Poste Italiane raises guidance after quarterly results

MILAN (Reuters) -Italy's postal services group Poste Italiane on Thursday raised its full-year guidance after reporting increased third-quarter revenue and operating profit.

The group said it is targeting operating profit of 1.8 billion euros ($2.08 billion) this year, 100 million more than initially forecast thanks to cost control, and net income of 1.3 billion euros, compared with 1.2 billion euros.

Poste Italiane, which confirmed an interim dividend of 0.185 euros per share, also expects 2021 revenue to increase by 100 million euros from the original target of 11.2 billion euros.

The company, which has insurance, financial and digital payment divisions besides the traditional mail and parcels business, said earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) rose 18% to 566 million euros in the quarter, slightly below an analyst consensus forecast of 538 million euros.

The core profit rose thanks on the back of the contributions of its parcels and mail division and the payments and mobile business. The insurance division reported a decline, which the company said was expected and in line with its targets.

Poste Italiane revenue rose 7% to 2.76 billion euros in the querter.

"We have reported strong results as the Italian economy continues to improve and all segments regained even better growth momentum than before the pandemic," Chief Executive Matteo Del Fante said in a statement.

($1 = 0.8648 euros)

(Reporting by Elisa AnzolinEditing by Maria Pia Quaglia and David Goodman)