Annual report
CONSORTED COOPERATION ACTIVITIES
INTRODUCTION
Product of the joint work and mutual collaboration between Basque Savings Banks, various joint companies have been constituted in various spheres such as intermediation in the capital market, in the insurance and welfare field, in computer services and in other specialized areas.
CAPITAL MARKET
Norbolsa S.V.B.
After stock market indexes recorded minimum levels in the month of March, recovery began thanks to the stabilization of the financial sector and by the end of the year the IBEX was up 30% and EURO STOXX 21%.
In 2009, Norbolsa obtained pre-tax profits of 2,877 thousand euros and net profits of 2,483 thousand euros. With a total intermediation volume of 13,026 million euros, Norbolsa was listed third on the Bilbao Stock Exchange.
In terms of the variable income contracted in the SIBE Integrated Electronic Stock Exchange System, Norbolsa brokered a volume of 3,173 million euros during 2008. It is also worth mentioning their involvement as co-leaders in the issue of Basque Government bonds for October 2009 to the sum of 700 million euros, thereby continuing as the leading society in the Basque public debt secondary market.
Norbolsa's evolution has enabled it to reinforce its financial strength and improve its competitive position in the stock company sector as testified by its net assets of 27 million euros at the close of 2009 and a 22% IRR during its twenty years of existence.In 2009, Norbolsa continued to develop its strategic plan with the implementation of new services such as Norbolsa Asesoramiento y Adquisiciones (Advice and Acquisitions), security lending and the launch of its new, technologically outstanding Norbolsa Broker website which once again put it at the forefront of Internet stock market services.
INSURANCE AND PENSIONS
Biharko Vida y Pensiones, Compañía de Seguros y Reaseguros S.A.
The number of premiums amounted to 46.6 million euros, with an increase of 2%. The number of policies totalled 240,300. The volume of saving managed stood at 615 million euros. In its activity of managing pension plans and voluntary social protection schemes, Biharko Vida y Pensiones administered assets of 417 million euros corresponding to 15 pension plans and 7 voluntary social protection schemes, with 45,378 contributors. The pre-tax result of the financial year totalled 7.6 million euros.
Biharko Aseguradora
The main product offered by Biharko Aseguradora is comprehensive home insurance and payment protection insurance and activity has been positive throughout the year.
The number of policies managed reached 256,197, which was 4.7% higher than the previous year, and turnover stood at 44.3 million euros, which was 7.5% higher than in 2008.The pre-tax result reached 6.3 million euros, consolidating the favourable behaviour of previous financial years.
COMPUTING SERVICES
Serinor
This company attempts to respond to computing needs and in 2009 it developed various activities and projects. In the area of means of payment, in addition to the activities of support and response to the demands of the corporate areas of the user savings banks, the service has successfully coped with the definition and launching of new cards, massive changeover to EMV, modified debit dates, etc.
A project has also been instigated to update the application's hardware and software. These initiatives highlight the application's ability to adapt to new business and operative and safety requirements. The new self-service application was progressively introduced into the network of cashpoints of user savings banks.
Functions were further improved with the introduction of other self-service devices for updating bankbooks and dispensing cash. New features were also incorporated in the application such as the use of contactless cards and accessibility provisions for the blind.
The application, which was developed both for property management and the works module, was implemented in various client entities. These have collaborated with the member Savings Banks on a study which defines the reference model for dealing with peripheral hardware incidents.
The Compensation Club commitment was renewed for a further period and this included the new services for SEPA legislation for debit operations. A joint project has been undertaken for the technological upgrade of payroll and human resource applications.
OTHER COMPANIES
Servatas
This company provides valuation services for the Basque Savings Banks. In an environment of falling real-estate activity, a total number of 23,356 valuations were carried out in the 2009 financial year which represented turnover of 6,378 thousand euros. Of these valuations, 62% were performed in the Basque Country, followed by 11.8% in Madrid. In 93.4% of cases, the purpose of the valuation was to secure a mortgage
Luzaro
TThe social aim of Luzaro Establecimiento Financiero de Crédito, a public limited company promoted by the three Basque Savings Banks and other financial institutions in collaboration with the Basque government, is to grant long-term participatory loans in an attempt to consolidate the financial structure of Basque SMEs.
In 2009, operations to the sum of 79.2 million euros were formalized of which 58.5 correspond to participatory loans, which have risen significantly by 106% on the previous year’s volume. The company closed the financial year with a net result of 997 thousand euros, thereby increasing company solvency and security with funds standing at 15,791 thousand euros, in addition to the 1,487 thousand euros that comprise the insolvency fund which covers 132% of the risk of doubtful loans.
Housing Operating Services
Since 2000, the Basque Savings Banks have participated as the main financial partners (together with the public corporation Visesa) in the companies ALOKABIDE and ORUBIDE for developing housing policy for leasing and land.
Alokabide
The main objective of this company is to promote renting as a means of access to housing for young people under the age of 35, single-parent families with limited financial means, and other people meeting the conditions required for the special subsidized housing scheme.
The function of Alokabide is to manage rental of most state-subsidised housing in the ACBC either from its own promotions or in agreement with Visesa and from the housing stock of other institutions (Basque Government, Town Councils, etc.). In 2009, new promotions were purchased to the value of 7.7 million euros to make 111 properties available for rent in Llodio (34), Etxebarri (45), Soraluce (16) y Tolosa (16). The company currently manages 2,004 rented properties.
Orubide
This company acts as a residential land operator for the ACBC to supply public and private agents on favourable terms in order to incorporate shortages of primarily subsidized housing and also non-subsidized housing on mixed land at reasonable prices, either by pre-purchasing the land or merely managing the development activity on behalf of the land owners. In 2009, the company managed 270 hectares of land to provide developed land for more than 13,424 homes, 6,424 of which were for subsidized housing.
GESFIR Back Office Services
The Basque Savings Banks, in collaboration with a specialist entity, have a company for managing and processing documents relating to mortgage operations and other associated operations, such as deeds of conveyance and cancellations.
EKARPEN
On 1st July 2008, the Basque Savings Banks (BBK, Kutxa, Vital), together with the Basque Government and the Provincial Councils of Alava, Gipuzkoa and Bizkaia, established the company EKARPEN to handle the acquisition of industrial holdings to enable Basque companies to confront the challenges of economic globalisation, to boost cooperation and to optimise their financing and managerial capacity.
Company investment will be directed towards the entire corporate sector and projects must have a high-value creation potential. The objective is to support innovative sectors and suitably-sized projects which are strategically attractive for the Basque Country.
