illimity Bank SpA

MIL:ILTY

Earnings Call Transcript 2024-Q1

[Operator]

Good morning. This is the Chorus Call conference operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the illimity Bank First Quarter Consolidated 2024 Results Conference Call. [Operator Instructions]

At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Corrado Passera, CEO of illimity Bank. Please go ahead, sir.

[Corrado Passera, executive]

Good morning to everyone. Welcome to the presentation of illimity's First Quarter 2024 results. Let's start from Slide 3. This quarter, we completed the strategic shift away from direct investments in NPE portfolios. Despite the short-term effects of this strategy, we achieved an increase in profits compared to the same period last year. Our main messages for this quarter. Our net profit for Q1 stood at EUR 10.8 million, marking a 38% year-on-year increase. Corporate and Investment Banking showcased continuous growth, both in revenues and profits that are up 13% year-on-year. We successfully reduced our NPE direct investments to just 2% of total assets.

Most of these assets have been transformed into senior financing positions or funds units with lower risk profile. ARECneprix, our asset manager, specializing in managing large UTP positions had a strong start to the year, driven by non-captive business. Our balance sheet remains very robust, showing high capital, a low NPE ratio and ample liquidity. Our tech ventures are nearing breakeven with high achieving profitability already this quarter.

Moving to Slide 4. Our results demonstrate the successful balance of profitability and solidity. A net profit of EUR 10.8 million represents a 38% increase from the same period last year, a reinforced capital position with a core Tier 1 ratio at 14.9%, well above SREP targets. Robust liquidity supported by a EUR 1 billion liquidity buffer with regulatory ratios comfortably surpassing minimum thresholds.

Slide 5. Our corporate and investment banking business has demonstrated robust growth with a pretax profit increase to EUR 23 million, reflecting a 13% year-on-year increase driven by SME lending, a 13% year-on-year surge also on net customer loans despite early repayments. And overall operating leverage that continues to stay very low at 21%. We expect volumes and profitability to accelerate in Q2, supported by a promising pipeline.

Slide 6. We maintain our commitment to asset quality. 56% of total loans are backed by public guarantees or credit insurance. The organic NPE ratio, excluding state guaranteed positions, remains at a contained level of 1.7%. The total organic NPE ratio, including those with public guarantees, is slightly down Q-on-Q to 4.8%, with many more positions classified as bad loans. Our cost of risk stands at 84 basis points, half of it attributed to reinforcing the coverage ratio for a single position already under restructuring. We expect the cost of risk to normalize to a lower level in the coming quarters.

Let's move to Slide 7. The strategic shift towards asset-based financing was successfully completed. NPE direct investments decreased by 67% quarter-on-quarter and 81% annually, now totaling only EUR 100 million, less than 2% of total assets. Short-term profitability of this division was affected by the strategic shift. However, we anticipate a gradual improvement in the medium term due to the revenue growth from an expanded loan book.

Moving to Slide 8. ARECneprix is now a well-recognized key asset manager of large UTP positions. Total assets under management stand at EUR 10 billion with approximately 90% noncaptive business, up from 30% in 2023. ARECneprix had a strong start to the year. EBITDA reached EUR 5.5 million, significantly up compared to EUR 1.8 million in Q1 last year.

Slide 9. Our SGR pretax profit is up 75% year-on-year due to increased volumes. Total assets under management surpassed EUR 500 million up 47% year-on-year with new funds in preparation. Now let's move from core businesses to our other activities, our tech ventures.

Slide 10. Allow me to emphasize once again the different roles of the various activities -- of our various activities. On the left, our core business activities. In the center, our digital division illimity technology that functions as a profit center for the group and not only as an enabler of the best technologies available for internal use.

On the right, our main tech ventures. In Q1, our tech ventures continue to make progress towards profitability. We anticipate that some of them will generate additional capital in the coming years supporting our core business growth and potentially increasing shareholder remuneration.

Starting with Hype on Slide 11. Hype, Italy's leading retail fintech platform has achieved a significant milestone. Profitability turned positive for the first time this quarter with a contribution margin of EUR 9 million, a significant rise from the previous EUR 3 million. Steady growth in annual transactions demonstrates the success of the strategy implemented by the new CEO despite an intensely competitive market.

Moving to b-ilty on Slide 12. b-ilty, our Lendtech for small corporates maintains steady growth in volumes. Profitability is steadily improving nearing breakeven. Q1 records the highest business origination at EUR 120 million. Net customer loans, all backed by public guarantees surged to EUR 400 million, 6x Q1 last year, reaching 2,800 customers.

