BCP sells 5.6% of its capital

The Chairman of BCP says the bank is in a strong position after 5.6% of its capital was sold by its main shareholder, the Chinese company Fosun.

Nuno Amado said the sale was “not worrying” and that the bank was in solid health after the bank’s shares tumbled 6.75% on Tuesday.
The selloff, according to ECO online, means that Fosun had reduced its position in the company to around 20%. “The bank is fine” said Amado as he left the presentation of the Business Roundtable Portugal’s initiative ‘Buy to Grow’ held in Lisbon on Tuesday.
Amado said that the bank had gained “quite a bit of value over the past two years” with a 131% increase in listing value, going from €11.62 per share in January 2021 to €26.81 per share today.
Fosun, which bought positions in a number of Portuguese companies such as banks and insurers 10 years ago, has been divesting over the past 12 months. In 2023 11.3% of the company’s revenues came from Portugal or €1.38Bn with overall revenues up 10%
However, the company has a whole saw its net results plummet by a half to around €170 million resulting in a selloff of various assets worth €2.5Bn with its chairman Guo Guangchang warning that it still expected to divest a further €10Bn. This current BCP selloff looks to be part of the overall divestment to reduce Fosun debts.
Fosun made it clear last year that: “Fosun is not selling its stake in Millennium bcp. It is not for sale.”
It is the largest shareholder in BCP, followed by Angolan State oil company Sonangol with a stake of 19.5%.
Fosun will net around €235.2 million from the current 5.6% share selloff with a Fosun spokesperson stressing that the decision to sell was “perfectly normal investment behaviour and financial operation.”
Fosun also emphasised that the sale should “not be interpreted that the company was losing optimism in the Portuguese market under any circumstances” and added that the company would continue to maintain its share in BCP by at least 20%, with its share in the insurer Fidelidade also a “very important component”.
However, some analysts suggest the selloff will only fuel speculation that the bank could be merged or bought out by another.