Good morning. Good afternoon, this is the Chorus Call Conference Operator. Welcome, and thank you for joining the conference call on the BPER Group's First Half 2023 Consolidated Results. As a reminder, all participants are in listen-only mode. After the presentation, there will be an opportunity to ask questions. Should anyone need assistance during the conference call, they may signal an operator by pressing star and zero on their telephone. At this time, I would like to turn the conference over to Mr. Piero Luigi Montani, CEO of the BPER Group. Please go ahead, sir.
Thank you. Good evening, everybody. It's been a long day today. For sure it has been a long day for all of you, but it was for us in particular. Good evening, and welcome everybody. What I would like to start with is by saying that we're very happy and proud with this result, our best ever first half. Our six months results are extremely positive. Our core business profitability has grown. Further improvement is registered in credit quality, combined with a sound capital and liquidity position. The second quarter closed successfully with a net profit of approximately EUR 414 million, which is 42.4% on the first quarter of this year. Operating income totaled EUR 1,334 million in the quarter, up 1.2%, quarter-on-quarter, particularly driven by the strong increase in net interest income, which settled at EUR 819 million, with an increase quarter-on-quarter by 12.8%.
Net commission income keeps very resilient and closes at EUR 490 million, with a slight decrease quarter-on-quarter, that we will talk about during the presentation. In terms of the profit, the net profit was EUR 414 million, as I was saying, and the strong revenue growth in the second quarter was underpinned by net interest income that closed with EUR 1.5 billion, a 96% increase on last year. Carige was not included yet, but the increase is very strong, and net commission is almost EUR 996 million, with an increase by 9%. With reference to volumes, total funding amounted to approximately EUR 280 billion, up 0.6% since end 2022.
Direct funding totaled EUR 114 billion, minus 1% since end 2022, and indirect funding totaled EUR 166 billion, up 1.7% since end 2022. Which means that the deposits, the exit is, was intercepted by AuM and AuC, and so we have not lost anything. cost-to-income has stabilized, or actually is at 61.3%, and it's less than it was in June, when it was 64.3%. The entire year data 2022 was 65.2%. As I was saying, at the very beginning, credit quality is improving further. Additional de-risking has made it possible to continue downsizing our stock of non-performing loans.
The NPE ratio, the gross performer NPE ratio, was in fact down to 2.7%, and it was 3.2% at the end of 2022. The net performer NPE ratio is now 1.1% from 1.4% at the end of 2022. Coverage levels are likewise positive, with, overall NPL coverage of approximately 60%. Bad loans, 81.4%, it was 77% at the end of last year. UTPs, were subject to two disposals in April and May, have a coverage at, 47.2%, and performing loans are at 0.81%. They were at 0.77% at the end of 2022.
CET1 ratio settled at 13%, which is much higher than the threat minimum requirement of 8.5%. Our liquidity position is likewise very strong, with ratios broadly in excess of the regulatory thresholds, 157.1% for the LCR, and NSFR closes at 126.1%. This is basically a year, or a six-month period, that is really very good, and which can hardly be replicated in the second part of the year. The numbers are outstanding, and we must thank the entire bank for these results. That the bank could, in fact, conceive of a growth activity, at the same time, bringing about a consolidation activity that was carrying out very well.
We should pay tribute to the network because against the backdrop of a challenging scenario, they could keep balance without, you know, missing their targets that they could achieve successfully. They were also capable of consolidating the bank, and at the same time, working on growth. As I was saying before, it's a very good six-month period, at least, we're going to this six-month period, and for, for sure, we will give more details about the entire year later. I'm, I'm confident that the year will prove satisfactory altogether. I will give the floor to Gian Luca Santi now that will comment all of the different milestones in the trajectory that we targeted during the presentation.
Good evening, everybody. I would say that we should take some sort of deep dive into the numbers that the CEO has hinted at. I would say that in relation to total funding, I would underline that since December 2022, we've had a growth of 0.6%, which means that direct funding lost 1%. There was a movement in terms of current accounts that was quite significant. I must say that the network was capable of intercepting and retaining the deposits, for instance, in deposits, you can see that has it has grown by EUR 2.8 billion, 1.7%, which means that inside these EUR 2.8 billion, there was a slight of about EUR 3.9 billion concerning the missing of deposits that Carige had at a price of zero, basically.
