MILAN (Reuters) – State-owned Italian bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) posted a 17.5 million euro ($18 million) second-quarter profit after loan writedowns needed to ease disposals.
In the first set of quarterly results under new Chief Executive Luigi Lovaglio, MPS joined rival Italian lenders in reaping the benefits of higher rates on its lending margin, which rose 4.3% quarter-on-quarter and 12.8% from a year ago.
($1 = 0.9777 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka Flak)
