Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP) Q4 2024 earnings summary

Executive summary

• Net income for 2024 reached €8.7 billion, or €9 billion excluding non-recurring items and managerial actions, up 12% year-over-year, surpassing business plan targets.

• Distributed €6.1 billion in cash dividends and announced a €2 billion share buyback, with a 70% payout ratio and dividend yield near 10%.

• Strong growth in commissions (+9%) and insurance income (+4%), with significant acceleration in Q4.

• Continued investment in technology, hiring over 2,300 IT specialists and deploying €4.2 billion, with over 60% of applications cloud-based.

• Isybank customer base grew to nearly 900,000, with 500,000 new clients in Q4; Gisybank launched with over 530,000 new accounts.

Financial highlights

• Operating income grew 7.5% to €27.1 billion, with net interest income at €15.7 billion (+6.9%) and net fee and commission income at €9.4 billion (+9.4%).

• Cost/income ratio improved to 42.7%, among the best in Europe, with operating costs down more than 1% excluding labor contract and tech depreciation.

• Customer financial assets increased by €77 billion to €1.4 trillion, with €5.1 billion AuM net inflow in Q4.

• Gross NPL stock and inflow at historical lows; net NPL ratio at 1.0–1.2%, cost of risk at 26–30bps.

• CET1 ratio above 13.9% (13.3% post-buyback), with LCR at 155% and NSFR at 122%.

Outlook and guidance

• 2025 net income guidance raised to well above €9 billion, potentially up to €10 billion, with a 70% cash payout ratio and ~9% dividend yield expected.

• Over €6 billion in cash dividends planned for 2025, with additional distributions to be determined.

• Double-digit growth expected in wealth management and protection fees and commissions for 2025.

• Loan book expected to grow 0–5% in 2025, driven by corporate investment and NextGenerationEU funds.

• CET1 ratio expected above 14% pre-Basel 4 in 2025, with strong capital and liquidity positions maintained.