Intesa Plans to Cut 6,100 Jobs by 2029 in Savings Push

By Adria Calatayud

Intesa Sanpaolo said it plans to cut 6,100 jobs by 2029 in a bid to rein in costs and boost profit, and to distribute to shareholders nearly half of its market value through dividends and buybacks.

Italy's largest bank by assets said Monday that it plans around 12,400 employee exits, mostly in Italy, and 6,300 hires by 2029. The net reduction in headcount amounts to about 6.7% of a workforce of some 90,700 as of Sept. 30.

Intesa said it aims to distribute to shareholders around 50 billion euros ($59.25 billion), or nearly half of its current market capitalization, for the 2025-29 period.

The bank targets increasing net profit to more than 11.5 billion euros in 2029, up from 9.32 billion euros last year. It plans cost savings of 1.6 billion euros and investments of 5.1 billion euros over the next four years.

The lender is looking to strike a balance between expanding its top and bottom lines while continuing to hand excess capital to shareholders at a time when interest rates have come down.

When Intesa last presented a strategic plan in February 2022, eurozone interest rates were in negative territory. The European Central Bank later embarked on a historic series of rate increases that took its key policy rate to a record high, leaving Intesa and other eurozone lenders with a windfall and paving the way for a rally in banking stocks.

Write to Adria Calatayud at adria.calatayud@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 02, 2026 02:42 ET (07:42 GMT)