Banca Carige’s ECB-Imposed Reduction of Problem Loans Could Require Additional Capital Last Thursday, Banca Carige S.p.A. (B3 developing, caa31 ) announced that the European Central Bank (ECB) had notified the bank that it must reduce its stock of problem loans by certain thresholds over the next three years (see exhibit). The ECB request is in draft form, and Carige by January 2017 must present a plan to address the request, including the effect on capital. A large reduction in problem loans may require additional capital, which would be challenging to raise in the current volatile market, or may impose losses on subordinated creditors. However, a successful implementation of the ECB’s request without a material effect on capital would be credit positive for Carige because it would accelerate the reduction of problem loans, while maintaining relatively stable coverage of problem loans.
The bank’s goal of a 21% reduction in problem loans for 2017 appears achievable, considering that the inflow of new problem loans should be more limited than in the past owing to our expectation that Italy’s GDP will grow by around 1% and current coverage is consistent with the ECB’s requests. Absent a deeper restructuring plan, the targets for 2018 and 2019 will be more challenging. Carige’s currently limited headroom above its minimum capital requirement restricts its ability to dispose of its problem loans quickly. In June 2016, Carige reported a common equity Tier 1 (CET1) ratio of 12.3%, 105 basis points above the bank’s 11.25% prudential requirement as defined by the ECB as part of its Supervisory Review and Evaluation Process (SREP).2 The low market price for problem loans would likely lead to a loss, which, in turn, would reduce capitalisation. This may be mitigated by a lowering of SREP requirements following the improvement in asset quality, potentially leaving some additional buffer. Carige has said that it has already initiated an analysis aimed at accelerating the reduction of its stock of problem loans, but has not yet indicated timing, size or the potential effect on capital. Carige is the second major Italian bank the ECB required to accelerate its plans to reduce the stock of problem loans. In July, an ECB request triggered a new restructuring plan at Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena S.p.A. (B2/B3 review direction uncertain, ca review direction uncertain) that includes a €5 billion capital increase. Because the ECB has required that Italian banks reduce their problem loans, we expect other Italian banks to receive similar requests from the ECB. Banks most at risk are those with a large stock of problem loans, including Banca Popolare di Vicenza (unrated), and Veneto Banca (unrated).