Fitch Upgrades BPER Banca's Rating Amid Materializing Benefits from Acquisitions

12:08 PM EST, 12/05/2025 (MT Newswires) -- Fitch on Friday raised BPER Banca's (BPE.MI) long-term issuer default rating to BBB from BBB-, with a positive outlook, mainly driven by the emerging integration benefits from the Italian bank's recent acquisitions and continued strategic execution. The rating agency said the upgrade also reflects the structural strengthening of BPER's business profile over the last five years, its increasing and strengthened franchise in Italy, and its "fairly diversified" business, among other factors. Meanwhile, the outlook mirrors Fitch's expectation that the lender's rating could become BBB+ should its record of strong financial performance stretch longer amid Italy's increasingly competitive banking sector.