MEXICO CITY--(EON: Enhanced Online News)--UNIFIN Financiera, S.A.B. de C.V. SOFOM, E.N.R. (“UNIFIN” or “the Company”) (BMV:UNIFIN), announces its results for the fourth quarter (“4Q17”) and twelve months of 2017 (“2017”). All figures presented throughout this document are expressed in millions of Mexican pesos (Ps.). Financial information has been prepared in accordance with the accounting criteria of the Mexican National Banking and Securities Commission (“CNBV”) and filed with the Mexican Stock Exchange (“BMV”).
4Q17 Highlights
- Total Revenues increased 57.8% to Ps. 4,224 million in 4Q17.
- Nominal financial margin increased by 37.8% y-o-y.
- OPEX, improved to 7.7% in 4Q17 vs. 7.8% at the close of 4Q16. Efficiency ratio was 36.4%.
- Operating income increased 88.9% during the quarter. Operating income was Ps. 2,300 million for the year.
- Net income rose 66.5% in 4Q17, reaching Ps. 491 million. Net income reached Ps. 1,771 million in 2017.
- As of December, 31, 2017, total loan portfolio reached Ps. 41,672 million, up 38.3% y-o-y.
- Net fixed assets and total assets increased 40.8% and 31.3%, respectively, at the close of 4Q17.
- NPL ratio stood at 0.74%
- On January 25th of 2018 the Company issued its first perpetual bond in an amount of US$250 million. This transaction was oversubscribed over 7x, proving once again the trust that investors have placed in UNIFIN. Given the accounting criteria for this type of instrument, the transaction significantly enhanced the Company’s capital structure, thus improving its capitalization ratio and contributed to maximize its platform.
- On February 8th, 2018, UNIFIN once again tapped the international markets, to fulfill its need for funding for the year in light of the expected volatility in the markets given Nafta negotiation, and the upcoming presidential election. This transaction was for US$300 million, and it will help the Company achieve its established budget for the year.
Statement from the Chief Executive Officer:
During 2017, we decided to maximize UNIFIN’s platform in order to continue serving the SME market despite the volatile domestic and global environment. It was not an easy task given the uncertainty caused by worldwide political troubles and its consequential turmoil in the markets. This, derived in sluggish decision-making by Mexican entrepreneurs which caused a lower than expected volume of origination during the first months of the year. Despite this, we were able to recover this volume quarter by quarter, given the Company's outstanding capabilities for origination.
Nevertheless, despite this environment we managed to achieve great accomplishments. It was a year of growth across all of our business lines which allowed us to post excellent results with increases in total revenues, operating income and net income of 51%, 57% and 46% year-over-year, respectively.
We successfully tapped the local and international markets, proving once again the confidence investors have placed in UNIFIN. We generated the largest leasing securitization in Mexican history, for Ps. 3,500 million; we also issued US$450 million in the international markets, contributing to the excellent track record that UNIFIN has created throughout its history. Added with the previous issuances and continuing with the prudent risk management approach, we improved the maturity profile of our funding mix to 53 months compared to a weighted average of approximately 38 months in our portfolio.
While our current capitalization ratio is quite healthy, we began working towards improving the Company's capital structure and prepare it for the future. Considering that our goal is to maximize our platform and continue growing together with the Mexican SMEs during January 2018, the Company issued its first perpetual bond for US$250 million and the transaction was oversubscribed over 7x. Given the accounting criteria for this type of instrument, the transaction significantly enhanced the Company’s capital structure, as it is fully recorded as equity, taking our capitalization ratio close to 20.0%
While 2018 will be a complex year with a domestic political agenda, NAFTA negotiations, and international volatility, we are convinced that the macroeconomic fundamentals of our country are solid and positive. We will continue growing supported by the knowledge in our market, which is highly resilient to volatility.
Luis Barroso, CEO of UNIFIN
For a full version of UNIFIN’s Fourth Quarter 2017 Earnings
Release, please visit:
http://unifin.com.mx/ri/en/quarterly_info.php
Conference Call:
Date: Friday, February 16, 2018
Time: 10:00 a.m. Eastern
Time / 9:00 a.m. Mexico City Time
Presenting for UNIFIN:
Mr. Sergio Camacho, Chief Financial
Officer
Mr. David Pernas, Investor Relations Officer
To access the Conference Call, please dial:
1-800-791-4813 (U.S.
participants)
1-785-424-1102 (International participants)
Conference
ID: UNIFIN
About UNIFIN
UNIFIN is the leading independent Mexican leasing company, operating as a non-banking financial services company, specializing in three main business lines: operating leasing, factoring and auto and other lending. Through UNIFIN’s leasing business line, its core business line, the Company offers operating leases for all types of equipment and machinery, various types of transportation vehicles (including cars, trucks, helicopters, airplanes and other vessels) and other assets in a variety of industries. Through its factoring business line, UNIFIN provides liquidity and financing solutions to its customers by purchasing or discounting accounts receivable and by providing vendor financing. UNIFIN’s auto loans business line is focused on financing the acquisition of new and used vehicles.