Dec 9, 2013

• Micro, small and medium-sized firms received record release of R$ 52.6 bn
• BNDES Investment Maintenance Program (BNDES PSI), with disbursements of R$ 68.2 bn, had a positive impact on the result

The Brazilian Development Bank (BNDES) disbursed R$ 146.8 billion between January and October this year, up 35% compared with the same period last year.

All sectors supported by the Bank recorded positive performances in the first ten months of 2013, with a 31% increase in disbursements to infrastructure (R$ 47.3 billion), a 19% rise to industry (R$ 44.7 billion) and a 52% growth to trade and services (R$ 40 billion). The largest relative improvement was to agriculture and cattle-raising, with releases of R$ 14.8 billion, some 73% higher than that recorded between January and October last year.

Approvals, totaling R$ 167.7 billion, grew 7% over the first ten months of the year, while consultations, at R$ 222.5 billion, fell 11% in the period. This decline is due to the type of comparison since, in the second half of last year, there was a strong concentration of projects at the BNDES, especially with the Investment Maintenance Program for states and the Federal District (PROINVESTE), reaching R$ 20 billion.  Also large investments linked to sectors such as oil and gas, electricity and airports, among others had also been submitted to the Bank.

The behavior of the agriculture and cattle-raising sector in the first ten months of 2013 is largely due to this year’s record crop, which also contributed to increasing disbursements to trucks that transport rural production. Financing for trucks reached R$ 23 billion, up 57% compared with January-October 2012.

The same occurred with the farming equipment (tractors, harvesters, agricultural implements, among others). For these, the BNDES’ financing grew 96.5%, reaching unprecedented amounts (R$ 11.5 billion) in the first ten months of this year.

The production of capital goods has been leading industrial performance. This was reflected in the results of the BNDES Finame line, which registered record financing for the acquisition of machinery and equipment, with total releases of R$ 57.7 billion in the first ten months of this year. In the period, some 216,000 transactions were carried out through Finame.

Disbursements to the transport machinery segment (which includes buses, trucks and aircraft) totaled R$ 29.2 billion in the period, up 57%, and to the non-transport machinery sector (machine-tools, boilers etc.), Finame releases totaled R$ 17 billion, up 86.2%.

Performance was impacted positively by the BNDES Investment Maintenance Program (BNDES-PSI). With disbursements of R$ 68.2 billion up to October this year, the BNDES PSI contributed to boosting investments within the business sector, including micro, small and medium-sized enterprises (MSMEs), which received 56% of all releases.

For MSMEs, the Bank released a record amount of R$ 52.6 billion, equivalent to 35% of total disbursements, with 905,000 transactions (96% of the total).

Approvals of new loans to industry, which grew 19%, are above of Bank’s growth level of total approvals — which had risen 7.3% (accumulated) by October — indicating good prospects for the sector.

Despite approvals remaining stable at R$ 46.8 billion by October, operations in the infrastructure sector are steady. Infrastructure disbursement in the first ten months of the year accounted for 33% of the total amount released by the BNDES in the period. Highlights were highway transport (R$ 18 billion in disbursements) and electric energy (R$ 13.5 billion).

Twelve-month period – In a longer term comparison, it was observed that all BNDES indicators were positive. Over the last twelve months ending in October, the Bank's disbursements reached R$ 194.4 billion (up 35%); approvals, R$ 271.5 billion (up 43%); eligibilities, R$ 272.3 billion (up 3%); and consultations, R$ 285.7 billion (up 1.3%).

Approved amounts (R$ 271.5 billion) were fairly distributed between infrastructure, with R$ 92.6 billion (35% of the total value), and industry, with R$ 85.3 billion (31% of the total). The trade and services sector received R$ 73.7 billion (a 27% stake) and agriculture and cattle-raising, R$ 19.8 billion (7%).

In infrastructure, the main highlights in approvals were electric energy, transport and telecommunications.  In industry, the most significant were transport material, foodstuff and beverages, metallurgy and related products.

October – In October alone, the BNDES disbursed R$ 15.2 billion, some 10.4% higher than the R$ 13.8 billion released in the same month last year. The infrastructure sector headed disbursements, with R$ 5.3 billion, followed by trade and services (R$ 4.7 billion), industry (R$ 3.7 billion) and agriculture and cattle-raising (R$ 1.5 billion).

The BNDES’ total approvals, in the amount of R$ 12.7 billion, fell 52% in a monthly comparison. Similarly, consultations, totaling R$ 49.3 billion, dropped 51%. The results of both consultations and approvals were heavily affected by the type of comparison to October 2012, as explained above.