(Reuters) -Unipol said on Friday its consolidated nine-month net profit including contributions from its investment in BPER rose 48% year-on-year to 1.24 billion euros ($1.45 billion), reaping the benefit of the lender’s takeover of Pop Sondrio.
The Italian financial group reported net profit of 961 million euros from its core insurance activity, while direct insurance income came in at 12.6 billion euros, up 10.8% from the same period last year.
In July, BPER completed a 5.4 billion euro cash-and-share deal for peer Banca Popolare di Sondrio, and on Wednesday both banks approved the merger plan, aiming to complete it by mid-April.
Unipol, a main shareholder in both BPER and Pop Sondrio before their merger, remains the leading investor in the combined entity and distributes its insurance products through both lenders.
($1 = 0.8575 euros)
(Reporting by Enrico Sciacovelli, editing by Alvise Armellini)
