(Finance) – “Also in the case of the BCC Iccrea group the 2023 data are very comforting. We naturally look not so much at the profit, but at the fact that this strengthens our assets, which is then not distributed to the members but made as assets unavailable to serve the territory. So this profit gives us the strength to be able to make – also in 2024 and in the following years – a robust financing for the local economythat is, to the businesses and families of the territories”. He told Finance Mauro PastoreGeneral Director of Iccrea Banca, on the sidelines of the annual congress of Assiom Forex, the association of financial market operators, underway in Genoa.
“In 2023 we made 15 and a half billion in new credit disbursements, with the plus sign of a few decimals for the loans item – he explained – In 2024 we plan to increase jobsthanks to a capital strengthening which has been significant in recent years, given that we now have a CET 1 of 21%”.
“With reference to anomalous credit, we are ahead of the results of our plan – said Pastore – We are already below 4% as of 31 December 2023 and also in 2024 we expect to decrease the ratio of gross anomalous loans to loans – also through assignment. Another transfer operation will be released in the next few weeks multi-contributed of around 60 banks, which will continue to make us go down with the indicator. While – precisely due to our capital strength – the net indicator is already around 1% – it is 1.1% – therefore the credits we have on the balance sheet are mostly fully amortized, and therefore we will continue with our action of support to the territory”.
On the new NPL front, “we must always be careful, because by lending new 15-16 billion a year we must be careful that these amounts are then adequately repaid, otherwise new defaults are created – explained the banker – So theattention today is more concentrated on new credit and live creditrather than on the disposal of previous anomalous loans, which instead characterized the previous decade for the entire banking system”.
“From this point of view we are confident because our many branches have an extraordinary and intense relationship with the territory that they live and therefore are able to select families and businesses, giving support to valid initiatives and therefore gaining credit which is hopefully not destined to become anomalous in a higher than average percentage”, he concluded.
(Photo: Giovanni Ricciardi)