Banks in turmoil amidst reshuffle and accounts, UniCredit and Mps up, Bper down

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - The acceleration imparted to the banking resurgence, at least in the intentions of its protagonists, continues to push even the stocks at Piazza Affari (with the exception this time of Bper Banca , weak after the accounts). It starts with Unicredit (+0.5%), which took its haul to +12% in three sessions on the back of record accounts and many open fronts: from the German one on Commerz, where it has to reckon with the German government's intention to settle the state-owned bank KfW as a levee - and meanwhile the market is wondering on behalf of whom Jefferies owns derivatives up to 11% of the Frankfurt-based institution - to the Russian one, where it has just signed an agreement to sell part of the assets of its subsidiary Ao Bank to an investor from the Arab Emirates.

This is "positive news as it reduces the risk associated with maintaining operations in Russia," explain Intermonte's analysts, while Equita's analysts are convinced that "the most probable scenario for Commerz remains that in which UniCredit slightly exceeds the 30% threshold in Commerz", so that "the investment would continue to generate attractive returns on allocated capital, but would remain sub-optimal from an industrial point of view". In any case, according to the Milan broker, 'resolution of the Commerz issue (in any direction)' could 'reduce a drag on the stock caused by strategic uncertainty' (i.e. reduce a factor that is penalising its stock price).

Meanwhile, considering the current stock performance (in Frankfurt Commerzbank is +0.24% at EUR 37.03), UniCredit's ops is at a 6.6% discount (3.7% considering the ex-dividend of the EUR 1.1 Commerz dividend due at the end of May). The German bank will tomorrow raise the veil on its first-quarter accounts and will try to convince the market to support its share price also thanks to new improved targets.

Another hot front is that of Banca Monte Paschi Siena (+0.5%), where tensions at the top do not seem to have subsided. In the past few hours, in fact, Fabrizio Palermo resigned from the board of directors in open controversy, 'not agreeing with the recent determinations regarding governance'. The market is now waiting for Luigi Lovaglio's moves on the integration with Mediobanca , to follow the fate of Piazzetta Cuccia's stake in Generali and possible merger plans with Banco Bpm . Especially after CEO Giuseppe Castagna said he was 'ready to seize opportunities'.

While waiting for Intesa Sanpaolo - so far an attentive spectator of what is moving in the sector - will release its accounts on 8 May, investors reserved a cold reception for those of Bper, which closed the first quarter with a profit attributable to the parent company at 518.5 million, up 17.1% compared to the same period in 2025. This is partly a realisation, as the stock has gained almost 20% since the end of March. However, Intermonte speaks of 'better-than-expected results' while Equita defines them as 'in line' with expectations and 'of better quality'. Not everything, however, seems to have convinced.