DGAP-News: ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA / Key word(s): Annual Results/Annual Report 
ProCredit Holding AG & Co. KGaA: The ProCredit group completes a challenging 2020 financial year with significant 
portfolio growth and a robust financial result 
2021-03-25 / 06:58 
The issuer is solely responsible for the content of this announcement. 
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The ProCredit group completes a challenging 2020 financial year with significant portfolio growth and a robust 
financial result 
- Growth in customer loans of 9.5% and in customer deposits of 13.0% in 2020 underlines the group's strong positioning 
as a reliable partner for SMEs 
- Portfolio growth mainly driven by investment loans and green loans 
- Cost-income ratio at 68.0% continued to improve; overall, cost of risk below original expectations 
- Consolidated result of EUR 41.4 million corresponds to a return on equity of 5.3% and demonstrates the solidity of 
the business model 
- Impact Report highlights the central role of ESG in the group's positive results and presents the considerable 
progress the ProCredit group has made in the area of sustainability 
- Portfolio growth around 10% and further improvement in cost-income ratio and return on equity expected for 2021, 
subject to the recovery of the global economy 
- Dividend proposal of EUR 0.18 per share, with the intention to propose distribution of a further dividend of EUR 0.35 
in Q4 2021 
Frankfurt am Main, 25 March 2021 - For the ProCredit group, which is mainly active in South Eastern and Eastern Europe, 
the past financial year was a successful one overall, despite the challenges posed by the COVID-19 pandemic. The 
advantages of the group's business model focused on sustainability, with long-term customer relationships at its core, 
clearly came to the fore in a crisis-filled 2020. Growth in the customer loan portfolio of EUR 457 million or 9.5% was 
at the upper end of the most recent target corridor of 8-10% (2019: EUR 448 million or 10.3%). The cost-income ratio 
was further improved by 2.5 percentage points to 68.0% (2019: 70.5%) and reflects the improvement in cost efficiency. 
The robust consolidated result of EUR 41.4 million corresponds to a return on equity of 5.3% (2019: EUR 54.3 million / 
6.9%). The publication of the Annual Report 2020 was again supplemented with the annual Impact Report, further 
highlighting the ProCredit group's sustainability goals and the progress made. 
Business continues to develop positively despite difficult conditions 
The significant portfolio growth in the 2020 financial year is primarily attributable to long-term investment loans. 
The ProCredit banks were able to support precisely those resilient small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) that were 
able to grow their business operations even in 2020 by expanding their machinery or through building projects. In 
addition, further growth was recorded in the area of green loans. The ProCredit group's green loan portfolio grew by 
23.8% in 2020, significantly faster than the overall loan portfolio. At year-end, green loans accounted for 18.7% of 
the total portfolio. These loans were also primarily investment loans, used for example for renewable energy solutions 
and energy-efficient machinery upgrades. 
Customer deposits increased by EUR 565 million (13.0%) in the financial year (2019: EUR 538 million; 14.2%), thus 
outpacing loan portfolio growth. Deposits from business clients developed particularly positively, and the retail 
client segment also showed very encouraging trends, underscoring ProCredit's growing position as a direct bank for 
private clients. 
Portfolio quality remained nearly constant at a solid level in 2020. As of 31 December 2020 the share of 
credit-impaired loans in the total loan portfolio was 2.6%, roughly the same as the previous year (31.12.2019: 2.5%); 
however, introducing the new EBA guidelines on reporting credit-impaired loans (EBA/GL/2016/07) by itself led to an 
increase in this indicator by 37 basis points. As of 31 December 2020, only less than 2% of the loan portfolio remained 
in moratorium. 
Cost of risk in 2020 below original expectation 
The consolidated result includes an increase to EUR 28.6 million in loss allowances compared to the previous year 
(2019: release of EUR 3.3 million in loss allowances). The cost of risk was 57 basis points, which was lower than the 
initially expressed expectation of around 75 basis points. ProCredit's Management views the sound risk management of 
the group and its clearly focused business model based on sustainable client relationships with SMEs to be significant 
factors in keeping the rise in expenses for loss allowances within an acceptable range, and this facilitated the 
achievement of a consolidated result for 2020 that reflects solidity considering the difficult economic environment. 
