BIVERBANCA (Gruppo Montepaschi): net profit exceeds Eur 22.2 Mln

The Board of Directors of Biverbanca (Gruppo Montepaschi), chaired by Mr. Pasquale Carciotto approved the Bank’s 2008 half-year results. As was pointed out by Mr. Angelo Barbarulo, the Bank’s General Manager, profitability and all main capital-related items performed satisfactorily.

Net profit for the first six months of the year amounted to EUR 22.2 mln ( 12.8% from H1 2007), driven by a good performance of basic income, which stood at EUR 71.1 mln ( 3.9% vs. H1/07), with interest income accounting for EUR 51.6 mln of that ( 11.5% vs. H1/07). The gross operating income for the period exceeded EUR 67 mln ( 5.5% vs. H1/07).

With operating costs basically stable at EUR 34.9 mln (-0.9%), the cost/income ratio (operating costs/gross operating income) stood at 49% - a level of excellence.

Total customer loans exceeded EUR 2,292.9 mln at the end of June, with the mortgage loan component basically unchanged ( 0.6% from the end of 2007). Credit quality remained good, with net NPLs amounting to 1.27% of total loans. The loan loss provision rate exceeded 66%.

Customer deposits and investments amounted to EUR 5,370.7 mln at June 30th, 2008. More specifically, direct funding stood at EUR 2,624.6 mln and indirect funding stood at EUR 2,746.1 mln.

Biverbanca operates a network of 105 branches. As of June 30th, 2008, its total headcount was 703 employees.