AFL : First half-year 2024: Business continued to grow at a
sustained pace, delivering positive earnings
First half-year 2024:
Business continued to grow at a sustained pace, delivering positive
earnings
The AFL Group has unveiled its earnings
for H1 2024. Highlights include:
-
New memberships expressed as pledged capital are up €21.5
million in H1 2024 - as much as during the full year in
2023.
-
Credit origination hit a new record high after growing 18%
in H1 2024 compared to H1 2023.
-
Half-year earnings, excluding non-recurring items, rose 16%
between 2023 and 2024.
-
Changes to local authority risk weightings, down from 20%
to 0%, allow the debt securities issued by AFL to be classified as
HQLA1 (decision by ACPR in June 2024).
Consolidated earnings - key figures at
June 30, 2024:
Member local authorities: 878
(+102 local authorities vs. 31/12/2023)
Pledged capital: 315 million
euros (+21.5 million vs. 31/12/2023)
Loan production: 622 billion
euros (+18% vs. 30/06/2023)
Funds raised in the market:
1,400 million euros (part of a 2,500-million-euro
programme) with a 39-basis point margin over the OAT yield
curve.
Net interest margin: 11.6
billion euros (-10.5% vs. 30/06/2023)
Gross operating income: 2.9
billion euros (-25% vs. June 30, 2023)
Net income after tax: 1.96
billion euros (-31% vs. June 30, 2023)
Cost/income ratio: 73.1% (vs.
67.4% as of December 31, 2023)
Solvency ratio:
77.7% (vs. 13.23% as of
December 31, 2023)
Leverage ratio for public development lending
institutions: 9.69% (vs. 8.86% as of
December 31, 2023)
Banking leverage
ratio1:
2.42% (vs. 2.24% as of December 31, 2023)
Record increase in lending activity and
in the number of new local authority memberships
Record credit
origination
During H1 2024, AFL granted loans of 622
million euros to its local authority members, 18% more
than as of June 2023. This trend is being observed as demand for
debt remains high, fuelled by the need to fund mid-term projects
and address major challenges posed by the environmental and climate
transition.
Over 100 new local authority
members
Buoyed by this lending momentum and its
increasingly strong reputation, AFL registered 102 new
local authority memberships, thereby bringing its total
members to 878 at 30 June, 2024.
These new members are: 3 departments, 5 unions,
2 communities of communes, 5 urban communities and 87
municipalities of various sizes. Overall, AFL Group members include
a total of 6 regions, 17 French departments, 669 municipalities and
186 EPCIs (groupings of municipalities) including 15 cities and 50
unions.
This represents an additional capital commitment
of 21.5 million euros, voted in H1 2024, bringing
the total to 315 million
euros.
Efficient refinancing that stands
out for the continued diversification of
issuances
In H1 2024, AFL raised 1.4 billion
euros in the bond market with a weighted average maturity
of 7.8 years:
-
A syndicated bond issue of 750 million euros with
a 10-year maturity;
-
The first syndicated issuance in Swiss francs for a total
110 million, with a 10-year maturity;
-
A new 3-year syndicated bond issuance in sterling for a total
250 million;
-
Several Euro-denominated private placements including six
“callable” deals (pre-determined term) for a total 221
million euros.
The weighted average spread on these issues was
39-basis points over the Obligations
Assimilables du Trésor (OAT) curve, a substantial improvement
compared to the previous financial year (average of 49 basis points
over OAT in 2023).
Financial results are aligned with the
business plan
Robust earnings (consolidated
earnings under IFRS)
At June 30, 2024, the AFL Group has generated
the income needed to pursue its growth:
-
Net banking income (NBI) came in at
€10,785 thousand (€12,179 thousand as of
30/06/2023).
-
Net interest margin for the AFL Group stood at
€11,586 thousand (€12,940 thousand of 30/06/2024).
This decline stems from the exceptional results recorded in the
first half of 2023, boosted notably by the substantial drop in cash
carrying costs after the ECB raised its deposit rate.
