Italy's Intesa reassures investors over capital distribution

MILAN (Reuters) - Intesa Sanpaolo on Friday sought to reassure investors that it had sufficient capital reserves to see through its shareholder distribution plans, after its shares fell on concerns about reported large asset disposals.

Intesa said it expected its best quality capital to stand at around 13% at the end of the year and to remain well above the bank's minimum target of 12% over the course of its business plan "with significant value creation and distribution to shareholders."

It added that the reduction in risk-weighted assets that took place in the fourth quarter was due to regulatory changes kicking in on Jan. 1, 2023, which meant the assets in question had a negative impact when comparing the operating income they produced with the cost of capital they required.

(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Leslie Adler)