Corporate Credit Rating 2021 for ETC INVEST S.P.A. (Upgrade)

modefinance published the review of the Solicited Corporate Credit Rating of ETC INVEST S.P.A. on its CRA website, and the rating assigned to the entity is A3- (Upgrade). The analysis revealed it is a good company with good capability of repaying financial obligations and very low dependent on possible adverse macroeconomic conditions.

ETC INVEST S.P.A. is a joint-stock company and holding of the multinational Italian group “Export Trading Cooperation” (ETC) active in the consulting and finance industry with trademark registered on the European Union Intellectual Property Office (EUIPO). ETC INVEST S.P.A. provides consulting services in project finance and trade finance with an exclusive operational focus on the African markets, directly and through the Group's subsidiaries. The company is specialized in Trade Finance and Supply chain activities, through which supports interchanges with Sub-Saharan Africa countries and investment projects.

The Company was established in 2016 but its origin dates back to 2012, with the establishment of ETC S.R.L. Subsequently, the Company has pursued an internationalization process with the creation of representative offices, subsidiaries and funds across Europe and Africa, including the Regional Bureau Africa based in Cotonou (Benin).

Moreover, as an active member of SWIFT (Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunication) under the code BIC ETCGIT2T, the Group facilitates interbank financial messages between European and African financial institutions. Thanks to the direct and indirect presence in Africa and to the combined expertise in trade finance and supply chain management, the ETC Group has become the leader and main reference of banks and industrial/commercial groups in the management of supply and investment projects in Africa, in sectors that range from agribusiness to industrial, but also transport and green energy.

The company was established in 2016, but its operational activity began in 2012. Since then, ETC Group pursued a process of internationalization and Group reorganization, changing its legal form into a joint-stock company and improving its structure and transparency. The Group is continuously growing thanks also to the entry of new important shareholders. No black records have been found. The corporate structure is clear in its roles and responsibilities.

The Group is directly controlled by two founding partners, who also hold positions on the board of directors. With new partners joining the ETC Group’s shareholder base, governance has been expanded and further consolidated. In FY 2020, the Group filed the consolidated financial statement for the second year, maintaining good liquidity and solvency. Profitability indicators remain low, but the margin achieved by the Group allowed it to close with a profit.

The Group’s report released by the Italian Central Credit Register doesn’t show any critical issues and reveals a good management of maturity and overdraft risks. The only overdrafts recorded are of negligible amounts and likely to be attributable to accounting errors. The peer group is healthy in all considered areas and the Group appears adequately positioned.

For the management consulting sector, a year of strong recovery is expected for 2021, with a +8.5% growth in turnover and a +8.7% growth in employment. The most developing area within consulting is digital and technology transformation consulting.

In the short and medium-term, all African countries will have to deal with the economic and social costs of the coronavirus pandemic: the G20 bilateral debt suspension for low-income countries will expire shortly and a tightening of global liquidity conditions is expected between 2022 and 2023. A crisis of debt and balance of payments is not expected, except for some high-risk countries that had high debt levels before the pandemic. Monetary tightening in advanced markets will impact access to finance, however, the medium-term outlook for commodity prices is conducive to macroeconomic stability.

In the following table, the addressing factors, actions or events that could lead to an upgrade or a downgrade are summarized:

The present Corporate Credit rating is issued by modefinance under EU Regulation N. 1060/2009 and following amendments.

The present rating is solicited, and based on both private and public information. The rated entity and/or related third parties have provided all private information used. modefinance had access to some accounts and other relevant internal documents of the rated entity and/or related third parties. Solicited and unsolicited ratings issued by modefinance are of comparable quality, as the solicitation status has no effect on methodologies used. More comprehensive information on modefinance Corporate Credit Ratings are available here.

The present Corporate Credit Rating is issued on MORE Methodology 2.0 and Rating Methodology 1.0. A comprehensive description of both methodologies, as well as information on modefinance Rating Scale and Mappings, is available here. For information on historical default rates of modefinance Corporate Credit Ratings please refer to ESMA Central Repository and ESMA European Rating Platform.

modefinance refers to default as a company under bankruptcy, or under liquidation status, or under administration or for which missed payments on a financial obligation are officially recorded.

The quality of the information available on the rated entity and used to determine the present rating was judged by modefinance as satisfactory. Please note that modefinance does not perform any audit activity and is not in a position to guarantee the accuracy of any information used and/or reported in the present document. As such, modefinance can accept no liability whatsoever for actions taken based on any information that may subsequently prove to be incorrect.

The present credit rating was notified to the rated entity in order to identify potential factual errors, as prescribed by the CRA Regulation. No amendments were applied after the notification process.

The rated entity is not a buyer of ancillary services provided by modefinance (credit risk software). The rating action issued by modefinance was performed independently. The analysts, members of the rating team involved in the process, modefinance Srl and its members and shareholders do not have any conflicts of interest in relation to the Rated Entity and/or Related Third Parties. If in the future a potential conflict of interest is identified in relation to the persons reported above, modefinance Ratings will provide the appropriate information and if necessary the rating will be withdrawn.

The present Credit Rating is an opinion of the general creditworthiness that modefinance issues on the rated entity, and should be relied upon to a limited degree. The issued rating is subject to an ongoing monitoring until withdrawal.

Head Analyst – Stefania Latin (Rating Analyst)
stefania.latin@modefinance.com
+39 040 3756740

Assistant Analyst – Fabio Politelli (Rating Analyst)
fabio.politelli@modefinance.com
+39 040 3756740

Responsible for Rating Approval – Pinar Dilek
pinar.dilek@modefinance.com
+39 040 3756740