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 Berkaitan
Berita Terkini
Penafian: Entiti XM Group menyediakan perkhidmatan pelaksanaan sahaja dan akses ke Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian, yang membolehkan sesorang melihat dan/atau menggunakan kandungan yang ada di dalam atau melalui laman web, tidak bertujuan untuk mengubah atau memperluas, juga tidak mengubah atau mengembangkannya. Akses dan penggunaan tersebut tertakluk kepada: (i) Terma dan Syarat; (ii) Amaran Risiko; dan Penafian Penuh. Oleh itu, kandungan sedemikian disediakan tidak lebih dari sekadar maklumat umum. Terutamanya, perlu diketahui bahawa kandungan Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian bukan permintaan, atau tawaran untuk melakukan transaksi dalam pasaran kewangan. Berdagang dalam mana-mana pasaran kewangan melibatkan tahap risiko yang besar terhadap modal anda.
Semua bahan yang diterbitkan di Kemudahan Dagangan Atas Talian kami bertujuan hanya untuk tujuan pendidikan/maklumat dan tidak mengandungi – dan tidak boleh dianggap mengandungi nasihat kewangan, cukai pelaburan atau dagangan dan cadangan, atau rekod harga dagangan kami, atau tawaran, atau permintaan untuk suatu transaksi dalam sebarang instrumen kewangan atau promosi kewangan yang tidak diminta kepada anda.
Sebarang kandungan pihak ketiga serta kandungan yang disediakan oleh XM, seperti pendapat, berita, penyelidikan, analisis, harga, maklumat lain atau pautan ke laman web pihak ketiga yang terdapat dalam laman web ini disediakan berdasarkan "seadanya" sebagai ulasan pasaran umum dan bukanlah nasihat pelaburan. Sesuai dengan apa-apa kandungan yang ditafsir sebagai penyelidikan pelaburan, anda mestilah ambil perhatian dan menerima bahawa kandungan tersebut tidak bertujuan dan tidak sediakan berdasarkan keperluan undang-undang yang direka untuk mempromosikan penyelidikan pelaburan bebas dan oleh itu, ia dianggap sebagai komunikasi pemasaran di bawah peraturan dan undang-undang yang berkaitan. SIla pastikan bahawa anda telah membaca dan memahami Notifikasi mengenai Penyelidikan Pelaburan Bukan Bebas dan Amaran Risiko mengenai maklumat di atas yang boleh diakses di sini.
