Monte dei Paschi di Siena closed the first half of 2026 with net profit above 1,1 billion euros, up 25,3 percent on the same period last year. Second quarter profit reached 610 million, up 27,3 percent year on year. The bank points to improving returns in its core activities and to commercial growth over recent months, and the figures now carry the contribution of Mediobanca, which came into the group after last year's transaction.
Group revenue for the half came in at around 4 billion euros, with 2,065 billion in the second quarter alone, up 5,4 percent on the first three months of the year. Fees did most of the work, rising 8,4 percent in the quarter, while net interest income grew 2,5 percent, a mix that reflects the expansion into wealth management and advisory that Mediobanca brought with it. Customer financial assets reached about 300 billion euros and performing loans, those where borrowers are up to date, rose 5,6 percent on a year earlier. Costs fell 0,7 percent and impaired loans stayed low.
The capital position is the number that matters most for what comes next. The Cet1 ratio, the main measure of a bank's capacity to absorb losses, rose to 16,3 percent from 15,9 percent in March, leaving the bank with a buffer well above what supervisors require. That supports growth and a substantial shareholder return policy at the same time, and the business plan presented in February envisages distributing roughly 16 billion euros to shareholders between 2026 and 2030. Presenting the results, chief executive Luigi Lovaglio called the commercial performance exceptionally solid and pointed to the trust built with households, businesses and local economies as one of the group's most important assets.
Mediobanca is now a heavy component of that performance. Piazzetta Cuccia contributed 925 million euros to group revenue in the second quarter and 456 million to net operating profit. The two banks approved the merger by incorporation of Mediobanca into Monte dei Paschi in March, at an exchange ratio of 2,450 Monte dei Paschi shares for each Mediobanca share. The bank says the work is proceeding to plan, with completion expected in the fourth quarter of 2026, and the aim is a group with a broader presence in asset management, corporate and investment banking and consumer credit, sitting alongside the traditional Monte dei Paschi branch network. The plan targets adjusted net profit of 3,3 billion euros in 2028 and 3,7 billion in 2030, with fully phased synergies of around 700 million.
Hanging over all of it is the exchange and purchase offer announced on 8 June by Intesa Sanpaolo, led by Carlo Messina. It values Monte dei Paschi at 30,6 billion euros and offers, for every ten Monte dei Paschi shares, 16 Intesa Sanpaolo shares plus one euro in cash for each share of the Siena bank. Intesa argues the combination would create one of the leading European banking groups, with more than 27 million customers and around 2.000 billion euros of customer financial assets by 2029. The offer is conditional on reaching at least 66,67 percent of Monte dei Paschi's capital, though Intesa has reserved the right to lower that threshold.
The Monte dei Paschi board has been critical of the terms. Lovaglio confirmed that the assessments the board made in July still stand, namely that the offer does not fully recognise the value of control, of the potential synergies, or of the bank's franchise for Monte dei Paschi shareholders.
There was another route, briefly. On 7 June the board of Banco Bpm, led by Giuseppe Castagna, proposed opening talks on an agreed combination conceived as a merger of equals that would also have absorbed Mediobanca, joining the two commercial networks to Mediobanca's specialist activities while preserving what distinguished each. Those talks produced nothing, and on 31 July Banco Bpm told the market they had concluded. Monte dei Paschi names no new partner today, saying only that work continues with its advisers on the analysis of strategic options, with the aim of finding the path that maximises long term value for shareholders and other stakeholders.