Monte dei Paschi Weighs Strategic Options as Intesa Circles

By Michael Hennessey

Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena said it is looking at strategic options, with rival Intesa Sanpaolo proceeding with a $35 billion takeover bid after Banco BPM pulled out of talks for a competing merger proposal.

The Italian bank said Friday that it is analyzing, together with advisors, its strategic options with the goal of maximizing long-term value for all stakeholders.

A strong capital position at the end of June, with a capital buffer well above regulatory requirements, gives Monte dei Paschi significant strategic flexibility, it said. The bank said its CET1 ratio--a measure of capital strength--increased to 16.3% as of June 30, up from 15.9% three months earlier.

Monte dei Paschi in June became the target of a cash-and-stock bid from Intesa and a merger proposal from BPM. BPM last week dropped out of talks to merge with Monte dei Paschi, but Monte dei Paschi's board previously raised concerns about the price offered by Intesa and flagged other risks.

The bank said net profit for the second quarter jumped to 610.2 million euros ($703.3 million) from 479.4 million euros in the year-earlier period. The lender restated its year-earlier figures to include the results from Mediobanca, which it bought last year, in the period before the acquisition.

Monte dei Paschi said second-quarter revenue rose to 2.06 billion euros from 1.96 billion euros. Net interest income was broadly flat at 1.06 billion euros while net fee and commission income increased 9.0% to 670.1 million euros.

Net fee and commission income was boosted by corporate and investment banking and asset management, it said.

Write to Michael Hennessey at michael.hennessey@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

August 07, 2026 03:21 ET (07:21 GMT)