Banca Mps at the center of rumors and exchanges on the stock exchange. We talk about possible involvement of Unicredit in the purchase of the bank Siena just as CEO Guido Bastianini is hearing the bicameral commission on banks. The actions of Banca Mps are up by +4,96% at Piazza Affari. Unicredit instead it loses 0,83%.
“If the Ministry of Economy decides, if and when, to sell the bank, it is a negotiation in which the management is not involved. I don't understand how certain articles come out, I have no opinion on it ”. This is how Guido Bastianini replied, in a hearing, to a member of the Commission who asked him to comment on the hypothesis of a possible sale to UniCredit, reported in a press article, which would provide for a disbursement by the Treasury to convince Jean Pierre Mustier to make the acquisition.
THEOperation Hydra, of demerger of impaired loans of Monte dei Paschi in favor of Amco for a value of 8,1 billion, allows the bank "to face the current economic crisis with a more solid position, to return to generating capital in the medium term and to be able to attract new investors” continued the CEO who nonetheless deemed it very appropriate to postpone the date of 30 September set by the EBA for the adjustments.
Bastianini added that the operation, which will be examined by the bank's shareholders' meeting on 4 October, "constitutes a fundamental opportunity for MPS to significantly reduce the group's credit risk". A further element that emerged during the hearing concerns the reduction in equity connected to the transaction: it decreased slightly from 1,1 billion to 960 million, mainly due to the effect of valuation changes recorded in the first half of 2020.
The banker recalled that thanks to the demerger of Npl in favor of Amco, the bank aligns itself with the best standards of the Italian market for credit risk with a gross npl ratio by 4% last June pro forma compared to the 11,8% photographed in the half-yearly. During the hearing, the bank's top manager also indicates the conditions precedent of the transaction. Among these is the ceiling of 150 million for the payment of shares to shareholders who will exercise the right to withdraw. Condition to which, however, the bank can decide to waive at its discretion.
During the parliamentary hearing, all the "hot" topics on the management of the bank were addressed. Monte dei Paschi, explained the CEO, has achieved in advance some risk reduction objectives credit set by the restructuring plan agreed in 2017 with Brussels. This is the result of "an incisive action on risk management" initiated by Bank in the last few years. The plan envisaged reaching an NPL ratio of 2021% in 12,9 but MPS is already below that level. In June 2020 the value stood at 11,8% and becomes 10,4% with the new definition of the EBA.
A detailed study was dedicated to the disputes in progress. “As of 31 March 2020, the bank is facing 108 disputes brought by subjects who have invested in subordinated bonds issued by the institution, for a total claim of approximately 47 million euros. Most of this litigation relates to investments in Lower Tier II bonds, and the plaintiffs are mostly subjects who have undergone a legal conversion of their securities into ordinary shares”, said the CEO.
