Banks

Monte Paschi does not need capital increase: Chairman

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena does not need a capital increase and has a very strong liquidity position, the lender's chairman said in a newspaper interview on Friday.

"This bank does not need an increase either today or after the results," Massimo Tononi told Il Sole 24 Ore.

Italian bank shares have come under pressure since the start of 2016 as investors sold out of a sector with low profitability and about 200 billion euros of bad loans.


Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena
Alessia Pierdomenico | Bloomberg | Getty Images

Monte Paschi - Italy's third-biggest bank - lost the most ground as it is perceived to be the most vulnerable.

Tononi said results of the bank for the final quarter would be higher than the third. "2015 is looking like a better year than the previous one," he said.

Tononi said there was no sign that the bank's major investors had sold shares in a recent sell-off and said deposit outflows from the bank were lower than in the difficult times experienced in February 2013.

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He said Monte dei Paschi had sold 2 billion euros of non-performing loans in 2015, adding the lender hoped to speed up and increase the planned sale of a further 3.5 billion euros of bad loans by 2018.

Asked about tie-ups, Tononi said the bank was "actively and concretely" pursuing options both in Italy and abroad.

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