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☆ Italy's Intesa agrees further 500 euro one-off payment to staff
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-22 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 22 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) has agreed with unions a further 500-euro ($513.45) one-off payment to help staff cope with soaring inflation, the sector's largest union FABI said on Tuesday. Intesa had announced with first half earnings a previous 500 euro one-time payment for its employees. The contributions concern 70,000 workers in Italy excluding executives, Intesa said, adding that the two payments would cost the bank around 87 million euros. Intesa is currently engaged in broad ranging discussions with unions over remote-working arrangements and the introduction of a four-day working week, to help the bank save on energy costs. ($1 = 0.9738 euro)Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka Flak, Alvise Armellini and Jonathan OatisOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy’s bank lobby warns ECB of risk of attending board meetings
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

[1/2] Head of Italian Banking Association (ABI) Antonio Patuelli is seen during a meeting in Rome, Italy, October 31, 2017. REUTERS/Remo CasilliFLORENCE, Italy, Nov 21 (Reuters) - The head of Italy's banking lobby urged the European Central Bank (ECB) to consider whether its representatives could find themselves sharing responsibility for lenders’ mistakes if they attend banks’ board meetings. Speaking at a banking seminar, Italian Banking Association President Antonio Patuelli weighed in on the tensions brewing between euro zone banks and ECB supervisors. Patuelli said it should not come at a surprise if Italian banks bought fewer domestic government bonds following the ECB's decision. Touching on the issue of ECB representatives' presence at banks' board meetings, Patuelli said this could get them in trouble if they proved unable to stop what later emerged as misdeeds.

☆ Intesa Sanpaolo repays around 13 bln euros in TLTRO III funds
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Italy's largest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said on Friday it had repaid around 13 billion euros ($13.48 billion) in ECB's Targeted Longer Term Refinancing Operation (TLTRO) III funds. The European Central Bank has given banks an incentive to get rid of those loans by taking away a rate subsidy last month. It was its first move to mop up cash from the banking system and the first step towards unwinding its massive bond purchases. The early repayment leaves Intesa with 102 billion euros in outstanding TLTRO funds, the bank said in a statement published on its website. ($1 = 0.9646 euros)Reporting by Valentina Za; Writing by Gianluca Semeraro, Editing by Agnieszka FlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UniCredit to give staff in Germany 2,500 euro tax-free bonus-memo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest lender UniCredit (CRDI.MI) will give its staff in Germany a bonus of 2,500 euros ($2,594) to compensate for rising inflation, a copy of an internal memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by a spokesperson showed. Trainees will receive a bonus of up to 1,250 euros, depending on the time they worked for the bank, the memo showed. The bonuses are exempt from tax as well as social security charges and will be paid out in December, it added. Under a third package of inflation relief measures costing in aggregate more than 65 billion euros, Germany announced in September that employers can pay out tax-free bonuses to staff of up to 3,000 euros each until the end of 2024. UniCredit had roughly 14,000 employees in Germany as of end-September, its website showed, making it its second biggest market after Italy where it employs nearly 35,000 people.

☆ I spent a night on a superyacht and now I know why the superrich love them so much
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-13 | by ( Sam Tabahriti | ) www.businessinsider.com time to read: +4 min

I spent a night on a superyacht in Croatia that can accommodate up to 30 people. The superrich love them and the yachting industry is booming and I now know why. Miha Menegalija of charter broker Goolets says owning a superyacht is one way to showcase your wealth. GooletsBefore boarding the Ohana, I had never been on a boat, let alone on a superyacht. It may not come as a great surprise, but I certainly could get used to spending plenty of time on a superyacht.

☆ Monte dei Paschi posts 388 mln euros loss hit by layoff costs
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 11 (Reuters) - State-owned Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) on Friday reported a 388 million loss for the third quarter after booking charges to lay off staff through a costly voluntary scheme. MPS said the capital raising had lifted its core capital ratio to 14.7% at the end of September, up from 10.8% three months earlier. MPS booked 925 million euros in charges in the period to finance 4,000 staff cuts. Excluding the layoff charges the bank's net profit in the nine months stood at 565 million euros thanks to a 415 million euro tax boost. ($1 = 0.9786 euros)Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini & Shri NavaratnamOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Telecom Italia profit falls, net debt rises
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Elvira Pollina | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Italy's biggest phone company on Wednesday said earnings after interest, tax, depreciation, amortisation and lease (EBITDA-AL) were 1.31 billion euros in July-September. That is in line with an analyst consensus provided by the company and down from 1.48 billion euros a year ago. Revenue in Italy, where the former phone monopoly makes the bulk of its turnover, fell by 5.3% to 2.92 billion euros, also matching expectations. As a consequence, it wrote off deferred tax assets for a net 1.96 billion euros. Adjusted net debt was up 15% year-on-year to 25.5 billion euros at the end of September.

