Another very positive quarterly report for Intesa Sanpaolo. The leading Italian bank by capitalization and by number of customers closed the first half of 2021 well: not that 2020 had gone badly, but in the first six months of this year, net profit grew further by 17,8%, exceeding the barrier of 3 billion euros. A goal that relaunches the ambitions for the year as a whole, bearing witness to a large advance on the roadmap: for the whole of 2021, in fact, net income is expected to be at least 4 billion euros. 75% of the minimum threshold has therefore already been reached in six months, so much so that the CEO Carlo Messina spoke of a "very conservative target". And all the other economic-financial indicators also performed well: the operating result grew by 6%, operating costs decreased by 2,3%, the gross current result was +1,7%, net commissions compared to the first half of 2020, they grew by 13,2%, with an increasingly solid level of capitalisation, well above the levels required by the ECB's stress tests. When fully operational, the pro forma common equity tier 1 ratio is in fact at 15,7%, despite deducting 2,1 billion in dividends accrued in this phase.
As communicated by Intesa Sanpaolo, credit quality is also improving, with a drop in the stock of non-performing loans which, calculated since December 2017, reaches -33 billion euros. This means that the objective of reducing NPLs by 26 billion was achieved several months in advance, and even improved. Compared to the end of 2020, the stock decreased by a further 9,6%, net of adjustments. The cost/income ratio, which measures efficiency, is among the best in Europe at 49,2%. “The results reflect sustainable profitability, which derives from the solidity of Intesa Sanpaolo's capital base and liquidity position, resilient and well-diversified business model, strategic flexibility in managing operating costs and the quality of assets have made it possible to effectively mitigate the impact in the adverse scenario of the stress test EBA/ECB 2021 and which translate into a low risk profile”, comments the bank in a note.
As for dividends, the advance on the 1,4 billion coupon confirmed. Therefore, a greater sum is excluded, but Messina explained that “it is the first time that we have paid an advance on the dividend. I believe that in a year like this it is much better to work on net profit forecasts and on that basis derive the dividend that can be paid, even as an advance”. Confirmed payout 2021 at 70%. In view of the next strategic plan (the current one expires at the very end of this year), the CEO Carlo Messina he explained to the analysts that “we are working on the preparation of the business plan in the sense of creating the conditions to accelerate the growth of the net profit for the future. Profitability is linked to the cost of risk and revenues, while on a cost basis we are in a position to benefit from synergies from Ubi without having the risk of significant integration costs”.
Lastly, the credit institution was also keen, as always, to recall its commitment to the country system, particularly in this phase of the pandemic and playing a central role in the game of the PNRR: "About 43 billion euros of new medium/long-term credit end in the first half of 2021 - lists a press release -, with around 37 billion in Italy, of which around 31 billion disbursed to households and small and medium-sized enterprises; around 5.000 Italian companies brought back to performing from non-performing credit positions in the first half of 2021 and around 128.000 since 2014, preserving around 25.000 and 640.000 jobs respectively; made available by the Group over 400 billion euros of medium-long term loans for businesses and households to support the Italian Recovery and Resilience Plan".
