Italy's third-largest bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena has today posted better than expected first quarter profits on rising revenues, confirming industry trends as it closed the reporting season for the sector.
After acquiring bigger rival Mediobanca last month and presenting a strategy for the combined group in February, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) was rocked by a governance crisis as the board pushed out CEO Luigi Lovaglio who was handed back his job by a shareholder vote in April.
MPS said first-quarter net profit was €521m, above a bank-provided consensus forecast of €511m. The figure was sharply down from a year ago when the result was boosted by tax benefits.
Revenues totalled €1.96 billion, with Mediobanca's contribution at around €925m, above a €1.92 billion analyst forecast.
