The public investment bank Bpifrance returned to profit in 2021 and hailed a “historic” year on Monday by publishing its annual results, driven by its investment activity and the drop in provisions for unpaid debts.
Last year, Bpifrance made a net profit of 1.8 billion euros, after having lost 140 million euros in 2020, the bank having then chosen to make significant provisions to cope with the impact of the health crisis. on the economy.
The year 2021 has been historic, declared the general manager of Bpifrance, Nicolas Dufourcq, during a press conference.
The group’s net banking income, equivalent to turnover, reached 2.9 billion euros, more than those of 2019 and 2020 additions.
The investment division, which represents Bpifrance’s equity investments in companies, represents the largest share of net banking income: it contributed 1.9 billion euros to the group, including 800 million euros for the investment fund activity alone. funds (investment in other funds).
Added to this is a cost of risk, that is to say the money set aside to deal with possible unpaid debts, in sharp decline, underlines Mr. Dufourcq, 75million euros in 2021 against 462million in 2020.
If operating expenses also increased last year, 870 million euros (+ 9.7%), they did so significantly less than our income, continues the leader, allowing the group to generate a profit never seen before. .
Bpifrance has 44.4 billion euros in assets under management (+6.7% compared to 2020), including 10.1 billion on behalf of third parties, and its outstanding loans amount to 45.1 billion euros.
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A player in the implementation of the recovery plan, the group injected some 25 billion euros into companies last year, including 15.1 billion in the form of financing and 4.4 billion euros for innovation.
In terms of solvency, the group has a core equity ratio, a key sector indicator, of more than 30%, far from the minimum of 9.5% required by the regulator.
The group also values the share of its portfolio directly exposed to Ukraine and Russia at less than 500 million euros.