Clarifications regarding news published in the press

With reference to the news published by the newspaper ‘Il Sole 24 Ore’ on 14 August 2005, it is hereby clarified what follows.
(A) relating to the costs assessment and the possible synergies deriving from the plan to acquire the control of Banca Nazionale del Lavoro S.p.A. (‘BNL’) by launching a mandatory public tender offer pursuant to Articles 102, 106 (1) and 109 (1) (a) of Legislative Decree 58/1998 (‘Offer’), as well as to the resulting set up of an integrated Insurance and Banking Group (UNIPOL - BNL), it is hereby confirmed that the data published by the above newspaper correspond to those included in Unipol Assicurazioni’s business plan, which was submitted to the relevant Supervisory Authorities within the authorization procedure of the Offer;
(B) as regards the forecasts on the Unipol Group profit for the current financial year, it is pointed out that the news published derive from free elaborations of the newspaper itself and do not refer to the figures examined by the relevant Company’s bodies, namely premium income development, expected profit for the financial year and impact of the new IAS on the profit itself.