Intesa Sanpaolo confirmed the formula of the 2022-2025 Business Plan and, in particular, the target of 6.5 billion in net profit by 2025. With regard to the issue of dividends, in the note with which the bank led by Carlo Messina published the the accounts for 2022 and the fourth quarter state that “the Board of Directors meeting today resolved to implement the buyback for the remaining amount of 1.7 billion euro authorized by the ECB”.
To be precise, “the buyback will be carried out in compliance with the terms authorized by the Shareholders’ Meeting of 29 April 2022, which in particular provide for the purchase of treasury shares and their cancellation by the ex-dividend date relating to the financial statements closed on December 31, 2022, i.e. by May 22, 2023. The start date of the purchase program and the related details will be announced in the next few days”.
“The Board of Directors resolved to propose to the next Ordinary Shareholders’ Meeting the distribution of a total of 3,047,836,282.28 euros from the 2022 profit, corresponding to a payout ratio equal to 70% of the consolidated net profit, which, taking into account the interim dividend paid last November equal to 1,399,608,167.99 euros
leads to the proposed distribution of 1,648,228,114.29 euros as a balance”.
“Based on the current number of 18,988,803,160 ordinary shares into which the share capital is divided – reads the Intesa press release – the dividend balance is equal to 8.68 euro cents per share, gross of legal withholdings; the dividends relating to the shares which will have been canceled upon completion of the aforesaid buyback will be proportionally attributed to the other outstanding shares which will have the right to them; any treasury shares that the Bank may hold at the record date are not entitled to dividends, and the relative amount will be transferred to the extraordinary reserve”.
“This distribution, if approved by the Shareholders’ Meeting, will take place starting from 24 May 2023 (with coupon detachment on 22 May and record date on 23 May). Comparing the unitary balance of 8.68 euro cents to the reference price of the share recorded yesterday, the result is a yield (dividend yield) of 3.5%; if the unitary amount of 7.38 euro cents paid as an advance last November is also compared, the total dividend yield for 2022 is equal to 6.5%”.
Intesa SanPaolo, the Italian bank headed by Carlo Mesina, today announced Group net profit, referring to 2022, “equal to 5,499 million euros excluding 1.4 billion euros of provisions / value adjustments for Russia and Ukraine”.
The profit exceeded “the target of the 2022-2025 Business Plan by more than 5 billion for 2022. The net book profit is equal to 4,354 million euros. Cross-border loans to Russia are largely performing and classified as Stage 2”, reads the press release.
Intesa SanPaolo announced that “in the second half of 2022, exposure to Russia was reduced by 68% (about 2.5 billion euro), falling below 0.3% of the Group’s total customer loans”.
Intesa SanPaolo’s operating income “rose in 2022 by 3.3% compared to 2021; operating costs decreased by 0.4% compared to 2021. The cost/income ratio stood at 50.9% in 2022, among the best among the major European banks.
“The cost of risk was 70 basis points (from 59 in 2021), 30 excluding allocations of approximately €1.3 billion for exposure to Russia and Ukraine and approximately €1.2 billion for overlay and to encourage de-risking, net of approximately €0.7 billion of releases from generic adjustments made in 2020 for the future impacts of COVID-19 (up from 25 in 2021 if we exclude the provision to accelerate the reduction of non-performing loans), with €0.9 billion of overlay for generic provisions still available”.