MILAN, May 8 (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo on Friday reported better-than-expected quarterly earnings and ruled out any moves on Generali as speculation around the future of the insurer intensifies.
Like rival heavyweight UniCredit, Intesa reported record first-quarter net profit, as the sector benefits from a rise in net fees while income from lending holds up.
Unlike UniCredit, however, Intesa stuck to its full-year outlook with Chief Executive Carlo Messina saying he did not consider it wise to improve guidance just one quarter into the year.
"Net-net, our expectation is to continue to have a good trend for 2026," Messina said, adding that costs and net lending income were likely to yield positive surprises.
He said antitrust limits stop Intesa from considering any moves on Generali despite having a business model based on asset management and insurance.
The future of Generali, Italy's biggest insurer, has become a focus of interest in a consolidation wave sweeping Italian finance and rival factions have long tussled over its governance.
Monte dei Paschi has not ruled out selling its recently acquired Generali stake. Family investment vehicle Delfin, another major shareholder, is going through an internal reorganisation that may see it dispose of some holdings. Meanwhile, UniCredit has built a stake in the insurer.
Intesa, which became the sector leader by securing a fifth of the market with its acquisition of UBI in 2020, has not joined the current round of consolidation.
In the January-March period, revenue rose 5% year-on-year to 7.15 billion euros ($8.4 billion), above an LSEG consensus estimate of 6.91 billion euros, with net fees setting a record for the first quarter.
Net income also topped expectations, rising 6% to 2.76 billion euros.
Intesa, which tends to benefit from volatile markets, reported a trading income of 505 million euros, a 10-fold rise from the previous three months and nearly double that of a year ago, thanks to 400 million euros in gains from its securities portfolio and treasury operations.
($1 = 0.8496 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Tomasz Janowski, Kirsten Donovan)
By Valentina Za