It was not generating any liquidity. In terms of stock, the increase is much higher. As you compare to, and in terms of quality, we have been able to grow both in asset under management and life insurance. The positive funding of EUR 445 million in the first half of 2023. This data is extremely important for us, and this is where we can say thank you to the network for the effort they made. EUR 5.8 billion of underwritings and EUR 5.4 billion repayments, which means that there's an effort by the network to maintain competitiveness. The composition of funding is about 73% retail and 27% corporate. As you can see, there's a percentage of current accounts and sight deposits that is of around 83%.
As far as loans are concerned, once again, I would say that there has been good resilience in the quarter. We're facing a situation where, in terms of retail mortgage loans, we know the difficulties of the household. Of course, we are originating less than last year, but EUR 1.7 billion this year, as compared to EUR 2.4 billion in the first quarter of 2022. I would say that the as far as businesses are concerned, they are trying to use their liquidity, so those who are liquid are trying to use their liquidity. Having retained a constant stock to us is an extremely positive result that gives comfort for us about the second part of the year.
From a point of view of loan deposits ratio, you can see that that is probably one of the best indicators in the Italian banking system. 78% is the value, which means that in terms of balance and liquidity, things are very important. As far as asset quality is concerned, I think that everything has been said already. I would just underline probably the fact that there is a performing loan coverage of 381%. We've got overlays for an amount of EUR 310 million, and basically, the dynamics that you can see in Stage 2 knows that it's not giving any signs, any negative signs. As at today, we do not have any signs for a deterioration of credit.
The pockets of pension loans or salary loans are stable. Of course, the amount is a little bit lower, but impairment signs are not visible. As usual, we have maintained prudence and cautiousness, and we will talk about that when we talk about the cost of credit. As far as the portfolio is concerned, I would say that the structure is always the same, so we are at 30%-36% of share of Italian government bonds, 35%, 36%, and our duration is very low. As you can see in the total portfolio, we've got 1.9 bonds, and it's two duration, two years for Italian bonds.
The average ratio is 2.42, as against a reinvestment ratio today of around 4%. On slide 12, you've got the profit and loss that we may already start to deep dive into. We've got a second quarter that is 12.8% higher than the first quarter in net interest income. We have tried to break down the TLTRO effects, so of taking it away, so that you can see the growth clean of this effect that will go on in the second part of the year and will disappear later on. We've got an average growth of 30%, which driven by the commercial part. You have the institutional part growing, and I think, and then there's an improvement in the yield of the securities portfolio.
As you can see, the ECB net position, you, you can see the profitability there. We've got multi parts with the ECB, then drawings or borrowings from the ECB. The position is positive to us and gives a positive contribution to the net interest income. We've also analyzed the commercial spread by giving evidence of the effect of the Ecobonus, as we call it, in Italy, that in the first part of the year was important to us and reached during the six-month period, about EUR 70 million. As far as net commission income is concerned, probably this is one of the most, one of the nicest detail that we are presenting.
The slight decrease by 3.3% quarter-on-quarter, it's reflective on the one hand, of the request by the Bank of Italy to, in fact, counterbalance, so to say, the maneuver that they did on the current accounts. A request that the Bank of Italy made, and we have already expensed it in the second quarter of 2023. As far as the trends in the other fees and commissions, we can say that last year, and in the first quarter, we had illustrated the income coming from the bonus, the commission bonus, or [rappel], as we call it, and performance fees. We have not recognized them this time, and we will not until the end of the year because there has been a renewal of the agreement.
If we had to evaluate that, now, it would be about EUR 10 million. The pro forma data would show, in fact, a growth which makes us confident in confirming the guidance we gave. As for the operating costs, as you can see, there's a growth by 1.2%, and this reflects, on the one hand, EUR 9 million worth of recalculation of the provisions to the termination fund based on the IAS, because the new market rates are asking for different discounting rates. You see EUR 9 million because of that here. What is important also, what important was the investments, and so costs related to investments that we brought forward in the business plan.
The business plan envisaged a number of actions, and the profitability that we are obtaining is allowing us to bring forward a number of actions that we had scheduled for 2024, or 2025. The cost-to-income, as was hinted at, is confirmed, and what is important here is that we have reduced by 1,000 units, our headcount since the beginning of the year, and we've got a reduction of 228 branches. As for the cost of risk, 60 basis points, it may seem, it may look high, but in fact, based on our models, the cost of risk is a little bit lower, like 25 or 30 basis points. We want to...
