Milan, 22/01/2025 – The main Italian banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit and Banco BPM) stand out as leaders in the increase in market capitalization in the transatlantic area (EU, USA and UK): +25.6% the compound annual growth rate of capitalization from 2020 to 2024 on average for our top three banks. Among these, Intesa Sanpaolo (Mkt Cap €69.141 billion at the end of 2024) ranks first overall in terms of market capitalization in the EU, and two of the main Italian banks (Intesa Sanpaolo and Unicredit) are among the top four (together with BNP Paribas and Banco Santander). This result is driven not only by dividends distributed, but also by buybacks, an area in which Unicredit (€3.51 billion on average per year in the period 2021-2024) stands out with volumes comparable to those of the main US banks. This is according to research by Excellence Consulting, which analyses the change in market capitalisation from 2020 to 2024 of the top three Italian banks (Intesa Sanpaolo, Unicredit, Banco BPM), German banks (Deutsche Bank, Commerzbank, Deutsche Pfandbriefbank), French banks (BNP Paribas, Crédit Agricole, Société Générale), Spanish banks (Banco Santander, BBVA, CaixaBank), English banks (HSBC, Barclays, Lloyds Bank) and American banks (JP Morgan, Bank of America, Citigroup).

According to the analysis by Excellence Consulting, the top three Italian banks saw their market capitalization grow in the period considered more than the growth seen by their counterparts in each of the countries analyzed. In 2020, the total capitalization of Italian banks was €56.477 billion, while in 2024 it reached €140.467 billion, recording an increase of €83.99 billion and a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 25.6%. This result largely exceeds the performance of the top three banks in other European countries and the United States. In detail, again from 2020 to 2024, respectively, the Germans saw their market capitalization go from €26.538 billion to €51.51 billion (delta €24.972 billion and CAGR 18%), the Spanish from €83.044 billion to €156.406 billion (delta €73.362 billion and CAGR 17.1%), the British from €143.752 billion to €255.851 billion (delta €112.099 billion and CAGR 15.5%), the Americans – while confirming their leadership in the West – from €636.805 billion to €1,114.39 billion (delta €477.585 billion and CAGR 15%). Finally, the French ones recorded an increase from €98.5 billion to €128.117 billion, with a growth of €29.617 billion and a CAGR of 6.8%.

“The days of the petrified forest of Italian banks are long gone,” says Maurizio Primanni, CEO of Excellence Consulting. “Today, Intesa Sanpaolo is not only a pillar of our country’s economy, but also the first bank in the European Union by capitalization. At the same time, Unicredit and Banco Bpm have distinguished themselves in recent years in Europe for the increase in their market capitalization: Unicredit is now also the fourth in the EU. These results are not the result of chance or exclusively of the increase in interest rates, but derive from the management’s ability to define and implement strategies that are positively judged by financial analysts. The data show that both the Italian and community systems can rely on Italian banks to drive the relaunch of the industrial system. We believe that this moment of success should represent, for our banks, a solid basis for further investments, thus ensuring that they maintain their leadership in the years to come.”