The European Central Bank (ECB), which supervises euro zone banks, believes some lenders have overly optimistic assumptions about the economy, based on models that cannot fully capture the damage from the current bout of inflation, the sources say. Source: S&P Global-EBAMorgan Stanley estimates euro zone banks will pay out 40 billion euros ($40 billion) in 2022 dividends plus an additional 60 billion euros in share buybacks between this year and next - an outsized return by recent standards. "It's not a good idea to pay out capital during a recession," Intesa's Chief Executive Carlo Messina told analysts last week. "With the economy entering recession, the time of massive bank payouts is over," Marco Troiano, a managing director at Scope Ratings, said. "Running down capital cushions would weaken banks."

REUTERS/Antonio ParrinelloROME, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Italy's efforts to secure financing to keep an Italian oil refinery owned by Lukoil up and running despite new sanctions on Russia kicking in next month have hit obstacles, three people close to the matter said. Lukoil is not under sanctions, but ISAB suppliers and lenders had been wary of dealings with a Russian entity following the Ukraine conflict. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which directly employs some 1,000 workers. Lukoil could provide temporary funding for ISAB, based on the minutes of a ministerial meeting held on Oct. 17 to discuss ISAB financing. Rome is also considering buying a minority stake in the refinery to protect Italian interests, one of the sources said.

☆ Shares in UniCredit hit by report of friction with ECB
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Shares in UniCredit (CRDI.MI) fell on Monday after a report of tensions between Italy's only bank that regulators deem of global systemic relevance and European Central Bank supervisors. Shares in UniCredit fell 3.3% by 0835 GMT against a flattish sector (.FTITLMS3010), with a Milan-based trader saying the report by the Financial Times had triggered profit taking on the stock. Citing people familiar with the matter, the FT said UniCredit had clashed with the ECB over the bank's capital distribution plans and its failure to leave Russia. A spokesperson for UniCredit referred to comments the bank had made to the FT saying the ECB had provided ongoing "challenge and guidance" during the strategic overhaul by Chief Executive Andrea Orcel and that the regulator's "public support" was indicative of its trust in the bank. Reporting by Giancarlo Navach and Valentina Za Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Italy's Monte dei Paschi says cash call 96.3% covered
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Concerns about tapping markets against the backdrop of the Ukraine war, record inflation and an impending economic slump had risked derailing Monte dei Paschi's (MPS) seventh cash call in 14 years. European Union laws curbing state aid to banks capped the Italian taxpayers' contribution at 1.6 billion euros, reflecting Rome's 64% stake in MPS. Underwriters led by global coordinators Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup , Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and Mediobanca (MDBI.MI) will be left holding 93 million euros in shares, MPS said. Having committed up to 200 million euros towards the issue, AXA is expected to emerge as the Tuscan bank's second-biggest shareholder. ($1 = 1.0265 euro)($1 = 1.0259 euros)Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Jonathan Oatis and Andrea RicciOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

A former Miss Argentina and an ex-Miss Puerto Rico announced on Instagram over the weekend that they are married. The video included in their post features a montage of them traveling, their candlelit marriage proposal and a kiss outside a courthouse in San Juan, Puerto Rico. Varela, 26, and Valentín, 22, appear to have met last March, when they competed in the Miss Grand International beauty pageant in Thailand. !” And Miss Universe Puerto Rico 2017 Danna Hernández commented, “Beautiful couple congratulations and blessings on your marriage!!! Same-sex marriage has been legal in Puerto Rico since 2015 as a result of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Obergefell v. Hodges.

