(Alliance News) - Kruso Kapital Spa announced Wednesday that its board of directors approved the consolidated financial statements as of December 31, which includes a net profit of EUR2.9 million, up 58 percent from EUR1.8 million in 2022.

Adjusted net income from nonrecurring items - expenses from the IPO and the acquisition in Portugal - of EUR900,000 is EUR3.5 million up 93 percent from 2022, the company said in a note.

As of Dec. 31, the number of pledge credit policies underlying the 121 million loans in Italy was about 69,000, up sharply from about 62,000 as of Dec. 31, 2022.

During the year 2023, in the context of pawn credit in Italy, 42 auctions were held, for assets derived from the pledge, almost all of the secret bids in auctions were conducted online. Assets sold at auction continue to account for less than 5 percent of outstanding policies.

"In the last quarter of 2023," the company points out in a note, "Kruso Kapital's innovation process took another big step forward with the launch of the APP that fully digitizes the pledge credit product, and through which policies are issued in the form of NFTs via blockchain technology.

Subsidiary Art-Rite active in the art and collectibles auction business realized a beat of EUR4.3 million, more than double the previous year, in the 19 auctions and private negotiations during 2023.

The brokerage margin increased by 26 percent to EUR19.4 million in 2023, mainly due to the contribution of pawn lending, as a result of higher lending and higher margins.

The art and collectibles auction business contributes 4.6 percent of total intermediation margin in 2023, which is higher than expected.

Shareholders' equity as of December 31 amounted to EUR42.5 million.

Total equity as of Dec. 31 on an individual basis amounted to EUR12.9 million, the same also in terms of CET1, and in relation to Risk Weighted Assets, up year-on-year due to higher lending and higher operational risk, brings Total Capital Ratio to 18.7 percent. The pro forma TCR with the capital increase in January 2024 to December 31, 2023 would be paria to 22.4 percent.

Kruso Kapital's stock is flat at EUR1.98 per share.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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