Bank shareholders pocketing 17bn in dividends - report

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 9 - High interest rates led to Italy's top five banks to increase profits by 45% in 2023, enabling the country's lenders to give out 17 billion euros in dividends and buybacks to shareholders, the First Cisl union representing bank employees said in a report on Friday.
    It said the combined profits went up from 11. 5 to 20.7 billion euros, with a consolidation of assets despite a 4.2% drop in loans.
    "The fall in credit is worrying, given that it is less marked in (the rest of) Europe," said First Cisl Secretary Riccardo Colombani "The banks cannot continue with the obsession with dividends".
    (ANSA).