-
The gross operating income stood at €2,901
thousand (€3,868 thousand as of 30/06/2023).
-
Excluding non-recurring items (i.e. excluding
income from capital gains on disposals of securities and hedge
accounting), gross operating income was €4,015
thousand (€3,452 thousand in H2 2023).
-
Operating costs during the period came to
€7,336 thousand as of June 30, 2024
(€7,857 thousand as of 30/06/2023), reflecting AFL’s
disciplined management and the end of the contribution to the
Single Resolution Fund.
-
Net income as of June 30, 2024, stood at
€1,954 thousand (€2,840 thousand as of
June 30, 2024).
Earnings
that meet our expectations and confirm the resilience of AFL’s
model
“The AFL Group's
results at the end of the first half of 2024 are in positive
territory for the long term. They are in line with the forecast
included in the budget for the year 2024 and the multi-annual
business plan. They reflect the sustained growth of the bank's core
business: an accelerating rate of membership and historic credit
production. With the 0% risk weighting of local authorities, the
quality of the AFL signature in capital markets improves further
and will allow it to strengthen its competitiveness in financing
local public investment”, states Yves Millardet, Chairman of the
Executive Board of AFL.
The cost of risk is intrinsically
low in AFL’s model
AFL’s cost of risk is
intrinsically limited due to its model as a public development
credit institution, the company’s prudent management and the
excellent solvency of local authorities. As an example, AFL has
zero exposure to stage 3 (default status) assets.
At June 30, 2024, the cost of risk
relating to ex-ante impairment for expected losses on
financial assets under IFRS 9 was a charge of €255
thousand (compared with a charge of €71 thousand at
30/06/2023).
This rise in the cost of risk is mainly
attributable to higher asset volumes, and to a lesser extent, to
revisions made to the assumptions used for determining the economic
scenarios by asset class, to account for the deterioration of
macroeconomic and geo-strategic risks.
The operating income stands at
€2,645 thousand (€3,797 thousand as of June 30,
2023). This led to a rise in the cost/income ratio to 73.1% (68.2%
as of June 30, 2023). Relative to credit volumes, operating
expenses account for 19 basis points; this is a 1
basis-point improvement compared to December 31, 2023,
confirming the efficiency of our model.
Financial strength
The highlight event for AFL during the period
was the ACPR (Supervision and Resolution Authority)’s decision on
June 21, 2024 (and published on July 3, 2024) to change the credit
risk weighting of exposures to French local authorities from
20% to 0%. This decision is applicable to
municipalities, departments, regions and EPCI (with specific tax
status), and has generated a significant facial increase for the
AFL Group’s solvency ratio.
Furthermore, following its decision on June 21,
2024, the ACPR supervisory college announced that the debt issued
by AFL would qualify as HQLA1 if the percentage of the credit
granted by AFL to local authorities with 0% weightings is above 90%
of its outstanding credit. Exposure to French local authorities
with 0% weightings stands at 94.9% as of June 30, 2024 - which is
largely above the minimum threshold of 90%.
-
The CET1 solvency ratio (consolidated) stands at
77.7% (13.23% at 31/12/2023);
-
The leverage ratio, calculated using the
methodology applicable to public development credit institutions,
was 9.69% (compared to 8.86% as of 31/12/2023 and
for a regulatory limit of 3%);
-
The banking leverage ratio stands at
2.42% (2.24% as of 31/12/2023);
-
The liquidity coverage ratio (LCR) stands at
622%, above the regulatory limit of 100%;
-
The net stable funding ratio (NSFR) stands at
171%, above the regulatory threshold of 100%;
-
The 12-month internal liquidity ratio
(NCRR) came to 98% at 30 June
2024, corresponding to a liquidity reserve of €2.1 billion. This
will allow AFL to meet all its needs for almost 12 months without
having to turn to the market.
