Intesa says paid back 12 bln euros of LTRO, focus on capital strengthening – Reuters

MILAN Aug 2 (Reuters) – Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s
biggest retail bank, said on Friday it had repaid 12 billion
euros of cheap funds it took from the European Central Bank and
would continue to focus its strategy on capital strengthening.

In a slide presentation after reporting a bigger than
expected fall in its second-quarter net profit, Intesa said it
had reimbursed the funds as of June 26. Intesa took a total of
36 billion euros from the ECB at special tenders in December
2011 and February 2012.

It said its strategy would focus on shoring up its capital,
derisking and improving efficiency to avoid capital increases
and prepare for an asset quality review to be launched by the
ECB and industry-wide stress tests.

(Reporting by Silvia Aloisi and Francesca Landini)