September 23 (SeeNews) - The net profit of Romania's Agricover Credit IFN rose by 31% year-on-year in the first half of 2019 to 23.3 million lei ($5.4 million/4.9 million euro), the company said.
In the first six months of the year, Agricover Credit IFN provided financing amounting to 576.4 million lei to 3,465 farmers, it said in a press release on Friday.
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Loans exposure amounted to 1.64 billion lei during the January-June period, up 22% compared to the same period last year.
"Our strategic business direction keeps the focus on attracting new customers, small and medium-sized farmers, and this is already visible in the significant increase in the number of active clients. The fact that we have managed to increase the value of the loans granted in the first half of this year, compared to 2018, encourages us to continue our strategy for the second part of the year," Agricover Credit IFN director general Robert Rekkers said.
As of June 30, Agricover's operating profit was 26.8 million lei, up by 27% compared to the same period of 2018.
The capital adequacy rate, according to the central bank's norms, was 20%, while non-performing loans with over 90 days overdue accounted for 1.1%. Equity grew by 24%, reaching 252.9 million lei, after incorporating the net results and increasing the share capital.
For the second half of the year, Agricover Credit IFN intends to maintain the growth rate both in terms of the number of clients financed and the volume of loans granted.
"Due to adverse weather conditions, the beginning of the agricultural year 2020 is quite sensitive for the Romanian farmers, and this made us determined to meet their potential cash flow needs," Robert Rekkers added.
Agricover Credit IFN is part of Agricover Holding SA, a major player in the Romanian agricultural sector offering agribusiness and financial services to farmers. With 19 years of experience in Romanian agriculture and over 1,000 employees, the holding company supports more than 5,700 farmers through its two main subsidiaries Agricover SA and Agricover Credit IFN. In 2017, the The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) acquired a 13% stake in the holding.
In March, the EBRD said it is providing a Romanian lei equivalent of 5 million euro ($5.7 million) to Agricover Credit IFN in order to support the growth of one of the main, locally owned Romanian companies serving farmers in the agricultural sector.
This was the second EBRD financing for Agricover Credit IFN, after a 10 million euro loan granted in 2018.
(1 euro=4.7432 lei)