Mediobanca is ready to help get Mps out of trouble, but rules out any possibility of M&A. “It is a bank that we are very close to and with which we collaborate very well. We would like to help resolve this shortfall issue, we will see in the coming weeks", said CEO Alberto Nagel speaking to analysts today on the occasion of the presentation of the Piazzetta Cuccia results for the first quarter.
The annual meeting of the Milanese living room, historic director of the great Italian financial games, takes place two days after the results of the ECB exam and while in Siena the management of Monte dei Paschi, with the help of the advisors Ubs and Citigroup, thinks on how to defuse the mine lit by the ECB (which has identified a capital shortfall of 2,1 billion for Siena).
The president of Mps Alessandro Profumo said he was ready to evaluate "any option" and a clear endorsement came from Bank of Italy in favor of a merger "which makes the Bank more solid and capable of disbursing credit". Thus the search for a possible white knight began on the part of the market. But Mediobanca, which closed the first quarter of the new 2014/2015 financial year with a profit driven by the sustained recovery of banking activities and is engaged in a substantial disengagement from its shareholdings, has no intention of turning back the hands of its metamorphosis of recent years by venturing into operations not in line with the new course.
Business today is done with different logics: selling equity investments to protect yourself from negative fluctuations in sectors where technology changes dynamics in an unpredictable way, specializing in certain activities, not putting capital at too much risk and growing geographically. "We have drawn up a plan that allows Mediobanca to grow and increase profitability despite being in an unfavorable environment - explained Nagel during the meeting - this is done by specializing in certain activities, not putting capital at too much risk and growing geographically . So much so that this year we expect profits to increase”.
Results that lead to an increase in shareholder remuneration. “We hope to be able to increase the dividend – said Nagel -. I prefer to propose a higher dividend than to propose the distribution of treasury shares which can be used for small acquisitions”.
SMALL M&A AND FOCUS ON BUSINESS BANKING
ECB EXAM TO BE TAKEN CUM GRANO SALIS
On the M&A, however, Nagel was clear: "We do not see opportunities for the acquisition of large bank assets, we may be interested in small additions to CheBanca, Compass or managed savings that can accelerate the strategy, but these will be limited-value transactions" . In particular, the only role in relation to the M&A concerns the activity of the Investment Bank within a process that will lead to capital strengthening and consolidation over the next 18 months both intra-market and between different markets.
Therefore Mediobanca will not be the white knight of Mps. “We are not interested in acquisitions and mergers – said Nagel – a marriage between the CheBanca! and other banks would not make sense”, also because “we have embarked on a path of strong innovation in retail”. The Yellow Account Bank launched five years ago with the primary objective of serving as a funding arm is now aiming to increasingly become an interlocutor for households also in terms of managed savings: from January to the end of September it placed 800 million.
Nagel gave "a very positive assessment of how the Italian banking system emerged from the stress tests, taking into account the severity of the hypotheses". For Nagel, the result must be taken cum grano salis and it is useless to compare with other countries, for Italian banks the comprehensive assessment was a triple stress, after the strong adjustments to loans in 2013 due to the recession that has been going on for years : there was a multiplier effect and in the end, however, the shortfall was limited to only two intermediaries.
"The results - specified Nagel - must be read carefully, after an initial emotional reaction, in the coming weeks we will return to work on the real capital ratios of banks on this issue".
MORE PROFITS FROM BANKING ACTIVITIES
DISPOSAL ACCORDING TO PLANS
After a first quarter that beat analysts' expectations (the stock rose by 3,47% in the afternoon), Mediobanca expects to close the new year with an "appreciable increase in revenues". In the conference call to present the results, Nagel reported that he was positive for the year, barring sharp market corrections. “In terms of revenues, we see a recovery in corporate investment banking activity, a consumer interest margin that remains very tonic and an appreciable contribution from Generali,” he explained. Also on the profitability front, “the outlook is positive because we expect a recovery of typical banking activities and therefore a more sustained profitability from the ordinary component”.
Piazzetta Cuccia, which on the business front has also decided to enter factoring (the goal is 24 million in revenues and 5 in profits in three years) will continue with the sale of the equity investments in the second half, after the break in the first quarter of 2014- 2015. No slippage from plans. He expects to sell his share in Telecom by 30 June, the sale of Generali is confirmed for the last year of the plan and that of RCS depends somewhat on prices and markets.
THE NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS AT THE START, TARAK PRESENTS MARIE (BOLLORE')
THERE IS NO PEOPLE'S BANK OF CHINA IN THE MEETING
In a particularly agitated meeting in terms of interventions by small shareholders (which began at 11 in the morning and is still ongoing at four in the afternoon), Marie Bolloré made her debut, and as of today she officially enters the Mediobanca board of directors in place of her father , the Breton financier Vincet Bollorè who today accompanied her to Piazzetta Cuccia to present her to the top management of the institute and to the main shareholders.
"Escort" by Tarak Ben Ammar, Marie also entered the press room to introduce herself to journalists. “I've been hearing about Mediobanca for a long time, I joined the group's boards for the first time in 2006 and little by little I began to be a member of various boards of directors from her – she said answering questions -. Ours is a family group and often we children have been made aware of my father's activities and those in Italy we have been hearing about for a long time”. From this year Marie is also involved in the electric car that is produced in Italy.
According to the data that emerged during the meeting, Bollorè is confirmed as the second shareholder with 7,5%. "I am very satisfied and very happy with the team of managers" as well as "with the role of Mediobanca in Italy - he said - We are here for the long term". Also unchanged are the shares of Unicredit (8,75%), Groupama (4,9%), Mediolanum at 3,5%, Carisbo at 2,9%, Edizione at 2,2% and Fininvest at 2,1%. The People's Bank of China is confirmed at 2% but according to what emerges it has not deposited the shares to be present at the meeting.
