(AFP / MARCO BERTORELLO)
The leading Italian bank Intesa Sanpaolo saw its net profit climb by 17.1% to 7.16 billion euros over the first nine months of the year, a “record” result according to it, under the effect of the income generated by interest rates and commissions.
For the whole year, Intesa Sanpaolo continues to expect a net profit of “more than” 8.5 billion euros, but it has raised its forecast for 2025 to “around” 9 billion euros, according to a press release published Thursday.
Its rival UniCredit had raised its net profit target to “more than 9 billion euros” for 2024 at the end of September, compared to “more than” 8.5 billion euros previously.
In the third quarter, Intesa Sanpaolo’s net profit increased by 26% to 2.4 billion euros, a result higher than the consensus of Factset analysts who expected an average of 2.28 billion euros.
Intesa Sanpaolo’s revenues increased by 8.5% to 20.43 billion euros over nine months.
Revenues were supported by net interest income, which rose 11.5% to 11.91 billion euros in a context of still high rates on the markets.
For the full year, Intesa Sanpaolo expects net interest income of more than 15.5 billion euros.
“The interest rate environment is evolving, but we will nevertheless be able to face it successfully thanks to the significant diversification of our business model,” commented the bank’s CEO, Carlo Messina.
Mr. Messina, 62, at the helm of the Italian group since 2013, plans to run again when his current mandate expires in 2025.
Net commissions rebounded significantly, gaining 7.9% to 6.97 billion euros, after falling 4% in 2023.
The common equity ratio, which measures the bank’s ability to cope with a crisis, stood at 13.9% at the end of September, taking into account the payment of dividends.
The government of Giorgia Meloni called on banks in Italy to finance the 2025 draft budget.
The banks will contribute around 2.5 billion euros, agreeing to postpone tax credits planned for 2025, in order to provide liquidity to the Italian state which should reimburse them later.
The Association of Italian Banks (Abi) judged that this contribution “can be bearable” provided that there are no “unforeseeable events”.