(ANSA) - ROME, MAY 3 - Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo on Friday posted higher-than-expected first-quarter profits of 2.3 billion euros, 17.6% higher than the 1.96 billion it posted in the same period last year.
    The bank said the implementation its 2022-2025 business plan was going full speed ahead with the prospect of net profits of over eight billion euros in both 2024 and 2025.
    The Turin-based bank, Italy's largest by assets and led by Carlo Messina, said it saw a solid growth in earnings, pushed by a further increase in net interests and by a rise in net commissions and the result of insurance activities; a stability of operating costs, despite investments in technology, above all following lower expenses for staff; a low cost of risk, deriving from the zero NPL status of the ban, (ANSA).