1H2021 Financial Results
FIRST HALF 2021 RESULTS
AMCO GROWS AND KEEPS INNOVATING
- Assets under Management at €33 billion at end of 1H21 (+43% y/y): 45% from debt purchasing and 55% from servicing.
- AuM composed of NPLs (58%) and UTPs (42%), the latter managed with the aim of favouring corporates’ business continuity, supporting the Italian economy.
- New business at €11 billion y/y, with portfolio purchases concentrated in 2H20.
- Continued business innovation: management of multi-originator transactions, agreement with Banca Progetto to further facilitate borrowers, synthetic securitisation as new service offered.
- Excellent performance of cash collections at 3.7% of average AuM (2.5% in 1H20) and up 116% y/y.
- EBITDA up to €89.6 million, thanks to strong revenue growth due to the business scale up; EBITDA margin at 63.3%.
- Net profit up to €36.5 million, thanks to improved operating profitability.
- Very solid capital position: CET1 at 37.4%, supporting future business growth.
- Established reputation in the debt capital market: highly successful €750 million issuance in April; full repayment of the secured debt from MPS transaction. Launched the €1 billion Commercial Paper program.
- Team showing strong growth: 318 employees at end of June 2021, +60 versus June 2020.
Milan, 10 September 2021. – The Board of Directors of AMCO – Asset Management Company S.p.A. met today and approved the Company’s separate and consolidated results for the first half of the year 2021.
“Over the last 12 months, our business volumes continued to grow, as well as our cash collections, which have performed very well in the first half of the year as a result of a greater knowledge of our portfolios and the flexibility of our model, which allows us to manage loans both in-house and in outsourcing. Thanks to our balance sheet’s strength, we are ready to grow further. We are an innovative company, capable of finding specific solutions tailored to the needs of all our stakeholders, while maintaining an approach that fosters the sustainability not only of our borrowers, but also of all the other stakeholders.” stated Marina Natale, AMCO’s CEO.
OPERATING MODEL, INNOVATION AND SUSTAINABILITY
AMCO’s credit recovery operating model has shown that it is capable of offering flexibility and creating cost efficiencies, leveraging both internal resources (the so-called “in-house management”) and the 12 external servicers who manage loans in outsourcing, under continuous performance monitoring. This has made it possible to start loan management processes (onboarding) effectively and quickly, even for large portfolios.
AMCO is an innovative company, also because of its solutions tailored to meet the needs of all stakeholders. Thanks to the new contributions by several banks, the Cuvée project has further expanded its assets under management to €1bn of UTPs in the real estate sector.
In August, AMCO signed an agreement with Banca Progetto to give AMCO’s borrowers the opportunity to access favourable terms salary-backed loans to facilitate the settlement of their exposures.
Moreover, AMCO has finalised the organisational set-up to carry out synthetic securitisation transactions with underlying performing loans classified as “Stage 2” (sub investment grade), thus opening up further business prospects.
AMCO confirms its strong commitment to ESG issues, with a sustainable management approach to its borrowers and in managing the company overall. With regard to corporate governance, an amendment to the articles of association was introduced in April, requiring that the least represented gender obtain at least two-fifths of the directors and statutory auditors appointed within the respective corporate bodies.
Business growth and innovation are made possible by people: as of 30.6.2021 AMCO had 318 professionals (+60 y/y), coming from different backgrounds. The development plan envisages to reach 404 people by the end of 2022 (418 by 2025). Specific paths are in place to improve people’s engagement and well-being, including through the structural introduction of smart working and the redefinition of workspaces, in order to improve work-life balance and business collaboration.
FIRST HALF 2021 RESULTS
AuM development
In the first half of 2021, AMCO continued to grow, closing the period with €33.1bn of Assets under Management (AuM), of which 58% non-performing and 42% unlikely to pay (UTPs) loans. 55% of total AuM was related to servicing contracts, while 45% was from portfolio purchases (investments).New business generated from June 2020 to June 2021 was €11bn, with portfolio purchases concentrated in the second half of 2020. In particular, the following transactions were concluded in the first half of 2021:
- purchase from Banca Carige (22 March 2021) of a portfolio of impaired loans arising from leasing contracts, mainly real estate, with a Gross Book Value (GBV) of approximately €70m;
- further growth of the Cuvée project, extended to real estate leasing following the contribution by BPER Banca (26 May 2021) of positions for a GBVof approximately €52m. Assets contributed to the innovative multi-originator platform for the management of real estate UTP loans reached €1bn. AMCO acts as Master and Special Servicer.
