Banca MPS announces that the rating agency Moody’s Investors Service has improved the outlook on the long-term deposit and senior unsecured debt rating from stable to positive, after the increase in February of two notches to the long-term deposit rating and three notches to the long-term senior unsecured rating.
The change in the outlook is based on the expectation that the improvement in the Bank’s credit profile, reflected in particular in greater and sustainable profitability and in the ability to access the bond market, if confirmed in the next 12-18 months, could lead to a upgrade of the Baseline Credit Assessment (BCA) rating. Furthermore, the bond issues expected to meet the MREL requirement will strengthen the Bank’s liquidity position.
The floor variable
The positive outlook also reflects Moody’s expectation that the implementation of the current plan, which has gained momentum thanks to the recent 2.5 billion capital increase, will produce further results; the achievement of these objectives in the outlook period could lead to an upgrade of more than one notch of the MPS ratings.
The perspectives of the third pole
MPS continues to make headlines on the Stock Exchange also thanks to the latest statements by CEO Luigi Lovaglio, who in recent days has once again nominated Siena for the construction of the third banking center and confirmed Monte’s progress on the profitability front. The stock, from two sessions against the tide, rose by 1.8% to 2.1 euros, regardless of the closure in the deep red of Piazza Affari. “I believe that due to its position in the system and its 550-year history, MPS must and can participate with an important role in the construction of that third Italian banking center that has been talked about for some time”, the words of Lovaglio, who he defined the first quarter results as “replicable” and “sustainable”, with a profit of 220 million euros and supported by cost cutting and interest rate boosts.
The reluctance of BancoBpm
So far, the ideal candidate, Banco Bpm, has reiterated that he is not interested in mergers: least of all with Mps which, thanks to over 23 billion in losses in a decade and 4.1 billion in compensation claims, still needs to fully regain investor confidence , as also highlighted by the discounted quotations on the Stock Exchange compared to Italian banks. «I repeat for the umpteenth time that we have no intention of pursuing a merger project with Mps, it is not part of our plans. We have a stand-alone strategy that has made it possible to achieve truly positive results and above all with which we still want to create a lot of value for our shareholders in the future», the president of Banco, Massimo Tononi repeated in the Bankitalia final remarks.