Italy's Monte dei Paschi beats profit forecasts as it studies alternatives to Intesa's bid

Mediobanca Banca Di Credito Finanziario SpA

07/08/2026 06:58

MILAN, Aug 7 (Reuters) - Italy's third-largest bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) BMPS.MI on Friday beat market forecasts with its quarterly profit and said it continued to study strategic options to fend off a takeover bid by rival Intesa Sanpaolo ISP.MI.
Bailed out by the state in 2017 and reprivatised in 2023-2024, MPS dominated the consolidation wave that swept Italian banking last year by managing to buy larger peer Mediobanca MDBI.MI.
In June it became a takeover target for Intesa which is preparing to launch a €36 billion ($41.5 billion) cash-and-share bid.
MPS said net profit for the April-June period totalled €610 million, up by one fifth quarter-on-quarter and well above a €543 million analyst consensus estimate gathered by the bank.
MPS said it was working with advisers to examine alternatives to the Intesa's bid in the best interest of its stakeholders. 
It said it had "strategic flexibility" thanks to a core capital ratio of 16.3%, almost seven percentage points above regulatory requirements.

($1 = 0.8678 euros)

 (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Alvise Armellini)
 ((valentina.za@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 6612 9526;))