Montepio expects losses of up to €100 million from selling Finibanco Angola

Banco Montepio has a new buyer for its bank in Angola, after a deal with Mário Palhares failed. The Associação Mutualista Montepio Geral (AMMG) bank agreed to sell Finibanco Angola to a Nigerian bank, Access Bank, but the operation is not yet closed, according to information gathered by ECO.

The bank headed by Pedro Leitão is still doing its sums for the operation. And they are not exactly the best. It is estimated that the sale could represent losses of between €80 million and €100 million, two sources told ECO.

The impact of the transaction (if it goes ahead) is not insignificant for a financial institution that has posted poor results in recent years (6.6 million in 2021 and 11 million in the first quarter of this year) and where the financial capacity has to be managed carefully.

Officially, the bank makes no comments on this process. ECO knows that there is still no final decision regarding the sale, which may not materialise.

The buyers have already been presented to the National Bank of Angola (BNA), the Angolan banking supervisor, which has to allow the sale. Access Bank, which has been in existence for around 30 years, is headquartered in Lagos, the Nigerian capital and is present in ten other markets, including the United Kingdom, South Africa and Mozambique.

In Lisbon, the Bank of Portugal is also closely monitoring this dossier, which it wants to see resolved so that the next board can focus on the core business of a bank which, after restructuring over the last two years, continues to make its way towards profitability.

Finibanco Angola joined the Montepio group in 2010, when Finibanco was acquired for €250 million.