Italy's BPER first-quarter profit beats forecast after merger with rival (updated)
07/05/2026 07:46
Adds details, CEO comments on M&A
By Andrea Mandala
MILAN, May 7 (Reuters) - BPER Banca EMII.MI posted a first-quarter net profit on Thursday slightly above market expectations, as its net interest income held up and the merger with rival Banca Popolare di Sondrio boosted net fees.
Italy's fifth-largest bank completed a 5.4 billion euro ($6.4 billion) cash-and-share bid for regional peer Pop Sondrio in July, a deal it has described as a defensive move triggered by a wave of consolidation in Italian banking.
The M&A round is expected to continue and investors regard BPER as a player that could again play a role in it, thanks to the backing of its main shareholder: leading Italian insurer Unipol UNPI.MI.
CEO Gianni Franco Papa said BPER was fully focused on the integration of Pop Sondrio. Though it has no M&A deals on the table at present, however, the bank continues to monitor market developments, Papa said.
"Never say never," he told a post-results analyst call.
The lender reported an adjusted net profit of 549 million euros ($645 million) for the three months to March.
Stripping out extraordinary items, including also integration costs, net profit stood at 519 million euros, just ahead of a Reuters-compiled analyst consensus forecast of 510 million euros.
Net fees rose by a quarter year-on-year to 681 million euros, driven by the contribution from the enlarged group which lifted commissions earned on the sale of asset management and insurance products. On a like-for-like basis fees rose 3.7%.
Total revenues grew more than 24% from year earlier, though they declined 5.1% on a comparable basis, hit by falling trading income.
BPER Banca said it would update its industrial plan on August 6.
($1 = 0.8510 euros)
(Reporting by Andrea Mandalà, editing by Giulia Segreti, Barbara Lewis and Valentina Za)
((andrea.mandala@thomsonreuters.com; +390680307738;))