Banca Generali says no new healthcare bond writedowns (updated)
16/09/2021 09:40
(Updates with comments from spokesperson)
Sept 16 (Reuters) - Italian asset manager Banca Generali
BGN.MI said there had been no new writedowns on bonds linked
to the healthcare system, after a report in the Financial Times
on Thursday highlighted recent provisions.
The Financial Times reported that Banca Generali had written
down the value of almost 500 million euros of such bonds.
urn:newsml:reuters.com:*:nRSD91B0mz
However, a spokesperson for Banca Generali referred to a
July 27 statement by the company which had flagged 80 million
euros in provisions on investments on healthcare receivables.
Banca Generali said at the time the provisions would cover
the hit from a repurchase offer it planned to launch on 478
million euros in healthcare-related notes aimed at guaranteeing
its clients recouped the amount originally invested.
The spokesperson said on Thursday the repurchase offer had
been carried out and the writedowns were unchanged from the
figure communicated in July.
Banca Generali told the Financial Times that it would no
longer market bonds backed by invoices owed by Italian public
health authorities, and that it would no longer distribute
healthcare-related debt sold by CFE, a boutique investment bank
that arranged the deals.
"Banca Generali has stopped the distribution of healthcare
securities arranged by CFE, and decided to leave this business,"
the report https://on.ft.com/39dE7Hs said, quoting the bank.
($1 = 0.8485 euros)
(Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru and Valentina Za in
Milan; editing by Christian Schmollinger and Elaine Hardcastle)
((Akriti.Sharma@thomsonreuters.com;))