Lukoil's ISAB refinery in Sicily stands to be hit by an embargo on seaborne Russian oil that comes into force on Dec. 5, putting at risk jobs in Italy's poorer south and the country's refining capacity. Although Lukoil is not affected by the sanctions, the ISAB plant has been forced to rely solely on Russian oil after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees the refinery needs to buy oil from alternative suppliers. The sources said the government was trying to find ways to ensure the plant can receive financing from lenders and remain operational. The goal is to allow ISAB to buy elsewhere the oil it needs, two of the sources said. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which accounts for around 20% of Italian refining capacity and directly employs some 1,000 workers.

Rome CNN —One person has died and four people, including Spanish soccer player Pablo Mari, were “seriously injured” after a stabbing attack on the outskirts of the Italian city of Milan on Thursday, according to Italian national police. One person has died and four are now seriously injured,” a police spokesman said. Mari, who is an Arsenal center-back currently on loan at AC Monza, was not seriously hurt in the attack, Arsenal said in a statement Thursday. “We are all shocked to hear the dreadful news about the stabbing in Italy, which has put a number of people in hospital including our on-loan center-back Pablo Mari,” Arsenal said. “We have been in contact with Pablo’s agent who has told us he’s in hospital and is not seriously hurt.

☆ Fondazione CRT agrees 5 mln euro investment in Monte dei Paschi cash call - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Italian banking foundation Fondazione CRT on Thursday approved a 5 million euro investment in the Monte dei Paschi di Siena's (BMPS.MI) new share issue, a foundation source said. The decision comes after fellow foundations Fondazione Cariplo and Fondazione SanPaolo this week answered an informal request by Italy’s Treasury to back Monte dei Paschi's capital raising efforts. Reporting by Andrea Mandala, writing by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka FlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ UniCredit ups 2022 profit goal after Q3 earnings beat
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-26 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Italy's No.2 bank UniCredit (CRDI.MI) on Wednesday raised its 2022 profit goal above 4.8 billion euros ($4.8 billion), helped by higher interest rates and lower loan loss provisions that also drove quarterly earnings above forecasts. UniCredit posted a profit for July-September of 1.71 billion euros, well above analysts' consensus forecast of 1.00 billion euros provided by the bank. UniCredit had already improved its 2022 guidance in July, indicating a net profit target of around 4 billion euros. Quarterly earnings were also boosted by much higher than expected trading income, which UniCredit said had been helped by companies' demand for hedging products. The erosion reflects a second share buyback UniCredit is carrying out as it hits a goal of returning 3.75 billion euros of last year's earnings to shareholders.

And Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) raised its 2022 profit goal, helped by higher interest rates and lower loan loss provisions that also drove quarterly earnings above forecasts. For years, banks bemoaned ultra loose monetary policy, but now higher interest rates means banks can start to benefit from the increased gap between what they charge borrowers and what they pay savers. Standard Chartered's third-quarter profit surged 40% as higher interest rates boosted the emerging markets-focused bank's income, giving it ammunition to upgrade its revenue outlook despite a weakening global economy. For Santander, higher loan loss provisions in key markets like Brazil and the United States overshadowed better than expected third-quarter earnings. While benefiting from higher interest rates, banks also face the unwinding of a scheme that buoyed their profits for years.

☆ Della Valle family fails to reach 90% Tod's target as offer closes
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - The Della Valle family failed to reach the 90% ownership threshold needed to proceed with a proposed delisting of luxury shoemaker Tod's (TOD.MI) under their buyout bid, a Borsa Italiana filing showed on Tuesday. On the last day available for the offer, investors tendered Tod's shares accounting for a total of 4,134,358 shares. According to Reuters calculations, the Della Valles, who own 64.5% of the company, needed to gain the acceptance of 5,144,373 shares to reach the 90% threshold in their effort to take the company private. The Della Valle family has stated it could delist Tod's by merging it into DeVa Finance within six months of the closing of the takeover bid. Tod's shares ended down 2.4% at 39.6 euros, underperforming Milan's all-share index (.FTITLMS) which ended up 1.5%.

"When you run a business, if you keep hearing on the news that gas supplies are at risk, you've got to do something. It's not like you can start screaming and stamping your foot when they actually do halt flows for two hours a day," Checchi told Reuters. Higher prices contributed to the 16.2% rise in manufacturing turnover Italy reported in July on a calendar adjusted basis, but volumes also increased by 1.7%. "We invested 10 million euros to build two cogeneration plants and save 4 million euros this year," he said, adding Italcer saved another million by reducing the tiles' thickness to 8.5 from 10 millimetres. Italian business lobby Confindustria has warned of an "economic earthquake", saying the new government will struggle to offset the hit from energy prices on firms like Draghi managed to do without hurting Italy's fragile public finances.

