Italy's Monte dei Paschi lifts guidance as turnaround strategy yields results
Sets higher profit goals for 2026, 2028
Plans IT investments to digitise business
Owning 100% of insurance business would be "positive"-CEO
Recasts after analyst call
By Valentina Za
MILAN, Aug 6 (Reuters) -State-owned Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena BMPS.MI on Tuesday raised its profit outlook and dividend payout goal through 2028, after second quarter earnings came in well ahead of expectations.
Shares in the bank, which has implemented a turnaround strategy under Chief Executive Luigi Lovaglio after a 5.4 billion euro ($8.72 billion) state bailout in 2017, were up 7.8% after the bank updated its forecasts through to 2028.
The shares have rallied more than 50% this year, outpacing a 28% increase in Italy's banking index .FTITLMS3010, as the restructuring and higher interest rates boosted profits.
Monte dei Paschi (MPS) said net profit in April-June totalled 826.5 million euros, roughly double a company-provided consensus forecast of 381 million euros, with 456.8 million of the profit coming from tax credits, which MPS is now eligible for after revamping its business following years of losses.
The bank maintained its 2024 pre-tax profit forecast of 1.3 billion euros but increased the 2024 payout ratio to 75% of profits from 50%. It said it assumed the payout ratio would stay at that level through 2028 with its core capital ratio projected to remain above 18%, the highest among Italy's major banks.
MPS lifted its forecast for pre-tax profit in 2026 to 1.4 billion euros, or 54% higher than the target it had set two years ago.
It said pre-tax profit would rise further to 1.7 billion euros in 2028 with net fees and commission rising by 260 million euros over the next four years, more than offsetting an expected 80 million euro decline in net interest income over the period, as interest rates keep falling.
It also forecast a 2.6% average annual rise in operating costs in 2024-2026.
Citi analyst Azzurra Guelfi said that increase in costs was larger than expected and provided scope for savings if the bank clinched the merger the Italian Treasury has been looking for.
The rising costs reflect plans to hire 800 more staff over 2024-2028 and investments in technology of 500 million euros, MPS said.
Lovaglio, a veteran UniCredit executive, was brought in by the Treasury in early 2022 after the Treasury failed to clinch a sale of MPS to UniCredit in 2021.
Asked about whether MPS could use some of 2 billion euros in excess capital to buy out insurance partner Axa AXAF.PA, Lovaglio said it was not currently an option, but such an opportunity, if it arose, would be "really positive" for the bank in terms of additional fees.
Revenue in April-June totalled 1.02 billion euros, slightly ahead of expectations and little changed from the first quarter.
($1 = 0.9169 euros)
Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones and Susan Fenton
Aset Terkait
Berita Terbaru
Pengungkapan: Entitas XM Group menyediakan layanan khusus eksekusi dan akses ke Fasilitas Trading Online kami, yang memungkinkan Anda untuk melihat dan/atau menggunakan konten yang tersedia pada atau melalui situs, yang tidak untuk mengubah atau memperluas, serta tidak mengubah atau memperluas hal tersebut. Akses dan penggunaan ini selalu sesuai dengan: (i) Syarat dan Ketentuan; (ii) Peringatan Risiko; dan (iii) Pengungkapan Penuh. Oleh karena itu, konten disediakan hanya sebagai informasi umum. Anda juga harus ketahui bahwa konten Fasilitas Trading Online kami bukan sebagai ajakan atau tawaran untuk untuk melakukan transaksi apa pun di pasar finansial. Trading di pasar finansial mana pun melibatkan tingkat risiko yang signifikan pada modal Anda.
Semua materi yang diterbitkan di Fasilitas Trading Online kami hanya untuk tujuan edukasi/informasi dan tidak boleh mengandung nasihat dan rekomendasi finansial, pajak investasi atau trading, catatan harga trading kami, penawaran, permintaan, transaksi dalam instrumen finansial apa pun atau promo finansial untuk Anda yang tidak diminta.
Konten pihak ketiga apa pun, serta konten yang disiapkan oleh XM, seperti opini, berita, riset, analisis, harga, informasi lain atau link ke situs pihak ketiga yang tersedia "sebagaimana adanya", sebagai komentar pasar umum dan bukan menjadi nasihat investasi. Sejauh konten apa pun ditafsirkan sebagai penelitian investasi, Anda harus memperhatikan dan menerima bahwa konten tersebut tidak dimaksudkan dan belum disiapkan sesuai dengan persyaratan hukum yang dirancang untuk mempromosikan kemandirian riset investasi dan dengan demikian akan dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah hukum dan peraturan yang relevan. Mohon dipastikan bahwa Anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi pada Riset Investasi Non-Independen dan Peringatan Risiko kami mengenai informasi di atas, yang dapat diakses disini.
