Irish unit of Intesa Saopaolo sees profits decline

An Irish subsidary of Italy's biggest banking group Intesa Saopaolo, saw profits narrow last year, recently filed accounts show.

Intesa Sanpaolo Bank Ireland, which employs 27 people locally, reported a pretax profit of €80.9 million last year, down 14 per cent versus the €93.6 million recorded for 2014.

Total assets amounted to €13.7 million at the end of 2015, as against €12.5 million a year earlier while liabilites came in at €12.4 million, up from €11.2 million.

The total exposure to the company from loans to banks and customers amounted to €10.7 billion at the end of 2015, up from €8.9 million last year.

Administrative costs, including wages and salaries, amounted to €4.97 million, as against €3.75 million a year earlier. Directors’ remuneration totalled €350,281, versus €275,722 a year earlier.

Intesa's parent was formed from the merger between Banca Intesa and Sanpaolo IMI in 2010. It is the biggest banking group in Italy with a marketing capitalisation of €40.7 billion. It has 11.1 million customers, which are served through a network of more than 4,100 branches in its local market. The group also has a growing presence in Eastern Europe, the Middle East and North Africa.