Slide 13, Quimmo. Quimmo, Italy's leading proptech innovator provides competitive end-to-end digital solutions for real estate brokerage. It leads the judicial market managing EUR 1.7 million in asset and consistently increasing its market share each year. Through its partnership with COIMA, Quimmo is rapidly entering the nonjudicial market, focusing on high-quality residential properties. Q1 results closely mirror Q4 '23 results, both impacted by how national bankruptcy figures in the last 2 years. However, this trend is reversing with positive effects on future profitability.

Silvia, our CFO, will now provide a comprehensive review of our Q1 2024.

[Silvia Benzi, executive]

Thank you, Corrado, and good morning, everyone. Let's move straight ahead to the balance sheet figures on Slide 15. We completed the strategy to reduce our direct investments in distressed credit portfolio, strike in the major transactions in the quarter. This brings our overall direct exposure to this asset class to just above EUR 100 million.

Direct distressed credit investments are down 67% quarter-on-quarter and 81% year-over-year. Excluding this component, net customer loans would have increased by 8% quarter-on-quarter despite low seasonal business origination across all our desks and early repayments in the turnaround business. Here driving force of growth in the quarter was a strong momentum in b-ilty. As a result, our loan book mix is increasingly shifted on SME lending and asset-based financing.

Our securities portfolio grew this quarter following the increase in government bond. All in all, total assets stood at EUR 7.6 million, up 4% quarter-on-quarter and 24% on a yearly basis. Our funding also increased this quarter by 5%, driven by wholesale component, while retail funding remains flat. We will provide more details shortly.

Moving on profit and loss on Slide 16. P&L dynamics are positive in the first quarter, printing a 38 progression on a yearly basis despite the needs and negative impact of the change in distress credit strategy. Point one, net interest income was down year-on-year, mainly due to the increase in cost of funding, while the quarterly dynamics reflect shrinking of our direct distressed credit investments. Net interest income is set to gradually benefit over the next quarters from the stabilization of the cost of funding and the expected increase in volumes driven by a robust pipeline.

Point two, net fees showed a 19% growth quarter-on-quarter, driven by an increase in SME lending business and new third-party mandates received in the servicing business. Comparison on a quarterly trend is mainly significant as affected by strong seasonality in Q4. Point three, other income made of net results from trading and assets after value, profit from gross position and other profit made a solid contribution to this quarter's strength supported by investment banking activity with customers and trading, while profit from those position decreased owing to the change in strategy on the distressed credit business.

Point 4, operating costs slightly up year-on-year due to increase in D&A with the aggregate of staff cost and other administrative expenses remained flat. On a quarterly basis, costs are significantly down from a seasonally high Q4. Operating costs are set to decline over the next quarters. Point 5, loan loss provision charges are up this quarter as we increased the coverage ratios on some selected; exposures based on the evolution of their restructuring plans and we expect to normalize to a lower level over the next quarters.

Now let's move to Slide 17. Our capital base is solid with common equity tier 1 ratio at 14.9%, up 20 basis points quarter-on-quarter and total capital ratio at 19%. The increase in the last quarter came from the profit generating during that period with risk-weighted assets flat.

Finally, let's move to our funding on Slide 18. Funding was up 5% with a well-diversified mix retail funding was flat quarter-on-quarter with the bulk of it coming from our online platform in illimitybank.com. The competitive arena is now stabilizing. We gather over 430 million deposits while reducing the remuneration by 50 basis points in anticipation of lower expected market rates.

Wholesale funding was up quarter on quarter driven by a few short-term financing transactions. And finally, our blended leverage cost of funding stood at 4%, in line with Q4. And this is expected to remain at this level for the remainder of the year.

I'll now hand back to Corrado, so we can begin the Q&A.

[Corrado Passera, executive]

Thank you, Silvia. As we conclude, let me close by saying that Q1 unfolded as anticipated. Aligning with our typical seasonal patterns and in line with our expectations. We expect business origination to accelerate in Q2, driven by the robust pipeline. Our balance sheet remains resilient, maintaining a lower risk profile. Tech ventures are advancing toward breakeven and profitability with Hype already turning to a profit.

Thank you for your attention, and let's now move to the Q&A session.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The first question is from Manuela Meroni, Intesa Sanpaolo.

