Popolare di Sondrio: accounts, shareholders and the next spouse
How are the accounts of Banca Popolare di Sondrio going and what are the scenarios for the bank transformed into a joint stock company: towards Bper? The article by Emanuela Rossi
Preliminary results for 2021 confirmed, the proposal for a dividend of € 0.20 per share approved and some hints on exposure in Russia and Ukraine and on the performance of the first months of 2022. This is what was decided by the board of directors administration of Banca Popolare di Sondrio, which has made an appointment at the shareholders' meeting on 30 April, as well as to approve last year's financial statements and the detachment of the coupon also to appoint five directors for the period 2022-2024.
THE NUMBERS OF 2021
As we said, 2021 was a very important year for the Popolare di Sondrio also in relation to the budget. The institute in fact closed last year with the best net profit in its history and more than doubled since 2020: 268.6 million with a Roe of 8.9%. Net interest income (+ 7.9%) and net commissions (+ 13%) improved sharply. In 2021 Popolare di Sondrio made adjustments to loans for 134.4 million euros and charges for the stabilization of the banking system for 43.1 million and continued to support families and businesses in the area with disbursements for 4.8 billion of which approximately 1 billion backed by a state guarantee. Last year the asset quality continued to improve with the net NPE ratio equal to 2.7% compared to 3.7% in 2020. Good numbers that led the board to propose the distribution of 5.2 million dividends, almost 1 million more than the 4.4 million of the previous year.
THE OUTLOOK FOR 2022
Also 2022 seems to have started with the wind in its sails for the bank given that there was "a positive start to the year, marked by the stability of the revenues of the characteristic banking activity and by dynamics on the cost front in line with the pursuit efficiency objectives aligned with the best market standards ". The note issued at the end of the board states that "in the absence of further strong instability in international relations and / or in the performance of the financial markets, it is likely that the group will be able to achieve good levels of profitability in 2022, confirming the resilience of the own business model ".
EXPOSURE TO RUSSIA AND UKRAINE AND THE POSTPONEMENT OF THE INDUSTRIAL PLAN
During the meeting of the board of directors there was also talk of the war in Ukraine and it resulted that the institute "has started a functional activity to determine the direct exposures towards subjects residing in Russia and Ukraine" according to the recall of attention expressed a few days ago by Consob. “This has resulted in a very limited direct credit exposure so far”, we read, and instead “for indirect exposures, relating to customers operating in sectors potentially involved in the crisis, analysis of the expected impacts is underway”.
Popolare di Sondrio also makes it known that "financial risk exposures are subject to monitoring on a daily basis" and that "to date there have been no security incidents" related to cyber attacks "linked to the crisis". Despite the situation being under control, the board in any case "considered it prudent to postpone the approval of the new business plan" given that there remains "a significant level of uncertainty associated with the evolution of the geopolitical tensions in progress, with numerous points of attention that unanimously interest banking institutions, in particular linked to the expected growth of the economy, the dynamics of reference rates and government spreads, the cost of risk and the performance of the debt and equity markets, and price indices ".
THE SHAREHOLDERS
It should be remembered that on 29 December the Popolare di Sondrio was transformed into a joint stock company, the last of the popular companies to complete the reform process. Like many of her colleagues, Mf reports, it is now a public company with widespread shareholding with Unipol which – after the summer blitz – is the first shareholder at 9%, preceding Dimensional Fund, the Austin (Texas) investment group, which today he is the main shareholder of almost all the Italian banks. Not insignificant packages are also in the hands of the US fund BlackRock, the Norwegian sovereign fund Norges Bank and Crèdit Agricole Asset Management. Some Italian intermediaries follow, including Intesa Sanpaolo, Generali and Banca Sella.
A few days ago the news, released by the same institute in a press release, that all the 12,676 shares of Popolare di Sondrio on which the shareholders had exercised the right of withdrawal following the transformation into a Spa were placed with the shareholders as part of the offer period in option. The placement price, equal to the withdrawal price, is 3.7548 euros.
POPULAR SONDRIO IN BANK RISIKO?
In the future of the bank led by CEO Mario Alberto Pedranzini, in addition to further growing numbers, it is not certain that there will not be a merger with another group. Indeed, the good performances could make a possible merger even more attractive. At the moment in pole position there could be another former popular, or Bper which coincidentally has as its main shareholder (just under 20%) just Unipol di Carlo Cimbri which according to Mf would be interested in seeing the value of its banking investments grow but above all to distribute its policies in an ever-expanding network of bank branches. For Equita SIM analysts, however, the moves that are taking place on the axis between Bologna and Sondrio bring the realization of the much-mentioned third banking center closer.
And in view of a particularly intense future from this point of view, as reported by MF-Milano Finanza , Popolare di Sondrio would be ready to evaluate strategic options with the help of Wepartner, the consulting company led by the former CEO of Cassa Depositi e Prestiti Equity, Guido Rivolta.
This is a machine translation from Italian language of a post published on Start Magazine at the URL https://www.startmag.it/economia/popolare-di-sondrio-conti-azionisti/ on Tue, 22 Mar 2022 13:41:56 +0000.