☆ Italy OKs process to grant state guarantees for Enel credit facility - source
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-19 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Companies Enel SpA FollowMILAN, Oct 19 (Reuters) - Italy's Treasury has given a preliminary go-ahead to a request by utility Enel (ENEI.MI) to tap state guarantees for an up to 16 billion euro ($16 billion) credit facility provided by a pool of banks, a source with knowledge of the matter said. The preliminary green light from the ministry sets in motion a process that entails numerous approval steps and stretches over several weeks. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterUnder the process, the boards of the banks in the pool will need to approve the credit facility. Italian state exports credit agency SACE will need to clear the guarantees which will then need a final green light from the ministry itself. Europe's biggest utility has asked to tap a state guarantee scheme Rome has designed to help domestic companies hit by surging energy prices.

The entrance to the headquarters of Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS), the oldest bank in the world, in Siena, Italy, August 11, 2021. Rome failed to meet an initial EU deadline when talks to sell MPS to UniCredit (CRDI.MI) collapsed a year ago. One of the sources said UniCredit and Banco BPM are still seen in Rome as the best options for MPS. Investor commitments cover more than half of the up to 900 million euro portion of MPS's share sale that will not be funded by the state. Five years after spending 5.4 billion euros to rescue MPS Italy is having to pump another 1.6 billion euros into the bank.

☆ Credit Agricole, AXA to bid this week for Banco BPM's insurance deal-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-18 | by ( Andrea Mandala | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Credit Agricole has bought 9.2% of Banco BPM this year with a view to expanding their strategic partnerships beyond consumer finance. Insurance and asset management, which Banco BPM has put at the core of its profit strategy, are seen as the obvious candidates. Banco BPM, AXA, Credit Agricole and Generali all declined to comment. Banco BPM CEO Giuseppe Castagna recently said the bank was in no rush to select an insurance partner. In August Banco BPM had indicated it would take a decision by the end of the year.

☆ Monte dei Paschi kicks off 2.5 bln euro cash call
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-17 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Oct 17 (Reuters) - Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) launched on Monday a new share sale, its seventh in 14 years, seeking to raise up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) to fund its latest turnaround plan. MPS, which is owned by the state following a 2017 bailout, is offering shareholders 374 new shares for each three shares owned at a price of 2 euros each. On Friday Italian market regulator Consob set the shares' reference price at 2.0630 euro each, stripping out a theoretical price for subscription rights of 7.8371 euros each. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterThe stock rose sharply in early trade on Monday, triggering an automatic trading suspension. ($1 = 1.0290 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka FlakOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Monte dei Paschi to pay 125 million euros in fees for share sale
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-15 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MILAN, Oct 15 (Reuters) - Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) (BMPS.MI) said a new share sale to raise up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) would cost it 125 million euros in fees to financial institutions backstopping the issue. Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterAfter difficult negotiations that risked derailing the capital raising, the eight banks have agreed to guarantee the share issue for up to 807 million euros. Algebris is backstopping up to another 50 million euros. The fees amount to nearly 15% of the guaranteed sum and compare with a market value of just 99.8 million euros for MPS on Friday. The cost of the capital increase, which totals 132 million euros, would shave 15 basis points off that target, MPS said.

☆ Monte dei Paschi to pay 125 mln euros in fees for share sale
▼ + stars: | 2022-10-14 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

MILAN, Oct 14 (Reuters) - Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) said a new share sale to raise up to 2.5 billion euros ($2.4 billion) would cost it 132 million euros, mostly due to fees paid to financial institutions backstopping the issue. Monte dei Paschi said it was set to pay 125 million euros in fees to a group of eight banks led by global coordinators Bank of America (BAC.N), Citigroup (C.N), Credit Suisse (CSGN.S) and Mediobanca (MDBI.MI), plus London-based fund Algebris. ($1 = 1.0263 euros)Register now for FREE unlimited access to Reuters.com RegisterReporting by Valentina Za, editing Gianluca SemeraroOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

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