Banca Monte Paschi Belgio: Monte Paschi sees return to profit, shaping up for M&A

MILAN: Monte dei Paschi di Siena , expects to return to profit in 2015 for the time in four years and expects to launch a 3 billion euro rights issue this month as Italy's third largest lender shapes up for a merger. The bank, which has lost 14.6 billion euros ($16.3 billion) since 2011 and emerged as the weakest lender in a Europe-wide review of banks last year, said it was starting to see the first positive signs from a painful restructuring plan. Monte dei Paschi, the world's oldest bank, beat forecasts in the first three months of the year with a net profit of 72.6 million euros -- its first quarterly profit in three years -- thanks to strong trading income and higher fees. The Tuscan bank has been selling assets, closing hundreds of branches and cutting 8,000 jobs to boost its finances. It plans to sell 2 billion euros of bad loans this year. It is aiming to launch the 3-billion euro capital increase, needed to plug a shortfall unveiled by the European checks last year and pay back state aid, on May 25 if the European Central Bank gives its approval soon, as expected. The ECB has...