Income before loss allowances growing in line with the loan portfolio 
The net interest income of the ProCredit group improved by EUR 7.0 million, climbing to EUR 201.6 million in 2020 due 
to the significant loan portfolio growth. The reduction of base interest rates in almost all the markets where the 
ProCredit group operates was more than offset by portfolio growth and an increase in low-interest deposits. 
The decline in net fee and commission income by EUR 4.6 million to EUR 47.4 million was mainly attributable to the 
lower volume of domestic and international transfers during the COVID-19 pandemic. 
Operating expenses decreased substantially, falling EUR 4.3 million to EUR 171.4 million. In addition to lower 
marketing and travel expenses, among other items, the previous year's operating expenses had also included one-off 
effects from write-downs. 
It was thus possible to significantly improve the cost-income ratio by 2.5 pp to 68.0%, which is below the "around 70%" 
forecast from the beginning of the year. Profit before tax and loss allowances increased by EUR 7.7 million or 10.5%, 
highlighting the further structural improvements in the group's financial performance. 
Capitalisation remains solid 
As expected, the Common Equity Tier 1 capital ratio (CET1 fully loaded) was above 13% on 31 December 2020 and stood at 
13.3%. In calculating the Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, one-third of the consolidated result for 2019 and one-third of 
the consolidated result for the first half 2020 continue to be deducted for dividend purposes. The consolidated result 
for the second half of 2020 has not yet been recognised in Tier 1 capital as of 31 December 2020. The solid and 
comfortable capitalisation of the ProCredit group is also reflected in the leverage ratio, which at 9.3% is well above 
the average for the banking sector. 
ProCredit's Management is satisfied with the past financial year, which was challenging in many respects: "Especially 
in years of crisis, the importance of sustainable business practices becomes apparent. We feel that last year's good 
results provide further validation of our business approach. In our Impact Report this year, we have also placed 
particular emphasis on showing how our comprehensive commitment to ESG goals underpins long-term value creation for all 
ProCredit stakeholders. 
As the "Hausbank" for SMEs, we are committed to supporting our clients even in difficult times. Our strong growth 
figures this year confirm that we are embracing this role. The fact that we work with carefully selected business 
clients and do not have significant consumer loan portfolios has allowed us to efficiently manage and assess credit 
risks even during this challenging year. We are also encouraged to know that our customers can play a key role in the 
recovery of the economies where we operate. 
Since all of our retail banking is already done through digital channels, we were able to skip the phase in the 
pandemic when we would have had to make a costly transition to contact-free branch operations. As a result, our 
immediate focus since the beginning of the pandemic has been on risk management and supporting SME clients through this 
challenging period. As we did in the last financial crisis from 2008 to 2010, we have again been able to generate a 
solid return on equity in a turbulent year for the global economy." 
Fourth annual Impact Report highlights good progress in the area of sustainability 
On 25 March 2021, ProCredit also published its fourth annual Impact Report, titled "Why Responsible Banking Matters to 
Us", which was prepared in accordance with GRI Standards (Core option). It describes the considerable extent to which 
our fundamental commitment to ESG goals shapes ProCredit's identity and positively impacts group operations and group 
results. Within the publication, the group also reports on various non-financial indicators and presents its 
sustainability goals and notable progress in the context of the UN Sustainable Development Goals. 
The group's lending business aims to generate steady, long-term value for its customers and thus make a positive 
contribution to local economies. The focus is on serving as the "Hausbank" for SMEs. Furthermore, the green loan 
portfolio is becoming increasingly important in this respect; in particular, the renewable energy sector saw a 
significant increase of around EUR 100 million in 2020. 
Important milestones were also achieved internally in the area of sustainability. In the past year, the group was able 
to reduce its carbon footprint by over 46% and has thus come significantly closer to its medium-term goal of climate 
neutrality. ProCredit achieves progress in this area through its own climate measures, such as investing in 
energy-efficient building technologies, switching to electric car fleets and establishing its own renewable energy 
sources. 
Positive business development expected for 2021 
Uncertainty regarding the further development and future impact of the COVID-19 pandemic remains high at the present 
time. Assuming the global economy recovers in 2021 as projected, the Management expects loan portfolio growth of

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