Stock版 - Italy's largest, UniCredit, US' dead duck in an oven |
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发帖数: 901 | 1 UniCredit, Italy's largest bank and our favorite bellwether of the
deteriorating Italian economy, can't avoid trouble. In 2008, the bank's
shares crashed after investors realized it was one of the largest European
owners of subprime mortgages. When it was forced to raise capital, it didn't
turn to European governments. Instead, it raised $1 billion (offering 3.6%
of the firm) from Libya's Muammar al-Gaddafi.
Then, in January 2009, the New York Times reported one of UniCredit's
largest subsidiaries, Bank Medici, lost over $2 billion investing with
Bernie Madoff.
Days later, the bank raised 4 billion euros from public investors at a 29%
discount to market. In the March 2010 issue of Stansberry's Investment
Advisory – which details UniCredit's long history – Porter wrote:
The bank… like its predecessor Kredit-Anstalt… is hanging on, having been
left deeply wounded by the initial crisis. Will it survive?
I don't think it's possible.
It's no surprise UniCredit was at the epicenter of the European sovereign
debt crisis. Today, the bank confirmed our worries with a 10.4 billion euro
loss for the quarter (analysts estimated the bank would earn 7.4 million
euros). The bank wrote down 10.2 billion euros' worth of assets. It says 9.8
billion euros of writedowns will have no impact on cash. But UniCredit
still wants to raise 7.5 billion euros in a rights offering (over half its
current market cap).
UniCredit also said it won't pay a dividend for 2011. It's firing 5,200
employees, around 12% of its workforce. And in a final, desperate move, the
UniCredit board proposed a 10-for-one reverse stock split, where current
shareholders would receive one new share for 10 current shares. The goal is
to create "a more efficient and liquid market for the rights during the
trading period," the bank said.
Or it could be to hide the fact that shares now trade at 0.77 euros. This
attempt at financial cosmetics reminds us of the old saying, "You can paint
a turd gold, but it's still a turd. |
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