Banca Carige's recovery plan is underway, with an ambitious goal: break even by 2020. This was indicated by the Ligurian bank when presenting the new business plan to 2023, to achieve which it plans to implement a capital increase of 630 million euro within the first half of this year to strengthen the bank's capital, to finance the disposal of non-performing loans and at the same time repay the 320 million subordinated bond issued in the autumn and subscribed by the Voluntary Scheme, with the rate rising from 13 to 16% , after the stop to the capital increase decided by the Malacalza family in December.
As regards specifically the disposal of non-performing loans, Carige communicated that he is holding one binding offer to sell 1,9 billion euro of gross non-performing loans, out of a total of 3,6 billion held, so as to drastically reduce the ratio between non-performing and total loans (Npe ratio) to 6-7%, i.e. in the range between 5 and 10%, at the end of November. The offers that have already arrived on the table are those of Sga and Fonspa, with the first (controlled by the Ministry of the Treasury) appearing in pole position, with an offer of around 1,8 billion. As at 31 December 2018, the Genoese bank still reported net losses of 272,8 million euros.
The plan presented in Genoa by commissioners Fabio Innocenzi, Raffaele Lener and Pietro Modiano was meaningfully entitled "Take back the future" and has the objective, according to the text released to the press, to "structurally reduce the bank's risk profile, to fully review the business model in order to ensure its sustainability from a stand-alone perspective and to allow for the generation of a satisfactory return on capital". The commissioners therefore opted first for the new increase, postponing until after one probable aggregation. The operation is divided into three phases: in the immediate future (2019) the definitive derisking, by 2020, as mentioned, the balanced budget, in the long term (up to 2023) sustainable profitability.
To support the plan Carige also provides 1.050 redundancies and the closure of 100 traditional branches: it will concentrate, says the note, on the "core" branches by cutting the peripheral ones and focusing on a profound revision of the business model. In short, more space for retail customers and SMEs, and for more profitable segments such as the private banking. Carige's stock has been suspended for two months on the Stock Exchange.
