(Finance) – “The customers of the mutual banks are no less sophisticated than that of other banks. What happened was that for some services, such as asset management and insurance products, he was addressing other operators. Now we are making them understand that, in terms of products and support capabilities, it is at least equal to that of others. In fact, we have further strengthened products and services, as well as training our colleagues to give customers the service they need. ” Mauro Pastore, general manager of Iccrea Banca, in the press conference on the presentation of the strategic Business Plan of the BCC Iccrea group, the largest Italian cooperative banking group.
“The proof is in the increase in commissions and in qualified deposits – he explained – And therefore this reconversion of the business model of the BCCs is having success. DNA exchange is in the exchange of the proposal and the service model of cooperative credit banks “.
Pastore also addressed the issue of possible aggregations on the mutual banks. “The more the group carries out a strategy of support to local realities – in terms of services, products and personnel – the aggregations are not a necessity. But they can be an opportunity, if the banks believe so. For example, a bank may believe that a different size is needed for the territory in which it operates “
The CEO of Iccrea Banca outlined two types of aggregations: “Those that resolve weaknesses and those that are the result of a strategic vision of the development of the territories. We believe that in the next few years the former may have a lower percentage than those recorded in recent years “.
Urged on the consistent decline in NPLs over the plan period, also in relation to the forecast economic slowdownsaid: “We are starting from a consistency of credit coverage that is decidedly higher than the market average. To date we have made forecasts according to ABI’s expectations, that is, a certain impact on anomalous credit but not so significant. In the case of the most negative forecasts, we did sensitivity analyzes. We would have an increase in credit risk, but it is still contained. “Gross NPLs should fall to € 4.4 billion in 2024 (-32% on 2021) and net NPLs to € 2 billion (-18%) .
With reference to the increase in profitability, expressed as an improvement in cost / income and ROE, Pastore explained that “for a cooperative group, which does not have the purpose of returning their investment to investors, the objectives allow us to maintain a high level of capital. We do not have a double-digit ROE target, because it is not necessary for our development lines. We want to have the right profitability, with a wider distribution on the territory of the others “.