Unipol's annual profit jumps 37%, proposes higher dividend

Feb 20 (Reuters) - Italian insurer Unipol reported a 36.8% rise in its full-year profit on Friday, driven by a strong performance in its core insurance business and contributions from soon-to-be-merged BPER and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.

Unipol is the main shareholder in both BPER and Pop Sondrio, distributing its insurance policies through both banks.

The group's consolidated net profit jumped to 1.53 billion euros ($1.80 billion) in 2025. It proposed a dividend of 1.12 euros per share, up 31.8% from a year earlier.

Unipol said the financial performance exceeded targets set under its 2025-2027 plan, which includes a cumulative consolidated profit of 3.8 billion euros and a cumulative dividend payout of 2.2 billion euros by the end of the period.

Pre-tax result from the banking associates business reached 691 million euros, reflecting the proportional consolidation of BPER's 2025 results and the first-half contribution from Pop Sondrio.

BPER in July completed a 5.4 billion euro cash-and-share deal for Pop Sondrio. In November, the banks approved a merger plan, and their integration is expected to be completed by mid-April.

($1 = 0.8509 euros)

(Reporting by Laura Contemori in Gdansk; Editing by Milla Nissi-Prussak)