Key Figures and Activity Indicators

The Official Credit Institute (ICO) -in its triple role as a national promotional bank, a financial instrument of economic policy, and a financial agency of the State- has focused its activity on mobilizing financing for the business fabric to strengthen its solvency and contribute to its growth, which has led to managing in 2022, 325,882 million euros in financing.

This volume, 3.3% higher than at the close of 2021, marks a new record in the history of ICO, propitiated by the financing mobilized with the Lines of Guarantees of the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation, other programs managed by ICO in its role as financial agent of the State, as well as the activity generated by the products that the Institute - charged to its balance sheet - makes available to the self-employed and companies to boost their activity and growth.

During 2022, ICO has continued working on the deployment and management of the measures approved by the Government to mitigate the impact generated by COVID-19 and the Russian war in Ukraine to strengthen business solvency and consolidate the recovery while maintaining its usual activity, improving and expanding its financing products to adapt them to the needs of the self-employed, SMEs and companies in the different scenarios.

Management of guarantees on behalf of the State

Of the total lending activity managed by ICO in 2022, 33.36% corresponds to the Lines of Guarantees COVID-19 and the Ukraine Guarantee Line.

The Lines of Guarantees-COVID19, approved by the Government through the Ministry of Economic Affairs and Digital Transformation to mobilize financing towards self-employed and Spanish companies and preserve their activity, have been in force until June 30, 2022, the date established by the EU Temporary State Aid Framework.

Thanks to an unprecedented public-private collaboration scheme, these programs have deployed more than 107 billion euros in guarantees that have mobilized more than 140.7 billion euros in financing through more than 1,192,000 operations, making it one of the most effective programmes in the European Union. 

Ukraine Guarantee Line was launched by the Government in 2022 to channel financing to companies affected by the economic effects of the war in Ukraine, such as the increase in energy, raw materials, or electricity prices. 

A tranche of 5,000 million euros is currently active, of which 3,500 million are earmarked for the self-employed and SMEs and 1,500 million for non-SMEs, to guarantee access to financing for companies of all sizes.  The Line will be in force until December 2023, having mobilized more than 1,000 million euros in financing through 5,046 operations in 2022. 

ICO financing: sustainability and business growth

In parallel with the State's management of the Lines of Guarantees, the Institute has continued to work to add value and complement these measures with its portfolio of products (charged to the ICO's balance sheet). 

On-balance sheet lending on December 31, 2022, stood at €17,651 million, an amount very similar to that of 2021.
 
During 2022, ICO mobilized almost 5.05 billion euros in all its financing modalities or programs for companies, an increase of 100% over the previous year, of which 45% is sustainable financing.

Specifically, the ICO second floor facilities financed more than 12,300 operations for a total of 1,561 million euros. This figure represents a 51% increase compared to 2021 and reflects a moderate recovery in demand for these products, which due to the exceptional circumstances in 2020 and 2021 caused by the COVID-19 crisis, had shifted towards the Lines of Guarantees. 

These second floor facilities have been a benchmark in the public-private collaboration model for decades. The ICO designs the products and provides the funds, while the banks are responsible for marketing them, thus providing the capillarity that characterizes these programs. 

In 2022, ICO focused its activity on the promotion of sustainable projects, both from a social and environmental point of view, in line with its Strategy 2022-2027, which establishes that 40% of all new financing in the reference period should be sustainable, and within the framework of the Government's Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan.

Thus, in the direct financing area, ICO approved operations amounting to 4,066 million euros (+48% concerning 2021) with the direct financing programs for medium and large companies in collaboration with other financial institutions. Of this amount, 55% of the total, some 2,223 million euros that will mobilize an investment of 15,931 million euros, will be allocated to projects with environmental impact (1,407 million to projects to combat climate change) or positive social impact (816 million euros).

In terms of stock, ICO financing through second floor facilities and direct loans represents 3.9% of the total financing granted by the financial sector to companies for a period of more than 1 year in 2022. 

