and around € 11 million in 2025, incremental compared to the targets of the 2021-25 Strategic Plan.
“The purchase of Arec also allows us to strengthen our positioning in the management of UTP credits with particular emphasis focus on the segment of large corporate real estate ticketsand enables us to seize the relevant market opportunities that will arise in the future – added Passera – Finally, the pipeline of new business and partnership opportunities is very rich and, as expected, 2022 will be the year in which will show the first significant synergies with the ION group “.