MILAN (Reuters) -Intesa Sanpaolo, Italy’s biggest bank by assets, on Friday said it would drive its net profit to 6.5 billion euros ($7.5 billion) in 2025 and pay out more than 22 billion euros to investors over the period.
The capital distribution, which compares with more than 16 billion euros planned by rival UniCredit under its strategy unveiled in December, will start with 6.6 billion euros this year, including a 3.4 billion euro share buyback.
Intesa posted a 4.2 billion euro net profit for 2021, in line with expectations despite clean-up and restructuring costs in the fourth quarter to prepare for the new plan.
Intesa, which aims to further lower its cost-to-income ratio to 46.4% in 2025, said it would invest 5 billion euros in technology and growth in a digital push under the new plan, including a new digital bank.
($1 = 0.8729 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka Flak and Keith Weir)
