Cassa depositi e prestiti SpA (CDP) announces that the Board of Directors met today under the chairmanship of Franco Bassanini. The Board examined and approved CDP's 2011-2013 Business Plan.
Rome, 2 March 2011
Cassa depositi e prestiti SpA (CDP) announces that the Board of Directors met today under the chairmanship of Franco Bassanini. The Board examined and approved CDP's 2011-2013 Business Plan. It seeks to consolidate CDP's role as a key partner in the long-term finance segment. To achieve this goal, CDP must meet the challenges posed by market developments in the next three years, in particular those related to the global decline in the availability of resources compared with growing investment needs and a possible increase in the cost of capital.
The financial performance expected to be achieved through the 2011-2013 Plan will be characterized by growth in lending and postal funding, the maintenance of high levels of operational efficiency and a significant increase in available capital.
CDP intends to pursue these objectives:
More than €40 billion in new resources. In the coming three years, CDP will provide more than €40 billion in new resources to the economy, compared with €33 billion in the previous three years (+29%). As regards the public sector, which is affected by the constraints on the ability of local governments to borrow imposed by the condition of the public finances and the rules of the Internal Stability Pact, CDP will maintain or slightly expand its existing large market share by granting €18 billion in new loans (€20 billion in the previous three years). At the same time, with almost €24 billion in loans and over €1 billion in equity investments, CDP will confirm its position as a major player in the financing of infrastructure and one of the key actors in providing support to the productive system. In particular, new CDP resources for infrastructure financing will amount to €11 billion, compared with €6 billion in the previous three years. CDP will also double the volume of new loans to help enterprises, reaching €14 billion. The use of private resources, such as postal savings and market funding, will ensure that this action to sustain the growth of the country does not impact the public debt.
Funding. The primary objective of the Plan is to ensure the stability of postal funding and to consolidate market funding. CDP's net postal funding will total about €36 billion. New products will be rolled out to encourage long-term savings.
Enabling factors. Critical factors for achieving the priority objectives of the 2011-2013 Business Plan include the following: careful management of risk and capital; a fundamental transformation of operational approach; the doubling of technology investments compared with the previous three years (more than €20 million); expanding staff with the hiring of highly qualified new personnel and boosting the skills of current employees. At the same time, CDP will maintain a high level of operating efficiency, with a cost-revenue ratio of less than 5%.
Initiatives under development. Work is under way to develop new initiatives in support of local governments, infrastructure and businesses, the effects of which are not reflected in the 2011-2013 Plan. They could therefore give rise to a further increase in the resources made available by CDP over the three years covered by the Plan. These include the creation of new tools to leverage the resources of local governments, support for the activities of Italian companies abroad, participation in European projects to support research and environmental protection, and new equity investments in greenfield infrastructure projects.
Performance and financial position. The 2011-2013 period will close with even stronger financials. The stock of loans to customers will increase to €108 billion, compared with an estimated €92 billion at end-2010. Postal funding will amount to €256 billion, up from about €207 billion at end-2010. Market funding will also be strengthened, reaching €12 billion. With the implementation of the Plan, annual net income will increase to about €2 billion by the end of the period and CDP's capital base will be strengthened. Equity will amount to €18 billion, with a return on available capital of around 10%, in line with current values.