business volume in this sector up by 34.7 percent in NRW Good advice is key to success NRW.BANK launches start-up and SME drive

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1 Press Release SMEs are investing again new business volume in this sector up by 34.7 percent in NRW Good advice is key to success NRW.BANK launches start-up and SME drive Düsseldorf/Münster, March 17, As companies in North Rhine-Westphalia benefited from the positive economic trend in the past year, they began to make investments again. This is reflected in the figures presented by NRW.BANK at today s annual accounts press conference. Good advisory services were one of the key success factors. The Bank intends to expand these services in 2011 and also plans to launch a start-up and SME drive. At EUR 8.6 billion, NRW.BANK s total new business volume was up by 8 percent on the previous year (EUR 7.9 billion). New business in the start-up and SME segment increased by as much as 34.7 percent to EUR 3.2 billion. This is a positive signal, said Dietmar P. Binkowska, Chairman of the Managing Board of NRW.BANK was still marked by great uncertainty among companies. Last year, 1

2 companies finally made the necessary investments they had postponed before. Advisory services are an important element of the Bank s development and promotion business and were in high demand in The NRW.BANK.Infoline alone received a good 12,000 inquiries relating to start-up and SME finance, which represents an increase of 13 percent on the previous year. Most of these inquiries related to solutions to cope with the economic crisis. NRW.BANK has a specialist unit, Financing Advisory, which deals with this very issue. A total of 160 companies took advantage of the unit s crisis prevention and management services at over 700 advisory meetings in In addition, the Bank organised more than 2,000 events, seminars and workshops that addressed all issues relating to the proper use of promotion funds. These offerings were complemented by the new Counselling Days organised at the Bank s dual head offices in Münster and Düsseldorf. Good advice is a key success factor for companies, said Binkowska. We provide competition-neutral advice and important stimulation, not least for effective crisis management. 2

3 Details of the areas of competence: With a commitment volume in excess of EUR 1 billion, the NRW.BANK.Mittelstandskredit remains the most important promotion programme in the Start-up and SME Promotion unit (previous year: EUR 850 million; +24.5%). While the volume of the individual loans tended to decline in 2009, the trend is now again towards large-volume loans. This suggests that SMEs are more willing to make investments again. The new commitment volume of the NRW.BANK.Universalkredit also showed a positive trend, although the total volume was much lower. At EUR million, it was up by 15.8 percent on the previous year. Launched as a crisis management solution, the NRW.BANK.Konjunkturkredit enjoyed great popularity. Due to regulatory EU requirements, however, the loan was limited until December 31, Demand for this loan was twice as high as in the previous year and increased to EUR million (previous year: EUR 48.6 million). To compensate for the expiry of this crisis management tool, important features of the NRW.BANK.Konjunkturkredit were incorporated into existing programmes at the start of The minimum loan volume for liability releases was reduced to EUR 500,000 3

4 for both the NRW.BANK.Universalkredit and the NRW.BANK.Mittelstandskredit. Moreover, the NRW.BANK.Universalkredit is now available from a minimum amount of EUR 25,000. The NRW/EU.Mikrodarlehen is a particularly important loan for business start-ups in North Rhine-Westphalia. Launched as a pilot programme in late 2008, the loan has made available some EUR 7.5 million for nascent and consolidating start-ups. These funds helped to finance more than 360 start-ups and to create over 400 jobs. The average loan amount was EUR 20,400. The programme is unique in that it obliges borrowers to avail themselves of counselling provided by the STARTERCENTER NRW advisory centres. Commitments in the Social Housing Promotion unit exceeded EUR 1 billion (previous year: EUR 1.1 billion). NRW.BANK s social housing promotion services contributed to the upswing in the construction sector in Apart from improving the housing supply, especially for low-income families, social housing promotion also stimulates construction spending, which helps to accelerate growth and secure jobs. These promotion activities also include measures that help ease the situation in social hotspots and support the development of urban quarters. In the field of rental housing construction, a special focus was on barrier-free construction and energy saving measures. 4

5 In the field of Municipal and Infrastructure Finance, the new business volume came to almost EUR 2.3 billion, which represents a decline by roughly 12 percent from the previous year s EUR 2.7 billion. Demand for programmebased municipal loans declined at the end of 2009 and in the first half of 2010 not least due to the subsidies granted in the context of the nationwide Economic Stimulus Package II (as much as EUR 2.4 billion for municipalities in North Rhine-Westphalia). As these programmes expired, municipalities demand for loans picked up again in the second half of the year. Demand for the NRW.BANK.Kommunal Invest and NRW.BANK.Kommunal Invest/Plus programmes was even much higher at the bottom line than in At EUR million, the commitment volume was up by 19.8 percent on the previous year s EUR million. Commitments in the Individual Promotion segment totalled EUR 1.9 billion in The new business volume was thus up by 12.7 percent on the previous year s EUR 1.7 billion. In the field of housing construction, energy efficiency continues to play a very important role. As far as the refurbishment of existing housing is concerned, the focus was on building for the elderly. Ordinary operating income amounted to EUR million, compared to EUR million in the previous year. The core capital ratio reached 15.2 percent. 5

6 Outlook From 2011, NRW.BANK will organise its promotion reporting along three newly organised fields of promotion: Founding and Growing : Wherever people set up new businesses or want to grow their existing business, NRW.BANK is there to support them with development loans, equity finance and advice. After all, no good idea in North Rhine- Westphalia should fail because of a lack of financing. Housing and Living : In this field, NRW.BANK will assist and support housing companies and people who have difficulties in finding affordable housing. Developing and Protecting : Environmental protection and sustainability, education and innovation are the topics addressed by NRW.BANK in this field of promotion. Moreover, NRW.BANK has launched a start-up and SME drive in In view of the great success of the NRW/EU.Mikrodarlehen, the pilot phase will be concluded and this loan will be added to the regular product range with effect from April 1, The NRW.BANK.Seed Fund, the equity capital product for start-up projects, has been doubled to EUR 60 million. Newly launched products include the NRW.BANK.Venture Fund II, which has a volume of EUR 80 million, and the 6

7 NRW.BANK.Spezialfonds with a volume of EUR 50 million. Contact: Dr. Klaus Bielstein Press Officer Tel: Fax: klaus.bielstein@nrwbank.de 7