BPM Bank potential target of an M&A operationpivot of that Italian banking risk that we are only talking about for now?
Giuseppe Castagna, CEO of bank in Piazza Medaas is well known, he has reiterated several times, as UniCredit number one, Andrea Orcel has done in recent days, that he does not consider the option of marrying another institution as a priority at the moment.
Banco BPM, Castagna: we are on the market with the right value
This conviction also emerged yesterday , with Castagna thus answering the question on the possibility that Banco BPM could become “teach” of any banking risk operations:
“Once you give the right value, we are on the market“, adding that “our task is to make the most of the bank to stand alone, because we can only continue on our path”.
Giuseppe Castagna was asked about the M&A node on the sidelines of the ninth edition of the Mediobanca CEO conferencean event in which the number one of UniCredit, Andrea Orcel, had already taken the floor.
The manager recalled how therisk option for banks had been advocated and considered above all when the rates of the euro area, with the anti-deflation monetary policy at the time launched by the former ECB president Mario Draghi, had been brought below zero.
“With negative rates it was the only way to increase bank profits, because you weren’t making revenue and you had to cut costs – recalled Castagna – Honestly, today we are all doing well, also helped by this increase in interest rates but not only, so there is no rush to merge to have a sustainable profitwe have now returned to Rote (Return on tangible equity), above 10%”.
Fed effect on Piazza Affari. Banco BPM, UniCredit and Mps down
No risk fever today in Piazza Affari, far from it. The Ftse Mib of Piazza Affari aligns itself with the downward trend of the other world stock lists, paying for the factor Fed in particular the statements that number one Jerome Powell made yesterday, on the occasion of his hearing in the House of Representatives of the US Congress.
The sales that hit Wall Street they have also infected the other stock exchanges, awaiting, inter alia, the rate verdict Bank of England.
The minus sign also invests UniCredit, as well as Mps.
In particular, the UniCredit share retreats after the strong buys that started yesterday, subsequent to the word excellence uttered by the CEO Orcel and the news relating, in terms of dividends, to the launch of the second tranche of the plan share buyback.
Mps is also down, which remains under special observation due to the need for the Treasury, the largest shareholder with a 64% stake, to leave the capital by 2024, and therefore to take on the role of potential prey (in which, however, no one seems interested at the moment).
Speaking of Monte dei Paschi di Siena, yesterday, on the occasion of theUtp & Npl Summit 2023 del Sole 24 Orethe CEO Luigi Lovaglio made himself heard.
Lovaglio warned the sector, recalling that the assistance that so far Italian banks in particular and in the euro area in general have received on their profitability with ECB rate hikes sooner or later it will go down.
“At the system level, banks must maintain strong risk control and go to understand what to do to replace those revenues that will be lost on the interest margin front“.
Lovaglio warns banks about non-eternal ECB impact on the NII
The strong support that the ECB’s monetary tightening has given to the economy has been undeniable the voice of NII precisely the interest margin, of the bank balance sheets.
Lovaglio underlined, according to what was reported by Il Sole 24 Ore, that at the moment the situation remains “very favorable on interest rates”.
But for this very reason”it is very important to be aware that this trend is destined to change in some way, not returning to the levels of a few years ago, but leading to a reduction in spreads” (the famous commercial spreads, i.e. the difference between loan rates (which have adjusted well to the rate hikes launched by the ECB) and deposit rates, which instead remain particularly low in Italy, in spite of those who keep liquidity parked in the bank (in times of inflation which, in itself, erodes cash).
In short, said Lovaglio, the banks “they must be prepared to generate profitability from other sources of income”.