We're aiming at NPE zero. So if we have NPEs, we want them to be covered. I think that our coverage is evidence of this type of approach, which will enable us, should there be a deterioration of the credit environment, without having any effect on the profit and loss, we will be able to have a, you know, good effect, or if there is no deterioration, then we will have a value reserve, so to say. EUR 310 million overlays is the other point we mentioned in the slide. We have observed that during the six-month period, that there was a default rate of 0.9%. We come to liquidity. We have improved compared to December, also in terms of eligible assets.
As you can see, we have unlocked about EUR 5 billion worth of securities that we are guaranteeing the TLTRO, so to say, and then, some other details were given by the CEO. As far as the TLTRO is concerned, EUR 5.4 billion need to be repaid, 3.7 in September, and 1.7 will be repaid by March 2024. You have the capital walk on slide 19 from 13.3% to get to 14% in June. So there's a contribution by 51 basis points that reflect the, so the upside of trading during the quarter, and 8 basis points of what we call deductions. That is basically some reversals on deductions that we were taking on DTAs and stakes.
There's a good positive risk-weighted assets dynamics due to a reduction or the non-growth in loans, but also a benefit of 8 basis points deriving from the fact that we can use for former Unipol Banca loans, our internal models, which makes us land at 14%. I will give the floor to the CEO again for the conclusions.
Thank you. We, to conclude, we have decided to give you some details on the Group's expectations for 2023, with an update of our guidance for 2023. The better than expected improvement in the macroeconomic outlook and interest rates, combined with our excellent business performance, we do not have any perception that it could be otherwise, allow us to upgrade our KPI guidance for 2023, with an expected net recurrent profit of approximately EUR 1.1 billion. Unlike what we did in the past, we have written it down, and we expect that the net interest income will land at around EUR 2.8 billion. Net commissions will be at around EUR 2.0 billion. Operating costs will amount to approximately EUR 2.7 billion.
We expect a cost of risk of around 60 basis points, due to the same cautious policy that we have adopted so far, and for the reasons that Gian Luca mentioned, because our objective is that of having the utmost coverage, so that we can make choices of selling whenever this happens, in the most serene, serene way possible. We expect the CET1 ratio to get close to 14%, including on the back of the organic generation of capital. This is everything. This is all. If you have any questions, we're here waiting for you to make questions. Of course, the operating income is increasing, the quality of credit has further improved, the capital and liquidity position is solid and there are projects being delivered ahead of the business plan schedule.
I'm saying this with confidence, because even though we were helped and supported by a supportive interest rate environment, it's also true that going beyond this aspect, the business plan has unlocked and released all its effects in a very concrete way and ahead of time. We are confident that we can face the challenging macro scenario from a position of strength. I would like to thank you for the patience you had in waiting for our presentation this late in the evening. This is now the time for questions and answers.
This is the conference call operator. We will now start the question and answer session that is only reserved for analysts. Whoever wants to make a question, they may press star and one on their touchtone telephone. To remove yourself from the question queue, please press star and two. Please pick up the receiver when asking questions. Anyone who has a question may press star and one at this time. The first question is from Noemi Peruch from Mediobanca. Please, madam, go ahead.
Good evening. I have three questions. My first question is about the cost of risk. If I remember correctly, last time you gave us a guidance for the year that is now lower. I would like to understand what has changed. It was 40-50 basis points. Why is it 60 now? Net interest income in the first half of 2023, what will it be?
Should it- should we consider your guidance as conservative, or do we have a campaign to increase the market share you have in loans for the second part of the year? Then, my last question is about the payout. I would like to ask you whether you can share with us some ideas you may have on the plan for 2023, for the rest of 2023, and if, in the second quarter, the payout is the second half, it will be down by 16%. For the guidance in the net interest income.
Sorry. About the first question, I would like to correct something. We had not said 40 to 60 basis points. We had said 50, 60 basis points. We had never said 40. Now we have communicated 60, but Gian Luca said that based on our models, the cost of credit is lower. It's not that the cost of credit. I'm sorry, the, the credit quality has decreased. We just wanted to be prudential to, and this evidence of this is that coverage has increased, so we're not changing anything. We're keeping, adopting this prudential approach. As far as the guidance on net interest income for the second part of the year, obviously, we consider that as fair, probably a little bit conservative, if you want. From what I could interpret from the other banks, I think that the other banks also did not, you know, were not far from this.
As far as the payout ratio for 2023, we may not have said it, but we have EUR 0.15 have been accrued so far, and we think the payout will be between 35%-40%. This is the objective we have. It will also depend on the trend, but what we want to retain and maintain is a CET1 ratio of around 14%, but the payout we gave is guaranteed.
