On February 18, six major Italian banks disclosed a 7.6% annual growth in their combined net profit for the previous year, reaching 24.3 billion euros ($25.5 billion), despite decreasing interest rates.
Their combined revenue increased by 5.8% year-on-year to 69 billion euros, with 40 billion euros attributed to net interest income. Additionally, net fees for services and transactions amounted to 23.5 billion euros.
The six banks are Intesa Sanpaolo, UniCredit, Banco BPM, BPER Banca, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena, and Banca Popolare di Sondrio.
The projected decline in revenue due to decreasing interest rates, along with substantial capital reserves amassed during years of high profits, is believed to be fueling the current consolidation trend in the Italian banking sector.
Conversion rate: $1 = 0.9526 euros