“The first evidence relating to 2015 confirms that the current completely anomalous performance of the MPS share has no confirmation in the bank's fundamentals which also improved during the last quarter, confirming the trend highlighted in the first nine months of the year”. This is what he says in a note Fabrizio Viola, CEO Monte dei Paschi di Siena Bank, regarding the collapse of the MPS share recorded since the beginning of the year (almost -48%) and, in particular, in the last trading sessions. At the opening today, Mps shares are struggling to gain price and have now been suspended, with a potential loss of 10,68%, despite Consob extended the ban on short selling until Thursday.
“From a stock market point of view, although it is my habit not to comment on the performance of the MPS share – continues the note – the exceptional nature of the events requires me to make some brief observations. First of all, I am unable to either confirm or deny the analyzes published in the last few days regarding the causes of the anomalous performance of the stock. It must be considered that today the shareholding structure of Mps is particularly fragmented and this leads us to imagine that the sales were not the result of the sale of large holdings".
Furthermore, according to Viola, “the interpretation given by the main intermediaries is that there is actually a shortage of buyers rather than the presence of large sellers. Finally, both the valuation of the security, in terms of ratio with respect to the bank's equity, and the yield on subordinated debt are not justified today by the fundamentals of the bank as noted above".
In particular, explains the CEO, “revenues increased both compared to the third quarter and compared to the previous year, while costs have been further reduced compared to the same period last year, confirming the positive trend of improvement in the bank's operational efficiency that has been going on for four years now. In terms of credit quality, the bank has been making an extraordinary effort for several months now to achieve the objective of reducing the size of the anomalous loan portfolio and the first results are beginning to be seen, thanks to the effects of the disposals of non-performing loans made during the year and the recovery activity carried out by the bank's internal structures. For this reason, I am confident in the achievement of the trend reversal objective in the trend of the stock of anomalous loans which constitutes the bank's primary commitment. From an asset and financial point of view, the capital endowment of the bank continues to be adequate and in any case above the thresholds prescribed by the ECB, while the situation of the liquid assets at the end of the bank's year is particularly positive, to levels never reached in the last four years”.
Obviously, “the customers who turn to our branches today – continues Viola – are worried about all the things they read. Over the past few days, branch colleagues, whom I take this opportunity to thank once again, have done an extraordinary job in providing customers who request it with all the objective elements necessary for proper management of the relationship with the bank. At the moment the size of the deposits of those customers who have decided to move part of their savings is limited and in any case lower than that encountered in the previous crisis that the bank experienced in February 2013 which was brilliantly overcome. For this reason, also in the light of the decidedly better fundamentals today than two years ago, I am convinced that the bank will be able to overcome this difficult phase, as happened in the past"
Finally, "let me close - concludes Viola - recalling that today, despite everything that has happened, the bank continues to operate normally, serving 5 million private customers, over 220 small businesses, 50 medium and large businesses, through 25.740 colleagues who are demonstrating extraordinary professionalism and attachment to their bank, which are worth much more than my words".
[Read also: Mps: what to do if you are an account holder, saver, shareholder or bondholder]
