Italy's Popolare di Bari says core capital still below requirement

MILAN (Reuters) - Popolare di Bari said on Thursday its core capital rose last month, after Italy's biggest southern bank completed a deal to beef up its financial strength, but was still below a minimum regulatory requirement.

The bank said the core capital ratio stood at around 7.22% at the end of July, lagging a minimum threshold of 9.45%.

The ratio was 6.22% at the end of June, before a 100 basis point boost from two "capital relief" transactions agreed with U.S. fund Christofferson Robb & Company (CRC).

(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Silvia Aloisi)