Post-closing events
-
Since the end of H1 2024, on July 18, 2024, AFL tapped its bond
maturing on March 20, 2034, by €250 million with a narrower margin
of 23 basis points over the OAT rate. This narrower margin stems
from the HQLA1 classification of the debt issued by AFL (cf. ACPR
decision explained above).
-
As of August 31, 2024, AFL’s medium- and long-term loan production
was €831 million, confirming its steady and solid growth.
-
A further capital increase was carried out by the Board of
Directors of AFL-ST on September 25, 2024, to allow new local
authorities to gain membership.
-
On September 4, 2024, AFL published the credit ratings assigned by
Fitch Ratings: AA- (stable outlook) for mid-and long-term debt and
F1+ (stable outlook) for short-term debt. At the same time, for
purposes of methodology, Moody’s was asked to delete all ratings
and assessments it had completed on AFL.
- To continue to support the growth
momentum of its loan portfolio and to address demand from its
members, while maintaining high levels of equity capital, AFL is
looking into the possibility of issuing super subordinated debt in
the near future, market conditions permitting.
AFL credit rating at 25
September, 2024
|
Fitch Ratings |
Standard & Poor’s |
Long-term rating |
AA- |
AA- |
Outlook |
Stable |
Stable |
Short-term rating |
F1+ |
A-1+ |
AFL’s Management Board signed off on AFL’s
interim financial statements2 for the
first half of 2024 on September 10, 2024. At its meeting on
September 25, 2024, chaired by Sacha Briand, AFL’s Supervisory
Board approved AFL’s interim financial statements.
At its meeting on September 25, 2024, chaired by Marie Ducamin,
the Board of Directors of AFL-ST, the Société Territoriale (parent
company), approved AFL Group’s consolidated interim financial
statements.
The Statutory Auditors conducted a limited
review of the concise interim parent company and consolidated
financial statements for the period from January 1, 2024 to June
30, 2024, and their reports are available at:
http://www.agence-france-locale.fr
This press release contains certain
forward-looking statements. Although AFL Group believes that these
statements are based on reasonable assumptions as of the date of
this press release, they are inherently subject to risks and
uncertainties, relating in particular to the impacts of the war in
Ukraine and the resulting economic crisis, which may cause actual
results to differ from those indicated or implied in these
statements.
AFL Group’s financial
information for the first half of the year consists of this press
release and the report available on the website:
https://www.agence-france-locale.fr/actualite/first-half-year-2024-results/
About Agence
France Locale
“Embody responsible
finance and empower local authorities to respond to the present and
future needs of their
inhabitants.”
“By creating the first bank that we wholly own and manage, we, the
French local authorities, have taken a strong political step toward
decentralization. Agence France Locale is unlike any other
financial institution. Created by and for local authorities, it
acts in a local context to strengthen our freedom, our ability to
develop projects and our responsibility as public actors. Its
culture of prudence safeguards us against the potential dangers
posed by the complexity and depth of its governance and conflicts
of interest. Its fundamental objective is to offer local
authorities access to resources on the best terms and with complete
transparency. We are guided by the principles of solidarity and
equity. Convinced that we will go further together, we wanted an
agile institution that would appeal to all authorities, from the
largest regions to the smallest municipalities. We see profit as a
way to optimize public spending, not an end in itself. Through AFL,
we support a local environment committed to addressing social,
economic and environmental challenges. AFL strengthens our power to
act, to carry out projects locally, for today and tomorrow, for the
good of the people who live there. We are proud to have a bank that
expresses growth as we see it, ever more responsible and
sustainable. We are Agence France Locale.”
More information can be found on
www.afl-banque.fr
1The decree of July 15, 2024 amending the Code
Général des Collectivités Territoriales (French Law for Regional
and Local Authorities) states that local authorities wishing to
become members of AFL must ensure that the risk appetite framework
set by the banking institution includes a minimum equity capital
threshold of at least 1.7 % of total exposure.
2 During the first half of 2024, AFL purchased office space
through its subsidiary Agence France Locale Foncière. This property
will house AFL’s headquarters from 2027.
- CP- résultats semestriels 2024 - EN_VF
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