The funds raised through the bond issue, worth RON2 million, will finance Aforti’s activity in Romania. The bond issue is part of the company’s expansion strategy in Central and Eastern European countries.
Aforti Holding is a company listed on the New Connect market of the Warsaw Stock Exchange since 2011, under the symbol AFH.
“We are glad that a company listed in Warsaw, on a market similar to BVB’s AeRO market, chooses to use the local capital market to finance its activity in Romania. Aforti Holding is actively using the stock exchange mechanisms – bond issues and share capital increases – and today Aforti makes its first steps with bonds on the Bucharest Stock Exchange. Since the beginning of the year, 23 corporate bonds and nine government securities with a total value of almost EUR 1.3 bn have been listed on both BVB markets. The funds attracted by entrepreneurs and the Romanian state demonstrate the ability of the local capital market to support their plans”, said Radu Hanga, President of the Bucharest Stock Exchange.
“We believe it is the start of a broader cooperation between Aforti Group and the Romanian capital market. Aforti Holding is a non-banking financial institution in Poland. We offer a wide range of services for small and medium enterprises and private individuals. Romania is a special market for us, it’s a strategic market for us. We have been acting in Romania in the area of foreign exchange business. We are now preparing to come back with the products available throw Electronic Money Institution Licence. Hopefully, in the weeks or months, we will be able to show a wide offer of products to Romanian clients”, said Mateusz Niemczyk, Vice-President of the management board of Aforti Holding.
In a private placement held in September 2020, Aforti Holding sold a number of 20,000 unsecured, unsubordinated corporate bonds with a nominal value of RON100/unit. Aforti Holding raised a total RON2 million from 44 investors, which will be used to finance Aforti’s activity in Romania. The bonds mature on September 4, 2025, and have an annual interest rate of 10%, payable half-yearly. The private bond placement and listing were carried out with the support of Goldring. In the last four years, the Aforti Group has carried out bond issues and promissory notes worth a total EUR45 million.
Aforti Holding, established in 2009 in Poland, provides financial, technological, administrative and investment advice to the component entities of the Aforti Financial Group, which provide financial services to micro, small and medium-sized enterprises. Aforti Holding has become, in its 12 years of activity, the only non-bank financial holding company on the Polish market.
Aforti Holding has been active on the Romanian market since 2017, and currently operates Aforti Factor Romania I.F.N. and Aforti Distribution Romania, which offers factoring services and, respectively, distribution of the group’s integrated products and services on the Romanian market. Aforti Holding is currently active in Poland, Romania, Bulgaria, Lithuania, Cyprus and plans to expand, by 2023, to Latvia, Estonia, Croatia, Hungary, the Czech Republic, and Slovakia.
The Aforti Group recorded a net turnover of EUR221.8 million and a net profit of almost EUR805,000 in 2020. In the first half of 2021, on a group level, consolidated revenues increased by 214% compared to the first half of 2020, while operating expenses increased at the same rate. The net profit registered in January – July 2021 was about EUR250,000, 1.4% lower than the level reported for the same period in 2020.
For 2021 – 2023, the group’s strategy targets the development of the debt collection segment, the development and launch of an international financial services platform for micro, SME and the implementation of a new business line, namely asset management. By the end of 2023, the company expects to reach 35,000 SME customers, on a group level, to operate in 11 countries in Central and Eastern Europe and to register a turnover of EUR2 billion.