FIMBank plc - Full-Year Results

On 13 April 2022, FIMBank plc published the Annual Report and Financial Statements for the year ended 31 December 2021.

Performance Overview

Net interest income contracted by 13.2% to USD24.9 million (2020: USD28.6 million) as the 7.1% drop in interest expense to USD12.6 million was not enough to offset the 11.2% reduction in gross interest income to USD37.5 million reflecting the impact from the low interest rate environment as well as narrower spreads.

On the other hand, FIMBank reported a substantial increase in non-interest income to USD16.3 million compared to USD10.3million in 2020. The main drivers were the higher levels of net fee and commission income (+USD1.87 million) and dividend income (+USD0.85 million), as well as the positive result of USD3.03 million from trading assets and other financial instruments compared to a loss of USD0.4 million recorded in 2020.

On the expenditure side, total operating costs increased by 3.9% to USD40.5 million reflecting additional investments in HR and technology. As a result of the stronger increase in revenues than costs, the cost-to-income ratio improved to 98.5% compared to 100.3% in 2020.

Meanwhile, the financial performance of the Bank was boosted by the sharp drop in net impairment losses which amounted to USD1.91 million compared to USD35.7 million in the previous corresponding period.

Overall, FIMBank reported a pre-tax loss of USD1.29 million which is significantly lower than the loss of USD35.8 million reported in 2020. After accounting for a tax charge of USD2.32 million and minority interests of USD0.23 million, the net loss for the year amounted to USD3.84 million.

The Statement of Financial Position as at 31 December 2021 shows that total assets contracted by 2.5% to USD1.79 billion whilst total liabilities eased by 2.3% to USD1.56 billion. However, given the increase of 6.2% in customer loans to USD628.9 million and the drop of 15.2% in customer deposits to USD934.1 million, the loan-to-deposit ratio improved to 67.3% compared to 53.7% in 2020.

Shareholders’ funds contracted by 4% to USD223.4 million which, in turn, translates into a net asset value per share of USD0.428 (31 December 2020: USD0.446). Despite the reduction in equity, FIMBank’s capital ratios strengthened as the CET1 ratio and total capital ratio stood at 18.7% compared to 18.5% as at the end of 2020. In this respect, the Bank also added that following a reduction in the Pillar 2 Requirement, it has further space for the origination of additional assets that fall within its risk appetite and generate incremental revenue streams.

Outlook

In their commentary, the Directors of FIMBank explained that despite the significant headwinds across global economies, the Bank is looking at the future with optimism on the back of its commitment to continue enhancing its activities, simply its business model, as well as expand its product offering to clients.