Shares and dividends

Over the time horizon of the 2018-2021 Business Plan, a cash dividend distribution was envisaged corresponding to a payout ratio, based on the consolidated net income, of 85% for 2018, 80% for 2019, 75% for 2020 and 70% for 2021: 3.4 billion euro cash dividends were paid for 2018; net income for financial year 2019 was allocated to reserves, in compliance with the ECB recommendation on dividend policy of 27 March 2020, subsequently replaced by the recommendation of 15 December 2020 which remained in force until 30 September 2021; cash dividends of 0.7 billion euro were paid and cash reserves of 1.9 billion euro distributed for 2020; 2.9 billion euro cash dividends were paid for 2021 (1.4 billion euro as interim dividend and 1.5 billion euro as remaining amount).