Italian state-owned bank Monte dei Paschi di Siena on Wednesday posted a much larger-than-expected quarterly profit, as rising interest rates boosted revenues and job cuts lowered its costs.

Net income at Monte dei Paschi (MPS), which is 64% owned by the state, came in at 156 million euros ($167 million) in the October-December period, roughly twice the 75 million euros forecast by analysts polled by the bank.($1 = 0.9317 euros) (Reporting by Valentina Za, editing by Gavin Jones)