KRUK’s record-breaking quarter and year, with PLN 825m in recoveries

In 2015, recoveries on debt portfolios purchased by the KRUK Group reached PLN 825m, or 116% of the 2014 figure. In Q4 alone, they amounted to PLN 220m, up 7% on Q3 2015. Expenditure on debt portfolios purchased in 2015 totalled PLN 489m, of which PLN 198m was spent in Q4. The expenditure made in 2015 does not include the amount of up to PLN 217m provided for in the investment agreement for the purchase of P.R.E.S.C.O. Group’s debt portfolio.

“This record-breaking performance in Q4 was an effect of our day-to-day work and continued efforts to ensure higher recoveries from the debt portfolios we hold. At the same time, we enjoyed favourable economic environment in the countries where we operate,” says Piotr Krupa, President of KRUK S.A. “The fourth quarter was also marked by high expenditure, driven by high supply, which is expected to continue in the coming months. We make investments across six European countries, and the seventh − Spain − is within our geographic reach. 2015 was a landmark year in this respect. We set our company on a growth path in the largest consumer markets in Europe. In Germany and Italy we have already purchased the first debt portfolios, and in Spain we are technically ready to start business, via our Madrid-based subsidiary. Still, most of our investments in 2015 were made on the Polish market. In the coming years, our foreign operations are expected to grow in significance, although Poland will always remain an important business market to us.”

In the entire 2015, the KRUK Group companies purchased 86 debt portfolios with the total nominal value of PLN 4.9bn. The Group’s largest investments in 2015 included a debt portfolio of Romania’s Pireaus Bank (nominal value of PLN 761m) and Polish portfolios of PKO BP (PLN 530m) and Santander Consumer Bank (PLN 317m).

“Although we are already working on the 2016 results, the December/January period is a good time to summarise our past year’s achievements. 2015 was marked with a number of milestone events for the KRUK Group. At its beginning, we announced our strategic objectives for 2015−2019. In pursuit of our strategy, we embarked on strengthening our leading position in the region and purchased the first debt portfolios in Germany and Italy. We are also performing portfolio valuations in Spain. In 2015, we started a historic transaction to purchase the entire debt portfolio from P.R.E.S.C.O. Group. We expect to make the related expenditure and take over the portfolio within the next few months. We are also working on other major transactions, such as the acquisition on the Romanian market, effected in conjunction with International Finance Corporation, member of the World Bank Group. Other projects, of various sizes, are ahead of us, and we are an organisation with a constant appetite for growth,” Piotr Krupa adds.