Intesa Sanpaolo Presents New Plan as 4Q Net Profit Soars

   By Pietro Lombardi 
 

Intesa Sanpaolo SpA (ISP.MI) said Tuesday that fourth-quarter and full-year net profit had increased, while it also presented its new strategic plan.

The Italian lender's fourth-quarter net profit was 1.43 billion euros ($1.78 billion) compared with EUR776 million in the same period last year. The results include an EUR811 million gain from the disposal of Intesa's stake in Allfunds, as previously announced.

For 2017, the bank's net profit soared to EUR7.32 billion, up from EUR3.11 billion. This figure includes a EUR3.5 billion public contribution, which the bank booked in the second quarter of last year.

In 2017, the lender took part in the rescue of two Italian regional banks. The Italian government liquidated the regional banks' bad assets, while Intesa Sanpaolo bought the good ones for one euro. The deal included the EUR3.5 billion public contribution to Intesa to offset the impact of the transaction on its capital ratios

Intesa followed through on its plan to pay out EUR3.4 billion in dividends.

The Italian lender also unveiled a new business plan that foresees significant derisking, cost reduction and revenue growth.

The bank said its targets for 2021 include net income of up to EUR6 billion, return on equity of 12.4% and operating income of up 20.8 billion.

Write to Pietro Lombardi at [e-mail]

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 06, 2018 02:33 ET (07:33 GMT)

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