(updating with further conference call details)
MILAN (AFX) - Banco Popolare di Verona e Novara CEO Fabio Innocenzi said its studies on an alliance with Italy's Cattolica Assicurazione SpA are focusing on non-life insurance sales.
Earlier today, Innocenzi confirmed in a newspaper interview that the two groups are studying an unspecified alliance, together with Verona's existing insurance partner Fondiaria-SAI SpA.
'We want to see if we can add value to our group by offering (Cattolica) non-life products. We already sell a lot of products with an insurance component,' he said in a conference all.
'We are working hard with Cattolica, starting with a joint venture on non-life and trying to understand how to maximise this insurance component' in the bank's sales, he said.
Innocenzi confirmed recent reports of studies on a branch swap with Banca Popolare Italiana, adding: 'We are studying a very limited number of branches, in the range of 1-2 pct of total branches, which can be interesting in strategic areas for us.'
Innocenzi also reiterated that Popolare di Verona is aiming for a two-digit pct rise in its profits from ordinary operations.
During the conference call, Innocenzi also said the growth of the bank's Popolare di Novara unit will accelerate in 2006, though the unit will not completely catch up other units in terms of profitability because of its lower market share in its area.
The unit's lower profitability has raised concerns among analysts.
'We will remain more profitable in the Verona and Bergamo units than in Novara,' he said, referring to Popolare di Verona and Credito Bergamasco.
In 2005, the Novara unit's customer loans/branch rose 13.1 pct to 19.8 mln eur, from a year earlier, while the overall group figure was 33.8 mln, up 7.6 pct.
Novara's revenues/employee figure rose 6.7 pct to 178.0 mln eur, while the group's was up 6.4 pct to 192.8 mln, the bank said in a slide presentation.
The unit's cost/income ratio fell to 63.5 pct, from 67.0, still lagging the overall group's 55.5 pct, down from 57.9 in 2004, it said.
On the group's consumer credit activity, Innocenzi said recent acquisitions have brought its market share in this sector to between 2-3 pct, from 1 pct prior to the acquisitions.
These moves bring the market share of the group's consumer credit activities more into line with its overall market share of 3 pct, he said.
Commenting on the bank's trading in the year so far, Innocenzi added to yesterday's comment that the first months of 2006 were in line with targets.
Sales of derivative and hedging products, including for interest rates, have continued to accelerate after this trend started in the fourth quarter of last year, he said. nigel.tutt@afxnews.com nt/hjp/har COPYRIGHT Copyright AFX News Limited 2005. All rights reserved. The copying, republication or redistribution of AFX News Content, including by framing or similar means, is expressly prohibited without the prior written consent of AFX News. AFX News and AFX Financial News Logo are registered trademarks of AFX News Limited
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