BNP Paribas Targets Higher Shareholder Returns

By Mauro Orru

BNP Paribas SA plans to raise the proportion of earnings it pays to shareholders through 2025, joining a cohort of European lenders in increasing shareholder returns.

The French bank said Tuesday that it is targeting a payout ratio of 60% as part of its new plan from 2022 to 2025, including a minimum cash payout of 50%.

For 2021, it is proposing a dividend of 3.67 euros ($4.20) in cash, representing a 50% payout ratio that rises to 60% when factoring in a EUR900 million share-buyback program that the bank completed in December.

The announcement comes as BNP Paribas is targeting average annual growth in net income of more than 7% throughout the period from 2022 to 2025, with revenue growth of more than 3.5% annually.

The lender posted a net profit of EUR2.31 billion in the fourth quarter of 2021 up from EUR1.59 billion a year earlier. Revenue climbed to EUR11.23 billion from EUR10.83 billion.

Analysts polled by FactSet had forecast net profit of EUR2.01 billion on revenue of EUR11.40 billion for the last three months of the year.

Write to Mauro Orru at [e-mail]; @MauroOrru94

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 08, 2022 01:22 ET (06:22 GMT)

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