[Manuela Meroni, analyst]

The first question is on the new definition of default, one, specialty finance in Italy has announced a potential capital coming from an inspection from the Bank of Italy on the new definition of default. So I'm wondering if you are in a similar discussion with ECB. And if you can clarify, what is your -- let's say, if you have some expectations concerning the potential review of the impact of the new definition of default on your capital.

The second question is on the asset quality. If under separately, the increase or the level of loan loss provision is mainly related to one single position. I'm wondering if you are seeing some specific sectors that are deteriorating the most and what are the trends that you are seeing on your portfolio of guaranteed loans -- loans guaranteed by the state.

The third question is on tax credit. Could you please tell us what is the amount of tax credit that you have related on the Ecobonus, Superbonus? And what is, if any, the contribution of this tax credit to the NII?

Another question on the risk-weighted assets. If weighted assets are flat while you are divesting from your NPL investment business. I'm wondering if, at what stage with the reshape of your loan mix, we might see risk-weighted assets declining? And the last question is, let's say, on the potential guidance for 2024. So I'm wondering if you are confident in providing a guidance for this year? And when do you expect to have the data to your business plan?

[Corrado Passera, executive]

Sorry for -- I was in mute. I will leave 3 of the questions to Silvia, the first one about the default definition, asset mix, risk-weighted asset and guidance for the business plan, while Enrico will start with the asset quality issue and the tax credit issue.

[Enrico Maria Luigi Marzocchi, executive]

Okay. So starting with the deterioration and the LLP, it's actually, we haven't seen a different level of deterioration in the first quarter compared to the last quarter of 2023. Actually, we have exactly the same amount of impaired loans -- gross impaired loan and why the provision that we take in the first quarter as Corrado was saying before, is largely attributed to one single position where we have decided to increase the coverage. So it's -- we haven't seen any further deterioration, and we are not envisioning any further deterioration in the remaining part of the year.

Going to the tax credit question, we have bought some tax credit until the end of 2023, and we have finished in the first quarter, in particular in January to buy the remaining part of this kind of asset in order to fulfill the contract that we had signed in 2023. In fact in terms of profit and loss in the first quarter, I think it's around EUR 300,000 -- from EUR 300,000 to EUR 400,000 in terms of revenues coming from the commission and the interest of -- the interest revenue of these specific assets.

[Silvia Benzi, executive]

So the -- in terms of the new definition of default, it's already integrated in our procedures. So we do not foresee any major changes there. Coming to the questions regarding the risk-weighted assets in our specialized credit division. So clearly, the exposure we have today are a bit different from the direct investors where we're used to have in the past when in terms of technicality, the risk-weighted assets density is very similar. Clearly, the new exposure will probably have a good runoff. And on [indiscernible], the wall is probably going to be short term.

The back book runoff will be reinvested into new asset-based financing and other SMEs type of investments. Therefore, I wouldn't guide for a reduction in absolute terms of the risk-weighted assets. I think this is not even the -- in the interest of the bank because we really have a very attractive addressable market across all of our desks.

So the quickest, the back book runoff, the better it would be for us because we have better investment opportunity elsewhere. And in terms of the guidance, we believe we'll be able to get more visibility to the overall earnings trajectory for this year and the following years when we unveiled our new business plan, we believe we are targeting something like in the second half of this year.

[Corrado Passera, executive]

Did we answer all your questions?

[Manuela Meroni, analyst]

Yes.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions] The next question is from Michele Baldelli, BNP Paribas.

[Michele Baldelli, analyst]

I have just a question on the impact in the P&L of this sale and of the NPLs and capital gains that could have resulted from this sale that was in the P&L in this quarter. If you can elaborate some color.

[Corrado Passera, executive]

Yes, very shortly. We don't see a major impact in terms of disposal of this new additional book effectively, as Silvia mentioned, we will maintain the same RWA density also for the senior notes that we will invest in.

[Operator]

[Operator Instructions]

[Corrado Passera, executive]

We have been evidently very effective and very efficient altogether. So if there is no other question, I will just say that the profile of the bank is becoming clear and clear. We are focused on performing in a special situation credit activities. In these activities, we have been able to prove that we are quite good.

The market is very large. We have developed clear distinctive skills on which we will work in the next years. Technology remains a key factor for success for us and tech ventures will boost with the contribution to our growth in the next years.

If there is no other question...

[Operator]

We have a confirm there are no more questions.

[Corrado Passera, executive]

We can move to another report. Okay. Thank you very much to everybody.

[Operator]

Ladies and gentlemen, thank you for joining. The conference is now over, and you may disconnect your telephones.