Banca IMI, the investment banking arm of Italian financial group Intesa Sanpaolo, has announced a more than doubling in profits for the first half of the year a month after the bank announced the completion of the division’s restructuring.

Net profits at Banca IMI reached €293m ($418m) in the first half of the year, a 110% increase on the division's performance in the same period in 2008, with the bank winning several important mandates.