Around 1,700 companies benefited from the resources mobilized by the Institut Català de Finances (ICF) in 2023, with an activity that increased by 17% compared to the previous year. Thus, the operations in loans and guarantees and venture capital promoted by the public entity reached 641 million euros, 94.5 million more than the previous year.
This increase has been led by loan and guarantee operations, which have gone from 478.7 million in 2022 to 597.2 million in 2023. Of these, 150 million have been directed to the manufacturing industry; 134 million have been allocated to the trade, tourism, and transport sectors; 101 million, to the agri-food industry and the primary sector, and 62 million, to social housing and public works, among other areas.
With housing promotions that have received support from the ICF pending activation, the Catalan public bank acts as "one of the main actors in the financing of official protection housing." "Almost everything that is being done in Catalonia, we are doing it," guaranteed the CEO of the ICF, Vanessa Servera.
The public entity registered a net result of 49.5 million in 2023, 83.7% more than the previous yearWithin the guarantees and loans granted by the ICF, one out of every two euros has been allocated to projects with environmental, social, and governance criteria (ASG). "The commitment to sustainability explains a large part of the increase in activity this 2023," Servera pointed out, after initiatives linked to these criteria saw their activity in the ICF increase from 199 million in 2022 to 308 million in 2023.
In contrast to this increase in loan and guarantee operations, ICF's venture capital activity has decreased, going from 67.8 million to 43.8 million. This reduction has been in line with the general trend in the financial sector and has been influenced by the effects of the Covid-19 pandemic.
On the other hand, ICF closed 2023 with 91 restructuring operations, with a total value of 63.5 million. With a 45% reduction compared to the previous year due to the recovery after the pandemic, ICF carries them out to modify the conditions of loans made to favor the payment capacity of companies. In addition, the entity ended 2023 with a delinquency rate of 7.1%. With the aim of facilitating the repayment of loans, the public bank closed the year with an average repayment period of ten years.
Profit of 49.5 million
The public entity registered a net result of 49.5 million in 2023, an 83.7% increase compared to the previous year, mainly due to the increase in the financial margin that has occurred in the sector. Given this increase of 22 million compared to the previous year, Servera has assured that ICF reinvests these resources in its activity. Furthermore, she highlighted that these data improve its solvency, which is crucial for attracting public and private investors: "The better the data we can provide them, the easier it will be for them to offer us the most advantageous conditions possible."
These conditions also affect the beneficiaries of ICF's activity, which in 2023 rose to 1,657, tripling the figure registered in 2022. Of these companies that received financing from the entity, 98% were SMEs and entrepreneur initiatives.
ICF plans to allocate 55 million euros to its line for the primary sector, and opens the door to increasing the amount depending on the needs of the sectorThe notable increase in beneficiaries responds above all to the creation of the new line aimed at the primary sector, the ICF Agroliquiditat, which benefited 1,236 companies in this sector in 2023. This line, which offers loans of between 50,000 and 100,000 euros, made 77 million euros available to the sector last year.
For this 2024 and in a context marked by drought and inflation, the ICF has already allocated another 20 million to farmers, ranchers and other actors in the primary sector. The entity has announced the activation of another 35 million in this line, to which new tranches will foreseeably be added throughout the year and depending on the needs of the sector.