Next question is by Giovanni Razzoli from Deutsche Bank.
Good evening. I've got three questions. The first one is about cost. Because I was looking at the target for 2024, EUR 2.6 billion is the target, and consensus is of around EUR 2.8 billion, so it's above that. Your guidance, if I'm not wrong, for 2023 was 2.7. In light of the new contract and the inflation, and inflationary pressures on costs, is there going to be a change, and what expectations should we have for 2024? LCR post TLTRO, can you give us color on that, and what exposure, what residual exposure do you have with the ECB? How much did you collect with the promotion of your deposit current accounts, I think, at 5%, that you launched at the end of March?
I will try to answer your question. As far as the renewal of the labor agreement, we cannot give expectations now because we do not have them yet. The labor agreement had expired long time ago and had been extended until July, with the objective of reaching an agreement by the end of the year. The labor agreement has been extended until 31st December, so I do not know there will be room for provisions for next year because the agreement is valid until the end of this year, so we cannot do much. It depends on how negotiations will go on. I don't know if there will be a way to conclude that beforehand. We'll have to wait. As far as LCR, the LCR is concerned, Gian Luca, you may add further to what you said before.
Yes, our objective, without the TLTRO, is to be in an area of 140, 150. That is going to be a very solid area in terms of liquidity. As for the promotion of the deposit account at 5%, I think we collected EUR 300 million. Yes, we must also say that it's a little bit too early for us to, you know, to calculate that, because this has just started. Other banks have also launched important campaigns, and our time schedule is longer, so we'll have to. You will have to take these numbers for what they are. It's not yet the time for having a final analysis.
If I can add something, Gian Luca, you talked about Amissima's agreements that were in fact terminated, and what was the impact?
EUR 3.9 billion that was in a deposit under custody with Carige at price zero. We have terminated the agreement with Amissima, Amissima moved their securities with another bank. We are losing EUR 3.9 in terms of stock, but nothing in terms of profit and loss. The microphone is not on. We have terminated all of the agreements with Carige, and Amissima and other counterparties.
Next question is from Andrea Ligi of Equita.
Yes, thank you. My first question is about the trajectory that you are hypothesizing with the forward curve that we are now observing in terms of net interest income for 2024, and also the capacity you think you have, the ability you may have in dealing with the commercial assets and the commercial spread. How do you imagine the net interest income for 2023, as if it was a peak, that will down- that will then go down later on, or do you expect it will be stable? This is a little bit what my question is about. The second question is more related to the Italian banking system. Other banks are indicating a CET1 that is lower than yours, 14, than your 14%.
I would like to con- ask you under what circumstances could you consider CET1 lower than 14%? Is there room for you to consider some different aspects? Would you be interested in in going beyond, also in terms of M&As?
Well, first question, we cannot give our forecast and expectations for 2024. We want to wait until the end of the next quarter. After the end of the next quarter, we will be able to give you some more guidance. As far as the peak in net interest income is concerned, well, of course, peaks keep changing, but objectively speaking, I would say that 2023, or actually this six month period, has reached its peak. Then we will see what, what happen in the future. As for the CET1 level is concerned, we're looking at our own data and not at the other banks. We think that 14%, considering everything, is a good level of capital for the development of this bank to be based upon. This is what I would say.
Thank you. Next question is by Adele Palamà from UBS.
Yes, good evening. I have a few questions on the NII, and I apologize if I'm making this question again, but I may have missed your answer before. I have not understood very well what the assumptions are that you take for the guidance for 2023, in terms of deposit beta and interest rates, and average rates for the second part of the year.
Because as my colleague was saying before, there's a reduction, material reduction, also excluding, and by excluding the TLTRO. In the first quarter, if I remember correctly, I think, there was also a positive contribution of the TLTRO in the quarterly results in terms of NII of EUR 4 million, I think, and this would change the underlying growth in net interest income. Overlays, I couldn't see them in the presentation. Can you confirm the amount of the overlays, please?
What we expect and probably I would start from the overlays that is going to be the easiest part. EUR 310 million is confirmed. As for the assumptions that we took for the second part of the year, the baseline assumption, and so to say, in terms of beta, we have talked about it quite on many occasions, and I would say that, it's very good, beta we have. The real beta is of about 10%, so very low. For the second part of the year, we think we will retain the second level, this. I'm sorry, the same level, in lending, and the trend of the first part of the year in terms of funding will also be maintained. We expect there will be some exit in terms of deposits that will be intersected by the AuM or AuC.
