After the numbers of Bpm, Bper and the institutes of Sondrio and Varese, to the round of accounts of the popular banks destined to be transformed into a Spa the quarterly reports of Banco Popolare and Ubi are added, the latter also at the center of a new judicial storm that broke out yesterday.
The Management Board of Where's Banca proposes the distribution of a 2014 dividend of 8 cents per share, up from the 6 cents paid last year. The institute closed the last financial year with a loss of 725,8 million, against a profit of 250,8 million in 2013, following write-downs of 882,7 million. The result, net of non-recurring items, amounted to 146,5 million, up by 46,2%, underlines a note.
The maxi-devaluation, specifies Ubi, does not involve a burden on the phased-in Common Equity Tier 1 ratio, which at the end of December was equal to 12,33%, from 13% in September. The proforma Cet1 is estimated at 11,5% when fully operational, from 12% in September. As regards the credit sector, 2014 recorded loan adjustments of 929 million, compared to 943 million in 2013.
Meanwhile, yesterday, the Guardia di Finanza searched most of the institute's offices and some offices of the Compagnia delle Opere of Bergamo and of the Consorzio Fidi of the artisans of the province of Bergamo (Confiab). The new line of inquiry - which joins the one launched last year by the Bergamo Public Prosecutor's Office - concerns the Bank's shareholders' meeting of 20 April 2013, during which the supervisory board and the management board of the institute still in force. The investigators and the Fiamme Gialle hypothesize irregularities in that vote, carried out through the collection of blank proxies and proxies with forged signatures.
There are eleven suspects in the new line of investigation, among which the name of Giovanni Bazoli stands out, as president of the Banca Lombarda e Piemontese Association. Bazoli, who is also chairman of the Supervisory Board of Intesa Sanpaolo, released a note in which he declares "his total non-involvement in the facts".
For Banco Popolare, 2014 closed with a maxi loss of 1,9 billion (against the red of 606 million in 2013) after the clean-up of the balance sheet in the light of the results of the ECB's asset quality review, which led to the recognition of loan adjustments for 3,6 billion, of which 2,5 billion in the fourth quarter alone. Operating income fell by 5,5% to 3,4 billion, with net interest income at 1,55 billion (-5,5%) and net commissions stable at 1,38 billion (-0,1%). Operating costs increased by 0,7% to 2,27 billion, for a cost/income ratio that rose to 67%.
In Piazza Affari, when about an hour has passed since the start of trading, the UBI share drops 0,8%, to 6,255 euros, while that of Banco Popolare travels just below parity (-0,16%). at 12,28 euros.
