Intesa Sanpaolo Q1 profits up at 1.52 bn

(ANSA) - MILAN, MAY 5 - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo on Wednesday posted first-quarter profits of 1.52 billion euros, up from 1.15 billion in the same quarter last year.
    It said the results confirmed the bank's ability to "effectively face the complexity of the context deriving from the COVID-19 epidemic and are fully in line with the objective of a net yearly profit amply above 3.5 billion euros".
    CEO Carlo Messina said "the role of strong impetus towards recovery in growth that Intesa Sanapaolo will be able to play is based on the levels of efficiency, profitability and solidity that place us at the top of the sector in Europe".
    Intesa is Italy's largest bank by total assets and the world's 27th largest.
    It was formed through the merger of Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2007, but has a corporate identity stretching back to its first foundation as Istituto Bancario San Paolo di Torino in 1583.
    In 2020 the bank served approximately 14.6 million customers in Italy and 7.2 million customers in Eastern and Central Europe, the Middle East and North Africa through several brands such as CIB Bank, VÚB Banka and Bank of Alexandria.
    Last year it boosted its total assets to over 833 billion euros with the acquisition of UBI bank. (ANSA).