MILAN (Reuters) -Italian regional lender Banca Popolare di Sondrio said it had postponed the approval of a new business plan due to uncertainties stemming from the Ukraine crisis, the potential indirect impact of which it was analysing.
The bank, widely known as Pop Sondrio and based in the mountains north-east of Milan, has minimal direct exposure to Russian and Ukrainian customers, it said in a statement.
But it added it was reviewing any potential effect from its exposure to customers operating in sectors hit by the crisis.
It is also monitoring on a daily basis its financial risk exposure, as well as making sure its IT systems are adequate to withstand potential cyber attacks, it said.
Popolare di Sondrio, which in December became the last large Italian cooperative bank to shed its mutual status that shielded it from potential takeovers, had been due to unveil a new business plan at the end of this month.
Italian heavyweights Intesa Sanpaolo and UniCredit have detailed their exposure to Russia and Ukraine.
But Popolare di Sondrio is the first smaller lender to draw attention to the expected hit for businesses due to the spike in production and energy costs and other forms of disruption stemming from the current crisis.
Popolare di Sondrio said it had had a “positive start” to the year and barring further major instability it could expect to achieve good levels of profitability in 2022.
(Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; Writing by Valentina Za; Editing by Hugh Lawson)
