Rome, 26th January 2011
Cassa depositi e prestiti Spa announces that the Board of Directors met today under the chairmanship of Franco Bassanini.
The Board approved the budget for 2011 and examined the preliminary results for 2010.
In 2010, CDP registered new lending of about €11.6 billion (+2% over 2009). The new economic support instruments made a decisive contribution to the aggregate (especially the SME loan mechanism): for the first time Cassa’s "new" lines of business (including Financing of Infrastructures and the Public Interest Lending) reached the level achieved by lending to public entities. The trend is expected to strengthen in 2011, a year in which this new activity should overtake CDP’s "traditional" operations.
Net postal funding pertaining to CDP rose to about €14 billion last year, up from €12.6 billion in 2009. The stock of funding amounted to about €207 billion, compared with €191 billion the previous year.
Performance figures for 2010 are expected to show operating income – net of the share exchange with the Ministry for the Economy and Finance completed at the end of the year – in line with that for 2009 (about €2.1 billion).
The Board also approved a number of amendments to the articles of association, which will be submitted for approved to the Extraordinary Shareholders’ Meeting called for 2 March 2011 (3 March 2011 at second calling).
The amendments will update CDP’s articles of association to incorporate the changes made to the Civil Code by new legislation on the rights of shareholders of listed companies (Legislative Decree 27 of 27 January 2010) and that governing the auditing of the accounts (Legislative Decree 39 of 27 January 2010).
One of the main changes is the option – where the company is required to prepare consolidated financial statements or has special requirements due to its structure or corporate purpose – to call the annual general meeting, and thus approve the financial statements, within 180 days of the close of the financial year.