Our strategy
In February 2018, we presented our 2018-2021 Business Plan, in which solid, sustainable creation and distribution of value for all stakeholders remains a priority, confirming our Group’s position as the Italian market leader and its role as a real-economy bank devoted to helping households and businesses. Having already achieved Corporate Social Responsibility leadership, we are now focused on becoming the world’s first Impact Bank with a series of social and cultural initiatives that will make us a benchmark for society.
Our Plan entails maintaining a very solid capital position and strong growth in sustainable profitability as we continue de-risking and increasing revenues. We also aim to contribute to global development by supporting our customers, promoting the development and well-being of people and communities and protecting the environment, which includes combating climate change.
In a highly digitalised, fiercely competitive world, we will continue to achieve our objectives by leveraging our values and our mission and harnessing the proven track record of our results-based delivery machine.
We are capable of effectively meeting the complex challenges of the post-COVID-19 environment thanks to our solid capital base and significant liquidity, a resilient, well-diversified business model focused on Wealth Management & Protection, strategic flexibility in the management of operating costs and the pro-active management of non-performing loans. In the face of the dramatic health and social emergency that unfolded, we have continued to demonstrate the Group’s support for Italy .
Our strategic choices have also confirmed our position as one of the most solid banks in the world.
The 2018-2021 Business Plan Formula |
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De-risking |
Cost Reduction |
Revenue Growth |
Significant de-risking at no cost to shareholders |
Cost reduction through further simplification of the operating model |
Revenue growth capturing new business opportunities |
#1 Bank in Europe for risk profile (CET1 Ratio, illiquid assets(*)) |
#1 Bank in Europe for efficiency (Cost/Income ratio) |
#1 Bank in Italy for all banking products European leader in Wealth Management & Protection |
Many projects and initiatives for the: • Establishment of a cutting-edge credit collection company • Significant increase in the coverage of non-performing loans • Creation of “Pulse”, essential to the management of retail loans initially classified as non-performing • Pro-active credit portfolio management |
Many projects and initiatives for the:
• Voluntary exits and reskilling of resources
• Optimisation of the distribution strategy
• Optimisation of the real estate portfolio
• Reduction of legal entities
• Reduction in administrative costs
• Creation of the Chief Cost Management Officer
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Many projects and initiatives for the: • Strong development of P&C insurance business, creating the #1 non-motor retail insurer in Italy • Consolidation of private banking leadership in Italy • Strengthening of product factories and wealth management distribution network for the retail and personal banking segments • Distinctive offer to drive the growth and profitability of SMEs and help Italian mid-corporate “champions” succeed internationally • Increasing focus on global corporates and international investors
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(*) Net NPL, Net repossessed assets, Level 2 assets and Level 3 assets
People and Digital as key enablers
- People remain Intesa Sanpaolo’s most important resource. We work to strengthen employee engagement, and this includes initiatives to promote diversity and inclusion and develop talent through an international program. We will invest €1 billion in training over the Plan horizon.
- To complete the digital transformation, we will invest €2.8 billion over the course of the Plan. In particular, the initiatives cover the expansion of the the multi-channel customer platform, completely digitalising key processes, launching new products and digital services, data management, cyber security and advanced analytics.
Find out more about the 2018-2021 Business Plan
Positive, tangible impact on society
With the 2018-2021 Business Plan, we intend to set the social and cultural responsibility benchmark for society, by specifically:
- becoming the world’s first Impact Bank, allocating 0.5% of shareholders’ equity by 2021 (an estimated €250 million) to a specific fund that will guarantee approximately €1.25 billion in lending to categories that would otherwise have difficulty accessing credit despite their potential, like young families, university students, researchers and start-ups;
- expanding the “Food and shelter for people in need” initiative, with the allocation of funds to cover the cost of 10,000 meals per day, 6,000 beds per month and 3,000 medicines and items of clothing per month;
- driving the Circular Economy by setting a specific credit ceiling and launching a Circular Economy Investment Fund;
- setting up a unit to develop and pro-actively manage the Group’s artistic, cultural and historical assets (approximately 20,000 works of art).
Many initiatives are already underway.
