The Small and Medium Enterprise Financing Bank (BFPME) has released its audited financial statements for the year ending December 31, 2023, which will be presented for approval at the Ordinary General Assembly meeting on April 8, 2025.
The statements reveal a net loss of 16.1 million dinars, compared to a 12 million dinar loss in 2022, bringing cumulative losses to 142 million dinars.
As a result, the bank’s equity has significantly declined since 2020, reaching negative 40 million dinars by December 31, 2023.
Net equity stood at negative 42.7 million dinars at year-end, with a solvency ratio of -4.92% (well below the required 10% minimum) and a Tier I ratio of -4.92% (against a 7% requirement).
The BFPME’s Net Banking Income (NBI) fell 27% to 6.5 million dinars in 2023 from 8.8 million dinars in 2022, driven by a 14% decrease in operating income (from 12.2 million to 10.4 million dinars). Personnel expenses reached 12.6 million dinars – nearly double the bank’s NBI.
Including provisions (4.2 million dinars) and general operating expenses (3.5 million dinars), the bank’s operating loss widened to 14 million dinars from 12.7 million dinars in 2022.
The bank also wrote off 24 loans to 22 clients totaling 10 million dinars, later revised downward after audit to 21 loans for 19 clients worth 9.7 million dinars.
