Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) closed
the first quarter of the year with a profit of 413 million
euros, up 24.2% compared to the same period of 2024 and higher
than the consensus of analysts, which stood at 341 million, the
Siena-based world's oldest bank said Friday.
The fully loaded Cet1 ratio post Basel 4 reached the record
level of 19.6%, it said, bringing the capital buffer to around
890 basis points compared to the tier1 ratio requirement.
MPS, Italy's fifth biggest bank, said it was pressing ahead with
its all-share bid for Italy's premier merchant bank Mediobanca
despite the latter bidding for a smaller bank, Banca Generali,
linked to giant Trieste-based insurer Generali Assicurazioni.
"With the strong support of shareholders at the last meeting,
MPS is continuing in line with the expected timing in the
execution of the path towards the takeover bid on Mediobanca,
whose industrial rationale is potentially also consistent with
the operation announced on Banca Generali", said the Sienese
lender.
MPS CEO Luigi Lovaglio said that Banca Generali "does not hinder
our ambitions".
"I want to be very clear, Mediobanca's offer on Banca Generali
does not represent an alternative to our project which is much
more transformative," Lovaglio said in a conference call with
analysts, underlining how Mediobanca's takeover bid on Banca
Generali is not perceived "as an obstacle" to MPS's offer on
Mediobanca.
"Our offer has allowed Mediobanca to regain control of its
balance sheet and this operation is in line with our ambitions
to create the first Italian financial institution", he said.
Lovaglio added that the value of Banca Generali for Mediobanca
was not clear.
"It is difficult to understand whether this operation" on Banca
Generali "generates value for shareholders on Mediobanca" while
"our offer" for Mediobanca "immediately creates certain value
for Mediobanca shareholders", he told analysts, raising a series
of doubts about the operation between Mediobanca and Banca
Generali.
"The financial advantages of the offer on Banca Generali are not
evident while our offer is decidedly more attractive as a
financial proposal for Mediobanca shareholders".
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