In 2022, ICO continued to promote instruments so that companies can diversify the sources from which they obtain financing, offering different solutions linked to the acquisition of project bonds and corporate bonds issued by Spanish companies, prioritizing those certified as responsible issuers or listed on sustainability indexes. It has also continued its activity as an investor in the Mercado Alternativo de Renta Fija (MARF), acquiring bonds and promissory notes of medium-sized companies to help cover their liquidity needs and promote their growth. In total, ICO has injected 1,557 million euros into the business network through these programs.

It is also worth mentioning the activity carried out to broaden the focus of these actions to include smaller companies. In this sense, the participation and promotion by the ICO of the Aquisgrán fund stand out, endowed with up to 150 million euros, a pioneering initiative in Europe that finances SMEs through Reciprocal Guarantee Societies (SGR).  The loans are guaranteed by the MGS and backed by ICO as an investor and the EIF (European Investment Fund)  as a guarantor. At the end of 2022, the ICO had subscribed to 83 million euros. 

In addition, ICO continues to be a benchmark in promoting the international activity of Spanish companies and actively contributes to the Strategy for the Internationalization of the Spanish Economy 2021-2027. In 2022 it injected €1,151 million (+10% concerning 2021) into the business fabric in loans, guarantees, and collateral to boost the expansion of Spanish companies in third markets.

AXIS: boosting the entrepreneurial ecosystem and high-impact digitalization projects

The range of financing that ICO makes available to the self-employed, entrepreneurs, SMEs, and companies is complemented by the activity carried out by AXIS, the venture capital subsidiary of ICO Group. During 2022, intense work has been carried out to promote the growth of companies and projects that combine innovation and entrepreneurship. 

During this year, Fond-ICO Next Tech, a joint initiative of ICO and the Secretary of State for Digitalization and Artificial Intelligence (SEDIA) launched intending to mobilize up to 4,000 million euros in public-private collaboration to promote the development of high-impact innovative digital projects and investment in growth companies (scale-ups), has been particularly promoted.

In 2022, ICO approved the participation of Fond-ICO Next Tech in three operations, which already reach a public investment of €270 million that will mobilize investments in public-private collaboration in Spain of at least €540 million in digital companies and projects. These 3 operations are:

• 70 million euros in the Leadwind Fund together with Telefónica, BBVA, and KFund.
• 100 million euros in the Andromeda Fund with Iberdrola, Seaya, and Nortia Capital. 
• 100 million euros in Cathay Innovation Fund III, a venture capital fund with a size of 1 billion euros and managed by Cathay Innovation.

In addition, Fond-ICO Next Tech's participation in the European Tech Champions Initiative (ETCI) was approved, in which Spain will contribute €1 billion to a new European fund that will provide financing to the most innovative start-ups in Europe to create an entrepreneurial ecosystem that will enable the development of cutting-edge projects with global potential.

During 2022, the 15th call of Fond-ICO Global has also been carried out for an amount of 410 million euros, having been selected 7 funds (out of a total of 23 funds presented), including venture capital, incubation, and technology transfer and expansion funds. 

In the 15 calls resolved up to 2022, investments amounting to 3,427 million euros have been approved, which may mobilize 11,500 million euros in collaboration with private investors toward companies and projects in Spain.

Axis acts in a public-private partnership with the venture capital sector in all areas of activity. It currently has commitments to manage up to 9 billion euros in its four funds: Fond-ICO Global, Fond-ICO Next Tech, Fond-ICO Pyme, and Fond-ICO Sustainability and Infrastructure. These commitments will enable a joint mobilization of public and private resources of more than €18 billion over the next five years, depending on the private sector's capacity to absorb resources and materialize projects.

ICO: Sustainable bond benchmark issuer. Bond impact 

ICO issues debt in the capital markets to carry out its corporate financing activity. In 2022, ICO raised  medium and long-term funds in the amount of €4,329 million. 

