Barclays ups Poste to 'overweight', poised to become 'Italy's everything platform'
BUZZ-Barclays ups Poste to 'overweight', poised to become 'Italy's everything platform' ** Barclays upgrades Poste Italiane's PST.MI to "overweight" from "equal weight" and raises its PT by 63% to €35.20 ($40.03), as it sees the company heading towards becoming "Italy's everything platform"
** It gives three reasons for the upgrade: positive view on the bid for Telecom Italia (TIM) TLIT.MI, the upcoming business plan as a key catalyst, and an underlying but attractive estimated dividend yield of around 6% from 2026 to 2029
** Regarding the TIM deal, Barclays notes the new combined entity would see Poste's side of the business as the cash generating engine, while TIM would offer opportunities to invest said cash and aim to grow
** Poste is set to present its stand-alone business plan on July 24, with a potential update in Q4 if the TIM merger goes through, the broker says
** Barclays expects the plan to focus on the integration of financial services, insurance and payment business, creating a data-driven entity that could compete with neo-banks and rely on brand recognition - "Italy's everything platform"
** Out of 15 analysts that cover Poste, eight rate the stock "buy" and seven rate it "hold" - LSEG data
($1 = 0.8793 euros)
(Enrico Sciacovelli)
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