Cash collections
Cash collections in the first half of 2021 reached 3.7% of average AuM[1] and amounted to €579m (+116% y/y). From an operational point of view, the cash collection performance reflected the increased knowledge of the portfolios and the increasing use of the in-house/outsourcing management model. At the same time, cash collections benefited from the general improvement in the macroeconomic environment observed in the first two quarters of the year and from the resumption of court activity. The positive trend of the first half of the year was also confirmed by the July and August results.
Data and comparisons
AMCO’s consolidated results at 30 June 2021 are detailed below, along with a comparison with the results for the first half of the previous year.
Income Statement
In the first half of 2021, the consolidated net profit amounted to €36.5m, showing strong growth (+423% y/y) thanks to the significant business growth, capable of generating profitability and more than offsetting the increase in costs and interest to finance AMCO’s growth.
EBITDA reached €89.6m (+170% y/y), driven by the strong revenue growth (+154% y/y) as a result of the increase in interest income from customers and careful cost management, whose increase (+131% y/y) reflected the strengthening of the operational structure required to manage the business step-up. EBITDA margin reached 63.3%.
Revenues reached €141.5m; revenues from debt purchasing kept growing and reached 83% of the total, compared to 60% in 1H20. The remaining revenues were originated from servicing activities. Servicing fees derived almost entirely from the management of the loan portfolio of the former Veneto banks, whose slight physiological decrease due to the reduction in GBV was offset by the increase in fees relating to the Back2Bonis fund (“Cuvèe” project).
Income Statement – Euro/(000) – % | 30/06/2020 | 30/06/2021 | Delta % |
Servicing commissions | 23,866 | 23,668 | -1% |
Interests and commissions from customers | 26,515 | 94,469 | 256% |
Other income/charges from activities with customers | 5,270 | 23,321 | 343% |
Total Revenues | 55,651 | 141,460 | 154% |
Staff costs | -13,601 | -19,443 | 43% |
Net operational costs | -8,868 | -32,460 | 266% |
Total Costs and Expenses | -22,469 | -51,904 | 131% |
EBITDA | 33,182 | 89,556 | 170% |
Net value adjustments/reversals from ordinary operations | -18,916 | 3,225 | n.s. |
Depreciation, amortisation and net impairment losses on tangible and intangible fixed assets | -970 | -1,288 | 33% |
Provisions | -173 | 825 | n.s. |
Other operating income/expenses | -8,322 | -5,325 | -36% |
Financial activity result | 9,766 | 7,587 | -22% |
EBIT | 14,568 | 94,579 | 549% |
Interests and commissions from financial activity | -5,638 | -42,735 | 658% |
Pre-tax profit | 8,930 | 51,844 | 481% |
Current taxes for the period | -1,952 | -15,377 | 688% |
NET RESULT | 6,978 | 36,467 | 423% |
Interests from customers increased considerably thanks to the acquisition of new portfolios and reached €94.5m (+256% y/y). The increase in interests was mainly due to the accounting for the entire half-year of the MPS, BP Bari, and Banco BPM portfolios (purchased at the end of 2020). Other operating income/expenses referred to cash recoveries of on-balance sheet portfolios.
Total costs amounted to €51.9m, showing a 131% y/y increase due to the strengthening of the operational structure required to manage the business scale-up. Personnel expenses were up 43% y/y due to headcount increase. Net operating costs reached €32.5m. Among these, ordinary operating costs (€11.4m) increased by 73% due to ordinary expenses supporting the business (IT, business information, etc.); legal and credit recovery expenses (€12.0m) increased sharply due to the new on-balance sheet portfolios managed in-house; outsourcing fees (€6.7m) reflected the increase in AuM outsourced to third-party servicers. Extraordinary operating costs amounted to €2.3m. The cost/income ratio improved to 36.7% from 37.9% in 1H20.