The highlights of the year were two public transactions in a sustainable format. On the one hand, in May, ICO launched its fourth green bond amounting to 500 million euros, and in September, its ninth social bond for the same amount. With these two operations, ICO reinforced its role as a benchmark in the European sustainable bond market. 

Impact of ICO sustainable bonds

ICO undertakes to report on the impact generated by the funds used to finance projects on the first anniversary after the issuance of a sustainable bond, whether in social or green format. Currently, it has already published the report of the first eleven operations. 

In the case of the first eight social bond issues, more than 69,000 microenterprise and SME projects have been financed, generating and/or maintaining nearly 445,000 jobs. In addition, the funds raised in these issues have had other positive impacts, such as the creation of 300 job opportunities for disabled people, 81 social housing units, or contributed to the financing of a hospital with a radius of action to attend up to 339,494 patients, among others.

The first three green bonds have financed 30 projects in the category of renewable energies and clean transportation of Spanish companies, which have mobilized an investment of approximately 13,000 million euros and will avoid the emission of more than 692,000 tons of CO2 per year.

Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan

In 2022, ICO has worked to contribute its know-how and capacity to generate new products, together with the corresponding Ministries and agencies, to the deployment of initiatives included in the Recovery, Transformation, and Resilience Plan, to boost the green and digital transition of the Spanish economy. 

Specifically, in 2022 ICO launched several initiatives in collaboration with other Ministries and agencies: a line of financing has been launched in collaboration with MAPA-SAECA to support economic sectors affected by drought and other climate risks; with Red.es a line to complement the Kit Digital grants; and it has collaborated with the Ministry of Transport, Mobility and Urban Agenda (MITMA) in programs that complement the Recovery Plan grants to finance sustainable mobility plans (1. 460 million available) and housing rehabilitation that improves the energy efficiency of residential buildings (financing line of 2,200 million euros with a 50% guarantee coverage through bonding entities for homeowners' associations and individuals).

The role of ICO Group in the deployment of the Recovery Plan will focus on channeling 19,000 million euros in loans from the Addendum presented by the Government, which will serve to promote investments by the self-employed and companies in renewable energies, energy efficiency, and the circular economy, which will also consolidate the development of sustainable finance in Spain. In this way, companies will be supported in their adaptation to the new framework of sustainability of the economy and the reinforcement of their competitiveness and access to new markets. 

ICO as a channel for EU funds

Since ICO obtained accreditation as an "Implementing Partner" for the delegated management of European Commission funds in 2020, it has been working hard to provide Spanish companies with the best options for accessing EU initiatives.

Of particular note are the actions carried out in the CEF-T Program (Connecting Europe Facility Transport), which promotes the participation of private sector investors and financial institutions in projects that contribute to the environmental sustainability and efficiency of the transport sector in Europe. ICO studies the projects and submits them to the European Commission, complementing the subsidies received by the companies from the European Commission with its financing (blending scheme).

In the first call of this program, ICO -in collaboration with MITMA- managed the presentation and financed ten projects from Spanish companies, which were awarded 32 million euros in European subsidies and mobilized a total investment of 263 million euros, including hydro-generators for urban transport and electric vehicle charging stations, among other investments. 

The second call, which runs until September 2023, is currently open for the development of alternative fuel infrastructure projects for transport.

In addition, ICO has recently signed an agreement with the European Commission within the framework of the "InvestEU" guarantee program to channel ICO financing of up to 150 million euros for investments in infrastructures that promote the green transition throughout Spain.
 

Note: figures not audited and individual financial statements

* Granted guarantees not included on balance sheet.

** ICO's own resources are of the highest quality (Capital and reserves organically generated).

Note: figures not audited and individual financial statements

* ICO's activity within the framework of its direct financing programs. Does not correspond to the ICO COVID-19 Guarantee Line.

** Off-balance guarantees.

*** ICO's own resources are of the highest quality (Capital and organically generated reserves).