FIMBank plc - Interim Directors’ Statement

On 20 November, FIMBank plc issued its Interim Directors’ Statement explaining that given the economic challenges prevailing across the globe, FIMBank has taken a prudent approach in respect to selecting markets and they are taking severe provisions (as evidenced in the 2013 half-year results) with regards to facilities whose outlook is undetermined.

This approach has also been followed by the Group’s fully owned subsidiary, London Forfaiting Company, which nonetheless still remains a strong element in the Group’s performance with good trading results and significant growth. MENAFactors, the Dubai-based subsidiary, also confirmed its positive trend. Meanwhile, the performance of Egypt Factors has been inevitably affected by the political situation in the country although the amount and quality of business in the factoring area look promising. The performance of FactorRus has also been affected by serious impairments (as also evidenced in the 2013 half-year results) while India Factors continuous to register a promising performance. The results of BrasilFactors continue to reflect a break-even operating performance in its start-up years of operations.

The announcement also noted that earlier this year, Burgan Bank S.A.K. and United Gulf Bank became the new largest shareholders in the Group with a 49.78% stake in line with the multi-step takeover approach approved in January 2013 by FIMBank’s shareholders during an Extraordinary General Meeting. The Directors explained that the new shareholding structure has already improved the position of FIMBank with regard to access to new funding. New developments in connection with the multi-step approach should be announced in the near future.

In conclusion, the Directors stated that the operating performance of the FIMBank Group for the remaining part of the year is expected to follow on the positive trends showed in the first half of 2013.