As of 30 June 2021, there were 318 employees, +60 versus June 2020, thanks to the continuation of the hiring plan. At the end of the first half of 2021, 72% of staff was employed in business roles and the remaining 28% in central functions. In addition to AMCO personnel, as of 30 June 2021 there were 58 employees on secondment from MPS to ensure the onboarding of the portfolio, and gradually being reduced in line with the plan. The 2025 plan includes new hires to support further growth.
EBIT was up to €94.6m, higher than EBITDA, due to the positive effect of net impairment losses on loans (€3.2m) and the contribution of financial activities for €7.6m thanks to the revaluation of the investment in IRF (Italian Recovery Fund)[2] for €7.9m. Given the large number of files, the review of the MPS portfolio is still ongoing, to be completed by 2021. These positive elements more than offset the negative impact of other operating income/expenses (€5.3m), mainly due to the provisions linked to the contracts with the administrative compulsory liquidations (LCA) for the management of the former Veneto banks’ portfolios.
Interest and fees from financial activities reflected the cost of financing growth and were mainly composed of interest on secured debt (fully repaid in June), and to a lesser extent the cost of unsecured debt.
Balance Sheet
The balance sheet structure showed strong growth: assets and liabilities grew by 2.4 times in a year, from €2.8bn at the end of 1H20 to €6.7bn at the end of 1H21. The change was to a large extent explained by the consolidation of the assets and liabilities of the MPS compendium, following completion of the partial demerger.
At the end of June 2021, on the asset side, loans to customers totalled €5.2bn, compared to €1bn in June 2020. Financial assets amounted to €1.1bn and included the IRF equity investment of €471m, and Government bonds worth €404m, purchased in the first half of 2021 to manage excess liquidity. Cash and cash equivalents amounted to €585m.
Financial liabilities at the end of June 2021 amounted to €3.8bn, comprising almost entirely unsecured debt,with an average maturity of 4.2 years. The secured debt related to the MPS transaction was fully reimbursed: €250m on 1 January 2021 with the cash generated by the MPS portfolio and €750m on 1 June 2021 with proceeds from the April 2021 bond issuance. This issuance, worth €750m and maturing in 2028, was a great success in the capital market and was priced at a coupon of 0.75%, with an implied spread over the benchmark BTP of 45 basis points, which then narrowed further in the secondary market.
Net debt as of 30 June 2021 amounted to €3.2bn, down by €127m compared to the end of 2020, thanks to €228m in cash generated from operating activities.
Furthermore, in August 2021 a €1bn Commercial Papers3 program was launched, in addition to the existing EMTN program (expanded to max €6bn). CPs provide additional financial flexibility, including short-term funding.
Balance Sheet Assets – Euro/(000) – % | 30/06/2020 | 31/12/2020 | 30/06/2021 | Delta % |
Loans and receivables with banks | 371,800 | 251,585 | 181,134 | -28% |
Loans and receivables with customers | 1,004,733 | 5,686,223 | 5,219,851 | -8% |
Financial assets | 1,345,116 | 718,836 | 1,067,338 | 48% |
Equity investments | 14 | 10 | 10 | 0% |
Property, plant and equipment and intangible assets | 6,112 | 4,677 | 4,159 | -11% |
Tax assets | 77,816 | 210,687 | 194,000 | -8% |
Other assets | 24,182 | 28,355 | 29,306 | 3% |
TOTAL ASSETS | 2,829,774 | 6,900,372 | 6,695,797 | -3% |
Balance Sheet Liabilities and Net Equity – Euro/(000) – % | 30/06/2020 | 31/12/2020 | 30/06/2021 | Delta % |
Liabilities to third parties | 912,511 | 3,952,065 | 3,752,806 | -5% |
Tax liabilities | 3,701 | 6,075 | 3,760 | -38% |
Provisions for specific purposes | 17,915 | 20,811 | 15,844 | -24% |
Other liability items | 70,763 | 97,368 | 62,476 | -36% |
Share capital | 1,824,884 | 2,824,053 | 2,860,911 | 1% |
Share capital | 600,000 | 655,084 | 655,081 | 0% |
Share premium | 403,000 | 604,552 | 604,552 | 0% |
Reserves | 822,475 | 1,498,311 | 1,572,479 | 5% |
Valuation reserves | -7,569 | -9,903 | -7,668 | -23% |
Result for the period | 6,978 | 76,009 | 36,467 | -52% |
TOTAL LIABILITIES AND SHAREHOLDERS’ EQUITY | 2,829,774 | 6,900,372 | 6,695,797 | -3% |
Net equity increased from €1.8bn at the end of 1H20 to €2.9bn at the end of 1H21, benefiting from the equity imbalance included in the MPS compendium.
