Italy's Banco BPM announced on Wednesday an increase in targeted profits and payouts for investors until 2027 following robust 2024 results to compete against larger rival UniCredit.
The third-largest bank in Italy disclosed its plans to elevate the price of an offer for acquiring other investors in fund manager Anima Holding, a maneuver complicated by UniCredit's competing bid.
Banco BPM intends to allocate more than 7 billion euros ($7.25 billion) to shareholders during 2024-2027, exceeding the previous target of 4 billion euros set in the 2023-2026 business plan, subject to gaining supervisory approval for leveraging advantageous capital regulations in the Anima acquisition.
The bank, which reported a net profit of 1.7 billion euros for 2024 excluding extraordinary items, aims to boost its income to 2.15 billion euros by 2027, predicated on the successful acquisition of Anima, surpassing analysts' projections.
Moreover, BPM has convened a shareholder vote on February 28 to endorse raising the price for Anima to 7 euros per share, aligning with the current market value of Anima, as opposed to the 6.2 euros proposed by BPM in November, with Anima shares closing at 6.98 euros on Tuesday.
The shareholder vote on the increased bid price is vital due to a 'passivity rule' triggered by UniCredit's takeover bid, which BPM has turned down, despite BPM shares trading substantially above UniCredit's offer. ($1 = 0.9654 euros)