Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena closes the semester with a loss of 380 million euro. The result is worse than the expectations of analysts who had expected losses of 249 million, although recovering on the same period a year ago when the red due to had been 1,5 billion attributable to the impairment of goodwill.
On the restructuring plan, currently under examination by the European Commission, the CFO of the bank, Bernardo Mingrone, stressed in the conference call to present the accounts that "it is not questioned by the EU", if anything, it is asked to "improve some aspects ”. The CEO Fabrizio Viola then opened up to EU requests: "We are available and we are ready to implement the indications aimed at improving our plan in the form of restructuring".
The plan approved on 13 June last, reads the press release on the accounts, "reflects a more fragile macroeconomic scenario following the persistence of the economic crisis at European level, with negative repercussions on revenue generation and loan adjustments, despite the actions already undertaken by the management (in particular in terms of cost containment and credit risk reduction) further cost containment actions are envisaged, as well as the sale of assets and reduction of the perimeter of branches, in addition to the strengthening of the capital management initiatives already indicated" .
As regards the disposals, the board has granted exclusive negotiations to Accenture and Bassilichi to define an agreement for the outsourcing of back office activities as envisaged in the plan. However, any benefits from the operation will be seen starting from next year.
INTEREST MARGIN DROP 35%
Going back to the accounts, the primary intermediation margin fell by 23% to 1.932 million euros. In detail, net commissions increased slightly by 1,4% to 848 while the interest margin worsened by 35,2% to 1.083 million. The bank notes that on a like-for-like basis, the decline in the interest margin stops at -26,8%: in the fourth quarter of 2012 there were several "elements of discontinuity relating to the economic period also in the previous quarters: a) the accounting of interest on the so-called Tremonti Bond for the entire portion pertaining to 2012, b) the elimination of the urgent preliminary investigation commission and the modification of the method of calculating interest in the event of overdraft, c) the changed consolidation criteria of Banca Popolare di Spoleto following the loss of significant influence”.
The group's financial and insurance management margin amounted to approximately €2,18 billion, down by 13,2% on the first quarter of 2013 and by 22,1% on the same period of the previous year. operating costs decreased by 10,5% to 1.467 million. The net operating result went negative by 328 million from +216 million.
Of the 380 million, 280 are attributable to the second quarter while the analysts' forecasts were a loss of 149 million euros. The half-year result was also affected by redundancy costs of 17,6 million euro and provisions for risks and charges of around 45 million euro mainly for legal/revocation actions. The 2012 net result, negative by around 1,55 billion, was affected by impairment on goodwill, intangibles and the write-down of Am holding for 1,57 billion.
DIRECT COLLECTION GOES UP
SECURITIES AND DERIVATIVES PORTFOLIO AT 40,5 BILLION
Direct deposits grew by 1,3% compared to March 2013 and +3,3% compared to June 2012. Overall deposits, on the other hand, amounted to approximately 242 billion euro, down by 1,8 per cent . The net interbank position (in deposits) remained substantially stable towards the end of March 2013 and mainly consisted of the exposure to the ECB (three-year Ltro auctions). As regards the capital ratios, the Core Tier 1, including the 4.071 million of Monti Bonds, is equal to 11% (8,9% as at 31 December 2012). The securities and derivatives portfolio at the end of June amounted to 40,5 billion euro, an increase of approximately 2,5 billion euro compared to March: "the dynamics in the second quarter - specifies the bank - can mainly be reconnected to temporary purchases of government bonds on the Hft portfolio of the subsidiary Mps Capital Services in relation to its activity as primary dealer in the government bond sector". The securities were almost entirely re-placed on the market already in the first part of the month of July.