The CET1 ratio was at 37.4% and the Total Capital Ratio was 37.4% as well, as there was no subordinated debt in the balance sheet. Therefore, the company has a strong capital position, which allows it to manage potential risks and creates flexibility for further business expansion.
The Debt/Equity ratio decreased to 1.3x following the reimbursement of the secured debt, which more than compensated for the new issuances.
RATINGS
On 16 June 2021, Fitch Ratings confirmed the LTIDR, corresponding to BBB- with a Stable Outlook, and the F3 Short-Term Foreign Currency IDR. Fitch Ratings thus maintained the alignment between the long-term rating of the parent company and the rating attributed to Italy.
On 30 June 2021 Standard&Poor’s (“S&P”) also confirmed the Investment Grade rating of AMCO, with the Long-Term Issuer Credit Rating of ‘BBB’, also confirming the Stable Outlook, in line with that of the Italian Government. S&P considers AMCO a Government-related entity with an almost certain probability of financial support from the Italian Government.
On 14 January 2021, Fitch Rating upgraded AMCO’s commercial, residential and asset-backed special servicer ratings to ‘CSS2’, ‘RSS2’ and ‘ABSS2’ from ‘CSS2-’, ‘RSS2-’ and ‘ABSS2-’. Fitch mentioned AMCO’s business growth through multiple sources, demonstrating its ability to successfully pursue its business strategy.
OTHER SIGNIFICANT EVENTS AND PROBABLE DEVELOPMENT OF OPERATIONS
The macroeconomic environment showed signs and prospects of recovery after the difficulties recorded in 2020 due to the Covid-19 pandemic; however, elements of uncertainty remain, such as an increase in infections due to new variants of the virus, which could have impact on the economy and recovery. These uncertainties, together with possible support measures put in place by national authorities (such as, for example, moratoria on the payment of mortgages and loans) could have an impact on the Group’s future collections and, therefore, on its profitability.
Also in the first half of 2021, AMCO continued to guarantee eligible individuals with the support measures provided at national level and voluntarily extended extraordinary support measures to customers deemed most deserving. The Decree Laws of 17 March 2020 (“Cura Italia”) and of 14 August 2020 (“Decreto Agosto”) provided for an extraordinary moratoria on loans until 31 January 2021, subsequently extended to 30 June 2021 and, finally, to 31 December 2021 for the principal of outstanding loans. In this context, as of 30 June 2021, AMCO received moratorium requests from 1,054 counterparties totalling €598m, of which approximately 82% were “individual voluntary moratoria”. Only 4% of the moratorium applications were rejected.
In this context, AMCO continues to pursue its 2020-2025 objectives, confirming its intention to further increase its assets under management, seizing the opportunities offered by the market, both in its role as debt purchaser and as servicer.
STATEMENT BY THE MANAGER IN CHARGE OF PREPARING THE COMPANY’S FINANCIAL REPORTS
I, Silvia Guerrini, in my capacity as the Manager in charge of preparing the company’s financial reports, do hereby declare, pursuant to paragraph 2 of Article 154-bis of the Consolidated Finance Act, that the accounting information contained in this press release corresponds to the documented results, financial accounts and accounting records.
1Net of the former Veneto Banks “baciate”, i.e. loans to finance securities purchases.
2Italian Recovery Fund – – previously called Atlante Fund – is a closed-end alternative investment fund regulated by Italian law, reserved to professional investors, set up for the purchase of financial instruments of different seniority, issued by one or more vehicles set up and/or to be set up for the purchase of bank NPLs. The fund’s maturity date is 31/12/2026.
3The programme allows the issuance of Commercial Papers (Commercial Papers pursuant to Law 13/1994 No. 43) with maturities between 1 month and 1 year in Euros, USD, and GBP.