(Finance) – Fitch Ratings has improved the ratings of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) with an increase of 2 notches, bringing the LongTerm Issuer Default Rating (“IDR”) to “BB” from “B+”, and the Viability Rating (“VR”) to “bb” from “b+”.
The bank itself made this known in a note. The upgrade, according to Fitch, reflects the “success of the restructuring process“, which allowed the Bank to structurally rebuild solid capital buffers and strengthen operational profitability.
The increase in the rating – we read in the note – also reflects the “stability of the deposit baseas well as the ability to access the institutional bond market after a period of absence.”
Fitch also highlights that the successful completion of the capital increase and the incentive redundancy plan allow the Bank to be well positioned to preserve its market position in Italy and continue to relaunch its simplified and focused business model, as a typical commercial bank, on business with retail customers and SMEs.