Intesa Sanpaolo Exceeds Q1 Profit Forecast with Strong Trading Results
Intesa Sanpaolo’s First-Quarter Performance Overview
MILAN, May 8 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo topped forecasts with first-quarter earnings on Friday, helped by strong trading gains and lower loan loss provisions, and maintained its full-year outlook.
Industry Context and Competitor Performance
Intesa's results, which come after No.2 lender UniCredit and mid-sized rivals Banco BPM and BPER all reported solid earnings this week, confirmed the picture of fee-driven revenue strength for the industry.
Revenue and Net Income Details
Intesa, which became sector leader with the acquisition of UBI in 2020 and has not joined in the current consolidation wave in Italian banking, said net revenue rose 5% year-on-year to 7.15 billion euros ($8.4 billion), above an LSEG consensus estimate of 6.91 billion euros.
Profit Target and Trading Income Highlights
Net income in the three months to March 31 also topped expectations, rising 6% to 2.76 billion euros. Intesa confirmed a full-year profit target of around 10 billion euros.
Intesa, which tends to benefit from volatile markets, reported a trading income of 505 million euros, a 10-fold rise from the previous three months and nearly double from a year ago, thanks to 400 million euros in gains from its securities portfolio and treasury operations.
Additional Information
($1 = 0.8496 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Giulia Segreti and Tomasz Janowski)