Intesa sanpaolo as the driver of sustainable and inclusive development |
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Find out about our research and innovation projects |
Find out about our projects for people in need |
Find out about our social projects |
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Approximately 600 start-ups were analysed in the first half of 2020 (over 1,800 since 2018) as part of two acceleration programs, with 37 coached start-ups (~270 since 2018) introducing them to selected investors and ecosystem players (~5,500 to date) Circular Economy credit Plafond totalling €5bn: €1,237m already disbursed, 343 products analysed and 119 already financed Launched the first Sustainability Bond focused on the Circular Economy (amount €750m) S-Loans – Launched an innovative solution for SMEs to finance and promote sustainable growth projects. The loans will have a reduced interest rate, subject to the annual monitoring of 2 ESG KPIs, which must be reported in the company’s annual report. Intesa Sanpaolo allocated a €2bn plafond for S-Loans as part of the €50bn dedicated to the Green Economy
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Initiatives to alleviate child poverty and support people facing hardships, ahead of the Business Plan target and since 2018 have delivered:
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Support was provided to families affected by earthquakes and natural disasters by forgiving mortgages or granting moratoria of mortgages on properties that were destroyed, and subsidised loans (~130 moratoria in the first half of 2020 for €700m in outstanding loans) and ~€97m in subsidised loans in the first half of 2020 (∼€431m since the beginning of 2018) Intesa Sanpaolo has developed many initiatives following the COVID-19 emergency to actively support society and the real economy, including:
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Find out about our education projects |
Find out about our right of access to study projects |
Find out about our culture projects |
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Intesa Sanpaolo's “Giovani e Lavoro” program is underway, in partnership with Generation, to train and place 5,000 young people in the Italian job market over the next three years:
The P-Tech initiative was launched in partnership with IBM to prepare young professionals in the field of new digital jobs:
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Intesa Sanpaolo Fund for Impact launched in 4Q18 (~€1.25bn lending capacity). "Per Merito" is the first line of credit without collateral dedicated to all Italian university students, studying in Italy or abroad; €21m was granted in the first half of 2020 (€60m since the beginning of 2019) MAMMA@WORK is a loan with highly subsidised terms to help women balance motherhood and work in the early years of their children’s lives. Launched in July 2020 as a Fund for Impact initiative Two new initiatives were announced in January 2020 to support working mothers in India and people over the age of 50 who have lost their jobs or have difficulty accessing pension schemes |
Piazza San Carlo in Turin was announced as the fourth location of the "Gallerie d'Italia" museums, for a total of 6,000 square metres dedicated to photography, digital creativity and contemporary art The Canova / Thorvaldsen exhibition at the Gallerie d'Italia in Milan in partnership with St Petersburg State Hermitage Museum and Copenhagen’s Thorvaldsens Museum, is one of the most visited exhibitions in Italy and visits continued during the lockdown with virtual tours garnering over 8m views During the lockdown, a large number of national cultural initiatives were produced and broadcasted in digital editions. For example, COVID-19 Visual Project-Cortona On the Move is a permanent multi-media archive of 40 visual projects created by 40 photographers from the around the world (602,500 views of Freeda’s and Intesa Sanpaolo’s Instagram Stories) |
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Find out more |
Results for 2020 confirm Intesa Sanpaolo’s ability to effectively face the challenging aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic
Results for 2020 confirm Intesa Sanpaolo’s ability to effectively face the challenging aftermath of the COVID-19 epidemic. They reflect the Group’s sustainable profitability, which derives from a solid capital base and a strong liquidity position, a resilient and well-diversified business model and the strategic flexibility in managing operating costs. Substantial NPL deleveraging achieved in the last three years, above all in 2020, has further reduced Intesa Sanpaolo’s low risk profile bolstering the support provided to Italy by the Group, which is also committed to becoming a reference model in terms of sustainability and social and cultural responsibility.
Value generation for all stakeholders will be accreted by the combination with UBI Banca and by more than €6 billion out of pre-tax profit devoted by the Group in 2020 to further strengthening the sustainability of results and allocated on provisions for future COVID-19 impacts, increase in the coverage ratio of UBI Banca loans through the PPA (Purchase Price Allocation) procedure, and integration charges.
The integration of UBI Banca, with no social costs, is well under way and ahead of original plan, making it possible to estimate higher synergies than those foreseen when the Public Purchase and Exchange Offer was launched. The merger by incorporation into Intesa Sanpaolo is expected to take place by April 2021.
As regards the Group’s dividend policy, in addition to €694m in cash dividends for 2020 to be paid out in May 2021, in line with the 2018-2021 Business Plan it is envisaged, subject to ECB indications in respect of dividend policies after 30.9.21 – the deadline for the recommendation of 15.12.20:
- for the 2020 results, a cash distribution from reserves, possibly by the end of 2021, that adds to the aforementioned dividends and leads to the payment of a total amount corresponding to a payout ratio of 75% of the €3,505m adjusted net income (excluding from the stated net income the items related to the acquisition of UBI Banca consisting of the effect of the purchase price allocation, including negative goodwill, and integration charges, as well as the write-off of goodwill of the Banca dei Territori Division);
- for the 2021 results, the payment of an amount of cash dividends corresponding to a payout ratio of 70%, to be partially distributed as interim dividend this year (subject to approval by the ECB and the Shareholders’ Meeting of the amendment to the Articles of Associations allowing the Board of Directors to pass resolution in respect of interim dividend distribution).
Emerging Trends | Competitive advantages of the Group |
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Increase in demand for health, wealth and business protection |
Intesa Sanpaolo’s leadership in Wealth Management & Protection
Expansion of the health insurance area with the acquisition of RBM Assicurazione Salute |
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Riskier environment |
Effective pro-active credit management and strategic partnerships with major industry players active in the management of non-performing loans
Intesa Sanpaolo ranked first among Italian corporates in the “Cyber Resilience amid a Global Pandemic” competition, organised by AIPSA (Italian Association of Corporate Security Professionals) |
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Customer digitalisation |
Top position in Europe for mobile App functions
Strong digital offer, with roughly 10.3m multi-channel clients (more than 12m including UBI Banca) and around 6.5m clients using the App (more than 7m including the UBI Banca App)
Strategic payment systems partnership with Nexi |
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Digitalisation at Intesa Sanpaolo |
Already more than 65,500 Group resources working remotely (around 80,500 including UBI Banca)
Optimisation of the distribution model with over 1,000 branches rationalised since 2018. Further possible branch reduction following the acquisition of UBI Banca, the Banca 5 - SisalPay strategic partnership (Mooney), and changes in customer behaviour brought about by COVID-19 with most customers who will continue to be served by the Group via its high-quality alternative channels |
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Growing importance of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) |
The only Italian bank listed in the Dow Jones Sustainability Indices and in the Corporate Knights - 2021 Global 100 Most Sustainable Corporations in the World Index
Ranking first among European banks by MSCI, Sustainalytics, and Bloomberg ESG Disclosure Score, three of the top ESG international assessments
Included in the Bloomberg Gender-Equality Index (GEI), recording for 2021 a score well above the average of the global financial sector and that of Italian companies
The only Italian bank included in the Refinitiv Diversity & Inclusion Index, which selects the world’s top 100 listed companies in terms of diversity and inclusion |
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Find out about our many initiatives to mitigate the social and economic impacts of COVID-19 |
Last updated 16 February 2021 at 11:16:21