SRP sampled the financial results of the four main Italian structured products issuers in Q1 2023.

An estimated €3.8 billion was invested in 810 publicly offered structured products during the first quarter of 2023 in Italy, slightly down from the same quarter last year (Q1 2022: €4billion from 865 products).

The big four Italian manufacturers - Banco BPM, Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca, Unicredit - were responsible for 60% of the total sales volumes in a quarter, despite issuing only 25% of all available products.

Banco BPM

Net income of €256m was posted by Banco BPM in Q1 2024 – up 49.2% year-on-year (YoY).

Direct bank funding on 31 March 2022 amounted to €123.2 billion, down by 0.2% compared to end-December 2022. Funding guaranteed by the stock of capital protected certificates was € 4.8 billion, up from €4.3 billion end-December 2022 and €3.6 billion at end-March 2022. Indirect funding, net of capital protected certificates, was equal to €95.6 billion, substantially stable YoY.

The bank sold 11 structured products worth an estimated €570m in its domestic market during Q1 2023 – a 3.6-fold increase by sales volume YoY (Q1 2022: €125m). Its offering included Equity Protection con Cap e Cedola, a 4.1-year investment certificate on the Swiss Market Index (SMI), which with sales of €306m was the best-selling Italian product of the quarter, according to SRP data.

Click the link to read the Banco BPM Q1 2023 results and presentation

Intesa Sanpaolo

Intesa reported its best ever start of the year with net income, at €2 billion, up 88% versus Q1 2022.

Risk exposure in structured credit products stood at €3.5 billion on 31 March 2023, with a net increase of €151m compared to end-December. The exposure includes investments in asset backed securities (€1.5 billion), collateralised loan obligations (€1.9 billion), and collateralised debt obligations (€71m).

The bank issued 10 structured products worth €580m in Q1 2023, down from €1 billion (from 82 products) in the prior year quarter. Its products were mostly linked to a single equity-index including, among others, S&P 500, Eurostoxx 50, FTSE MIB and Eurostoxx Select Dividend 30. The latter was used as the underlying index for Max Long Cap Certificate, a seven-year digital offering a potential annual coupon of 3.47% that collected €106m during its subscription period.

Intesa Sanpaolo Q1 2023 results and presentation

Mediobanca

Mediobanca’s net interest income grew to €456m, up 22% YoY. Income from fees and trading, at €185m and €24m, respectively, were both down from the previous quarter, following a slowdown in CIB activity.

Funding returned to €58.8 billion, having peaked end-December 2022 (€62 billion). Funding from debt securities increased from €20.6 billion to €21.4 billion, on new issuance in the three months totalling €1.5 billion: €300m of which Tier 2 placed with private banking clients, and €750m in senior preferred notes placed with institutional clients.

The liquidity transformation of approximately €1.4 billion that has affected the whole banking sector over the last quarter has been actively guided, with over €1 billion in funding and investment products synergic for the group, of which around €700m in Mediobanca bonds and certificates and around €200m in assets under management (AuM) was placed.

In the wealth management division, where the bank recruited 38 people – including six senior private bankers – there was ‘intense’ activity in structured products and bonds.

Twenty-seven structured products (€110m) were issued by the bank during Q1, down 75% YoY (Q1 2022: €430m from 60 products). Of these, 23 were credit-linked notes (CLNs). The highest sales, however, at €59m, were gathered by Equity Protection Cap Con Cedola, a 6.25-year capital protected certificate that participates for 100% in the upside performance of the Eurostoxx Select Dividend 30, capped at 75%.

Mediobanca Q1 2023 results and presentation.

Unicredit

Like Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit also reported its best first quarter ever. In fact, Q1 2023 was the group’s ninth consecutive quarter of improved results on all fronts. Net revenue growth of 56.5% YoY was driven by commercial momentum in all key lines with net interest income of €3.3 billion and fees of €2 billion.

Investment fees were €0.7 billion up 13.1% quarter-on-quarter but down 8.2% YoY. This was partially mitigated by better assets under custody (AuC) fees driven by better certificates activity and some shift from deposits to AuC.

Unicredit collected €960m from 155 structured products issued in Italy in the quarter (Q1 2022: €800m from 70 products). Most of its products were linked to single stocks, including its own share, and those of Intesa Sanpaolo, Enel, Eni, and Stellantis. Structures on a share basket were also in demand while the bank also issued Cash Collect Protection 100% Memory, a capital guaranteed digital certificate on the Stoxx Europe ESG Environmental Leaders Select 30 EUR Index that achieved sales of €67m.  

Unicredit Q1 2023 results and presentation

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