La Banca Popolare di Milano back to distribute a dividend after three years. The board of directors of the institution has proposed a coupon of 2,2 cents per share, equal to a yield of 2,9% on current stock market prices. The last Bpm dividend was paid in 2011 on the 2010 financial year.
The CEO Giuseppe Castagna began the conference call as follows: "We were very pleased to announce the return to the dividend in 2014, with a payout of more than 40% and a yield of around 3%".
The Milanese institute closed 2014 with a Net income jumped to 232,3 million, from 29,6 million in 2013. Operating income fell by 3,6% to 1,6 billion, with interest margin at 800,2 million (-4,4%) and net commissions to 556,6 million (+2,2%), against operating costs down by 1,3% to 973,7 million. As a result, the cost/income ratio rose to 60% from 58,6%.
Yesterday, the BPM stock gained 1,7%.