The only thing that will change is going to be the cost, because of course, the cost of funding will increase. Also, the cost of lending will increase more moderately. The overall return is going to be, for sure, lower. These are the assumptions we took, all in all. The deposit beta for the, by the end of the year, what, what is it going to be? 40%? Deposit beta. Well, based on our models, we've got 27% retail and 59% corporate. As the CEO was saying before, now we are observing a 10% level. Of course, models work either on time series or on static situations.
The fact that we had a movement in sight deposit during the first quarter, by about EUR 7 billion, of course, has an effect, and so the models cannot intersect that. We can say what we are observing today. In terms of expectations or forecasts, just for you to have some more details, we think that there may be a deterioration in the commercial spread by about 30 basis points, with an average cost of 30 basis points higher in institutional funding, compared to what we had in our forecast. The combination of these factors, together with the lack of the TLTRO, we had EUR 4 million of TLTROs in the first quarter as a contribution to the net interest income.
In the last quarter, we will have the compulsory reserve that will pay zero instead of paying four, which means that that's another EUR 10 million. There's a number of effects that lead us to think that the net interest income will be slightly lower than in the other quarters. That's why we've got the guidance of at 2.8.
Excuse me, if I can make a follow-up question. Are there any effects that you expect in the future or for the next quarters, or is this EUR 45 million positive, it's the last positive effect?
No, they may not be the last positive effect. Comprehensively, we may have about EUR 20 million in the last two quarters.
Thank you very much. Next question is by Marco Nicolai from Jefferies.
Good evening. In a context where the net interest income may go down in the future, as your guidance is also reflecting, and in a context where interest rates in 2024 and 2025 may go down, what operational levers may you activate for, you know, to retain the return on equity level? Will you operate costs or net fees and commissions? What will you do?
Your question is, in fact, included in your... I mean, the answer is in your question, so you've already said it. Basically, looking at 2024, 2025 now is difficult. It is difficult to predict. I do not know who can predict. We may try and give some indications for 2024, but of course, we need to see what happens in the next quarter.
It's clear that the levers you mentioned, are the ones we will operate. The lever of costs, for instance, you hinted at that, and it's true, we are operating this lever. Unlike what happened with the other banks, when you look at us, you should also consider that we cannot compare ourselves with the entire universe, because I would exclude from the comparison UniCredit, and Intesa Sanpaolo. They play in the same league, but they've got a different scale. There's Banco Popolare that is comparable, so their extent of costs is more limited, but you should also consider that in terms of combinations, they did that seven years ago.
Whereas we have, in fact, absorbed the branches of UBI and Carige just two days ago, basically, so very recently, and that's why we're still working in this direction. That's why I pay tribute to the network, because they could bring in parallel two operations, and so the mergers and also keeping balance and pursuing their objectives. Of course, cost discipline is something we're very much interested in, and we're very much focused upon, and we will focus upon in the future. We'll continue this trajectory. The network is performing very well, and I'm saying this, and I did say that before without the price, because the results are, are positive. They were expecting the results, but they were not to be taken for granted.
Instead, all of the branches that have been onboarded from UBI and also from Carige, with a situation that was not very optimal, you know, because of their legacy, in terms of cost-to-income, well, they are yielding very good results. We think we will have a good development and growth of customers and net fees and commissions. On the other hand, as Gian Luca was saying, fees and commissions have gone down by 3%, because of some very specific reasons. Like, the performance was good. We cannot yet anticipate anything for the next quarter, but we must say that everything is going in the right direction, and that's why we're confident.
I would just add one thing. I would say that we are happy because of the conditions, of the commissions, because of what the underlying factor is. We've got, you know, product factories in terms of AuM. We've got a product factory that makes us proactive in proposing good products. We've got a relationship with ARCA that makes it possible for us to be prompt and rapid in the proposition to customers. We've got agreements with UniSalute that is a partner in terms of health and Medicare insurance in Italy. The development of these combined activities is triggering good dynamics in terms of fees and commissions that are very positive for the future.
In terms of, So- sorry for the follow-up, but you've got these partnerships with your... Are there anything, any aspects in your contracts that can be improved, or is this going to be stable?
