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Bper is about to another NPL portfolio for 2 billion euro

12 November, Il Sole 24 Ore

Bper is increasing its profitability as it’s going proceeding with the disposal of bad loans. The bank has announced the transfer of NPLs for 2 billion, bringing to 5 billion the total NPLs to sell by 2019. The net profit in the first nine months of the year reached 358 million, having more than doubled from the 149 million reported last year. Unlike other Italian banks which have been impacted by the increasing spread, Bper’s capital strength has improved. The bank reported a Cet1 ratio increase of approximately 40 basis points, having gone from 11.6% as recorded in June to 12% at present.

Ceo Alessandro Vandelli explains that the results “is mainly due to our strategy consisting of the progressive diversification of the financial portfolio”. The Italian state bonds held by the bank have decreased by 0.5% from the second quarter, setting at 5.6 billion euro and representing 33.4% of the total portfolio, among the lowest values in the banking system.

In the meanwhile, the bank is improving its asset quality. In the past few days, Bper has completed the securitisation of an NPL portfolio (name “Aqui”) for a gross value of 1.9 billion. The operation follows another one completed on behalf of Banco di Sardegna in June. There is also another operation for one billion in the pipeline, along with another one for the same amount planned for 2019.

The bank accomplished the objective of reducing the gross Npe ratio by almost 10 percentage points between 2016 and 2018. The gross pro-forma Npe ratio is equal to 17.3%, and it’s estimated to reduce by 3 basis points and to set at 14.4% in the next three months, meaning by February 2019.

As Vandelli confirmed, the focus is on de-risking. Concerning a potential merger with Unipol Banca, he stresses how Bper “is strongly focused on all the opportunities to grow, both internal and external, as long as they create value for the shareholders”.

Source: Il Sole 24 Ore

Translator: Cristina Ambrosi