KRUK spends over PLN 300m on debt portfolio purchases in 2012

In Q4 2012 alone, the capital expenditure of the KRUK Group (the Group) on purchases of debt portfolios amounted to PLN 120m, with the nominal value of debt cases reaching nearly PLN 1.1bn. In the fourth quarter of the year, the KRUK Group purchased 17 portfolios of banks' retail receivables, including six in Poland, four in Romania, four in the Czech Republic, and three in Slovakia.

In the entire year of 2012, the KRUK Group spent a total of PLN 310m to purchase debt portfolios. In Poland, Romania, the Czech Republic and Slovakia, the Group purchased a total of 53 portfolios from financial institutions and telecommunications companies. Purchased debts include three corporate debt portfolios. The total nominal value of the debt portfolios purchased in the entire 2012 stands at over PLN 3.6bn (over 416 thousand individual debt cases). Considering the situation at the beginning of the previous year and the aggressive purchase policy observed on the market, I believe that total investments of PLN 310m in the entire 2012 can be seen as a very good result.

"We should remember that the purchases are a long-term investment for the next several long years," says Mr Piotr Krupa, President of the Management Board of KRUK S.A.
The debt purchase market should remain in an upward trend this year. The banking sector keeps generating supply by putting on sale consumer debts. In line with its previous practice, KRUK will continue to be active on the debt purchase market, participating in auctions for the purchase of debt portfolios in all markets where the Group is present. We can already see from the transactions planned by the banks that in 2013 banks may auction debt portfolios with the nominal value between PLN 7bn and PLN 10bn. Therefore, we can expect high supply. In all the markets where the KRUK Group is present, companies will spend between PLN 1.4bn and 1.7bn on purchases of debt portfolios.

"We intend to maintain a 20%-25% share in the debt purchase market," Mr Krupa added.