No, there's nothing in terms of there, there's no deadline in the agreement. The Unipol agreement was renewed recently, and then, behind ARCA, there's Unipol, and the contract has recently been renewed, and there are no other contracts that are coming to maturity or expiring. The other partnerships in terms of the asset management, we are the majority shareholder. We are consolidating it or so there's nothing that is expiring or to be reviewed.
Thank you very much. Next question is from the English conference, from Hugo Cruz.
Hi.
Okay, you can begin.
Hi, thank you for the time. I just wanted to ask. Two questions, well, three. Two questions on NII. First, could you explain how the Ecobonus works on NII? What's the impact, you know, will there be a conversion of the margin between what you report and the, the margin performance, performer for the Ecobonus? Second, on NII, I don't understand why you're guiding for peak NII already, which is very different message from all the other Italian banks that reported so far, which still expect some growth. If you could explain why are you different from the other banks? Third, on the CET1 ratio, is there any headwinds or tailwinds that you want to point out, besides the usual depending on other good work? Thank you.
Well, in terms of the Ecobonus, maybe Gian Luca, you want to add something.
You've hinted at that before, but you may want to give the volumes about that. On a, separately, you will receive more indications. Net interest income and the peak. The peak is being witnessed now, and the others are seeing an upward trend. We are not. Each one has got its, his own assumptions. Based on our assumptions, we do not think there's going to be an upward trend in net interest income. As we were saying before, we expect there could be a catch-up on making on interest rates, and lending may go up a little bit, and so the contribution we're seeing is lower. That's why you have those.
We will see what the evolution will be. In terms of CET1, I do not think there's anything more that we should add to what we have already said. Probably, just in terms of Ecobonus, we buy credits or loans at a certain receivables actually, at a certain price, and the delta is contributed to the net interest income.
Sorry, can I ask a follow-up?
Sure. Follow another one, then follow up.
Yeah. If, if rates go up, so if ECB raises rates again in September, do you expect that to have a positive impact on your NII, and what would be the impact of that please?
One may be instinctively tempted, to think that there may be a recovery, but I don't think this recovery will be retained until the end of the year. Probably immediately, there will be, but these 25 points, basis points will be probably absorbed in the second part of the year.
Okay. Thank you very much.
The next question is from the Italian conference call, Cristina Parisi from Intesa Sanpaolo.
Yes, good evening. I would like to make a question about the guidance on capital. The minimum threshold that you want to maintain is 14%, and so this guidance is going beyond the growth that you expect in assets. Is it associated also to guidance from the ECB, in light of the stress test, that were particularly penalizing because they did not consider the actions that you have, in fact, put in place in 2023?
Secondly, do you want to keep a buffer to look to 2024, possibly for other M&As, basically, and the consolid- you were saying that you want to maintain the focus on the consolidation of UBI, then you said that in 2024 you would have considered the options. In terms of interest rate levels and the good trend in net interest income, I was wondering, would it be- is it an obstacle to M&As or not?
First, answer, there's no guidance in term- from the ECB in terms of, you know, the latest inspections, they were very successful. They were very good. Then, probably if you look at everything, then the data could be a little bit less positive because of the 415 basis points. We were starting from figures at 31st December, and based on a strange rule that we were penalized. What I mean is, in December, we onboarded the BTAs, and all- they were only capitalized on the 1st of January. On the 31st of December, they could not be considered as capital. That's why 14.7% was our starting point. I'm sorry, 12.7% was our starting point.
Starting from there, the benefit was only partial, but there's nothing about it, and the ECB has given out no, no instructions or indications, as far as this is concerned. I have said it quite often, consolidation, mergers are not a priority to us. What we want to do is to focus on the two entities that we have absorbed, we want them to be at steady state as soon as possible. 15% is a good level of capital we want to have for going on with the growth and development. If ever an M&A comes up, it's, it's something we do not know about now, it's not being hypothesized, and we have nothing to say about that.
It's not the level of interest rates or nothing goes, is, is an obstacle, but capital is important to us. I have looked at the results of the other banks, and I've seen that in terms of CET1, all banks have gone up, which means that maintaining a CET1 of this type is absolutely fair and correct. We do not want to go down. The future is the future. We'll see that when it comes.
Thank you very much for your results. Thank you for your answer.
For any further questions, please press star and one on your telephone. Mr. Montani, there are no questions registered at this time.
Thank you for joining the conference call. We say if, should you need any clarification, please get in touch with us. I will thank you twice because it has been a long day today, and you will have to work the whole night to write your analysis. So thank you for being with us. Have a good evening.