France's bank for SMEs, Banque du Developpement des Petites et Moyens Entreprises (BDPME), registered an 8.6 per cent rise in profit in 2003, to Ђ30.2m, with revenue up by 1.6 per cent at Ђ289.2m.
The bank also reduced the cost of its risk, with net allocations to provisions dropping from Ђ30m the previous year to Ђ5.1m in 2003.
The bank provided start-up loans for 14,000 SMEs, with two thirds of its operations comprised by start-ups and company transfers, for a total of Ђ2.8bn. Development loans to 12,000 SMEs totalled Ђ4.6bn.
Source: Les Echos
