(Alliance News) - The board of directors of Equita Group Spa on Thursday approved its consolidated financial results as of Sept. 30, closing with a consolidated net profit that stood at EUR9.7 million, down 26 percent from the first nine months of 2022.

The board also saw fit to approve the distribution of a dividend of EUR0.35 per share, in line with what was distributed for fiscal 2022.

In the first nine months, the group posted consolidated net revenues of EUR59.5 million from EUR64.2 million from the same perid of last year. Revenues from customer business1 stood at EUR53.4 million from EUR61.6 million in fione September 2022.

Revenues from Sales & Trading, net of commission expenses and interest, reached EUR14.5 million, while last year in the same perid was EUR16.1 million.

"This performance is influenced by lower trading in the first part of the year by investors in the Italian stock market, particularly in lower capitalization stocks."

The group's investment portfolio is about EUR10 million as of September 30, 2023, contributed EUR1.2 million to consolidated results compared to EUR1.0 million at the end of September 2022.

Consolidated shareholders' equity as of September 30, 2023 was EUR97 million, and the average return on tangible equity -- ROTE -- stood at 22 percent.

"The group's level of capitalization is confirmed to be among the highest on the market, with an IFR ratio of about 5.8 times the minimum basic requirements," Equita writes in the note released.

Andrea Vismara - Equita's managing director - commented, "The figures for the first nine months of 2023 confirm Equita's ability to react positively even in particularly challenging market contexts. Revenues in the third quarter, for example, were up, and October and early November saw a significant number of mandates, both on the M&A and Equity and Debt Capital Markets fronts, with a significant contribution to net income growth."

"The remuneration of our shareholders remains the priority. In view of the results achieved so far, the expectations for the coming months and the earnings not distributed in these years to give stability to the dividend, we believe it is appropriate to consider a dividend of EUR0.35 per share - in line with the previous year - and to confirm the distribution of more than EUR50 million in dividends in the three-year period '22-'24," Vismara says.

Equita Group on Thursday trades in the green by 1.4 percent at EUR3.63

By Maurizio Carta, Alliance News reporter

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