The coup de thèatre explodes in Piazza Affari half an hour before the start of the conference call with analysts for the Mediobanca half-year report. The president and CEO of Axa, Henri de Castries, met the CEO of Mediobanca during a "courtesy visit" in Piazzetta Cuccia where, at the same time, engineer Salvatore Ligresti was also stationed, engaged in the meeting of the union of Piazzetta Cuccia. "We'll see," Ligresti said as he entered the bank's headquarters.
The news has inflamed the shares of Fondiaria: the shares of the Milanese insurance group, which gained up to 7 percentage points, settled at +4,83%.
The unexpected novelty has overshadowed the non-brilliant final result of the institute in Piazzetta Cuccia: Mediobanca recorded a net profit of 63,4 million euros in the first half, a decrease of 75,9% compared to the same period last year. The intermediation margin fell by 4,5% to 973,3 million.
The investment bank closed the second fiscal quarter with revenues of 475,6 million euros. Net interest income was 272,8 million, trading commissions reached 30,2 million.
The cleaning in the equity investment portfolio was significant: against a capital gain of 44 million realized on a property in Monaco, write-downs amounted to 269 million. The minus on Greek securities (114 million), 55 million in Rcs. In total, securities were written down for 269 million.
Mediobanca's Principal Investing unit, the one that brings together the bank's strategic stakes in Generali, RCS and Telco, reported a profit of 2,5 million in the first half, almost zero compared to 105,3 million last year. The lower contribution of Assicurazioni Generali (from 105,1 to 65,9 million, of which 2,6 million in the last quarter) and the write-down of Rcs MediaGroup for 55 million weighed heavily. The write-down of 34 million on Delmi is also significant.
Nagel himself confirmed that Mediobanca will participate in the ECB auction of three-year repurchase agreements on 29 February "for a figure not very different from that of the last time" (4 billion).
