CTT seeks advisors to explore “options” for the bank

CTT has recently contacted several consulting firms with the aim of exploring “options” for the future of Banco CTT, Bloomberg reported on Wednesday.

A year ago, the century-old group admitted its interest in reducing its exposure to the bank, which was founded in 2015 and benefits from strong synergies with the postal company’s network of shops. However, in light of this news, the company insists that it has not initiated a formal process to sell Banco CTT.

An official source at CTT says that the group works periodically with consulting firms and investment banks to evaluate strategic scenarios and business opportunities. The company also assured Bloomberg that no formal process to sell Banco CTT has been initiated, a statement that was also reinforced to ECO when questioned in the same vein.

According to Bloomberg, contacts with potential advisors are at a very early stage, so no decision has been made regarding their selection.

In 2022, CTT decided to sell 8.7% of Banco CTT’s capital to Generali Tranquilidade through a capital increase. However, the current chief executive, João Bento, who will be stepping down next month, has admitted on several occasions that the company is interested in reducing its exposure to the bank, valued at €270 million at the end of 2023.

“We are not the ideal shareholder for a bank. We don’t want to be a hindrance”, explained João Bento in January 2025, in an interview with ECO. The manager explained that the integration of Banco CTT into the CTT Group even makes it difficult for investors and analysts to evaluate the company. Even so, in that interview, João Bento mentioned that there were still ‘levers for evaluating the bank’ to be explored by the company before a possible sale.

Guy Pacheco, the current financial director, will take over the reins of the CTT Group next April, when João Bento leaves the position he has held since April 2017. At 65, Bento will cease his activity: “I had long since decided to end my executive duties at 65, and only a feeling of unfulfilled mission would have made me change that decision”, he explained in January this year.