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☆ UniCredit raises investor reward goal after profit tops forecast
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

The logo of Italian international banking group UniCredit stands on the facade of the group headquarters, located in the Porta Nuova district, as seen from the viewpoint of Palazzo Lombardia on September 29, 2023 in Milan, Italy. UniCredit raised on Tuesday its investor reward guidance for the year, after posting a much higher net income than expected and further boosting capital levels. Italy's second biggest bank said net profit for the January-March period was 2.6 billion euros ($2.8 billion), above the average of 2.13 billion forecast in a company-compiled analyst consensus. In the full year, net income is expected to be above 8.5 billion euros, it said, having previously guided for a 2024 net profit "broadly in line" with a 2023 result of 8.6 billion net of a tax asset writeup. UniCredit said it was raising its distribution guidance for 2024 to stand in line with 2023, when it paid out net profit to shareholders in full.

Persons: UniCredit, Andrea Orcel Organizations: UBS Locations: Porta Nuova, Lombardia, Milan, Italy, UniCredit

☆ UniCredit CEO: We are getting more confident on what profit we can get this year
▼ + stars: | 2024-05-07 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUniCredit CEO: We are getting more confident on what profit we can get this yearAndrea Orcel, the CEO of UniCredit, speaks to CNBC's Charlotte Reed following the company's results.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, CNBC's Charlotte Reed Organizations: UniCredit

☆ UniCredit CEO: Strategy on Russia is unchanged, continuing to scale down business
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUniCredit CEO: Strategy on Russia is unchanged, continuing to scale down businessAndrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, discusses the Italian lender's strategy on M&A versus value generation, gives an update on business in Russia, and outlines the impacts of Italy's capital markets bill.

Persons: Andrea Orcel Locations: Russia, Italian

☆ UniCredit CEO: Expect rate cuts in second half of 2024
▼ + stars: | 2024-02-05 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUniCredit CEO: Expect rate cuts in second half of 2024Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, discusses the Italian lender's earnings as Q4 net profit comes in at more than double expectations. Orcel weighs in on his expectations for rate cuts, the bank's strategy against geopolitical uncertainty, and plans for shareholder returns.

Persons: Andrea Orcel

☆ UniCredit CEO: Europe needs banking M&A to propel economy
▼ + stars: | 2024-01-17 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUniCredit CEO: Europe needs banking M&A to propel economyAndrea Orcel, group CEO of UniCredit, makes his case for increasing mergers and acquisitions in European banking, how European banks can compete with their U.S. peers, and how an EU banking union would revolutionise the sector.

Persons: Andrea Orcel

Amundi signed a 10-year distribution accord in 2017 when it bought UniCredit's Pioneer Investments for 3.6 billion euros. Credit Agricole CEO Philippe Brassac told reporters this month it was no secret UniCredit was looking at ways "to optimise" the accord with Amundi. Orcel, sources have said, is unhappy with the amount of Amundi funds the accord binds UniCredit to place with customers. UniCredit had 134 billion euros in AUM from fund and portfolio management as of Sept. 30. If their relationship ended after 2027, it would still take UniCredit time to replace Amundi funds with other products.

Persons: Sarah Meyssonnier, Amundi, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Philippe Brassac, Brassac, Orcel, Azimut, Valentina Za, Mathieu Rosemain, Silvia Aloisi, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Investments, Agricole, Credit, Amundi, Thomson Locations: Paris, France, MILAN, Italy, Italian, Milan

☆ Monte Paschi rebirth is vindication for Rome
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-21 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

REUTERS / Jennifer Lorenzini Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Nov 21 (Reuters Breakingviews) - Italy’s privatisation of bailed-out lender Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena (BMPS.MI) may finally be on the right track. The sale price was nearly 50% higher than last year’s high-stakes 2.5 billion euro capital increase, which cost taxpayers 1.6 billion euros. Rome took advantage of a near-30% rally in Monte Paschi’s shares during the month leading up to the sale. Granted, Rome will never recoup the around 5.4 billion euros it burnt to save Monte Paschi in 2017. Two years ago, interest rates were low and Monte Paschi's recovery seemed a distant prospect.

Persons: Jennifer Lorenzini, Siena, Monte Paschi, Andrea Orcel, Lisa Jucca, Banks, Liam Proud, Streisand Neto Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, Banca Monte dei, Treasury, X, Walmart, Thomson Locations: Monte dei, Siena, Italy, Rome, Monte Paschi’s, Monte

☆ UniCredit CEO Orcel's 'bank of Europe' ambition tough to realise
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-14 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

However, his aspirations to make UniCredit the "bank of Europe" are proving trickier to realise with the CEO setting a high bar for mergers and acquisitions in the euro zone's fractured capital markets, despite having what he describes as the biggest war chest among European lenders. UniCredit bought Greece's 9% stake in Alpha Bank (ACBr.AT) and struck a commercial partnership with the Athens-based lender, also acquiring most of its Romanian operations. The CEO works closely with a small M&A team he set up within UniCredit which constantly reviews potential deals in the markets and businesses where the bank operates, people with knowledge of the matter said. But uneven regulation across the euro zone, where progress towards a single banking market has stalled, complicates cross-border deals. Calling on Europe to follow his lead, Orcel says he has unlocked UniCredit's potential by giving it a unified strategy across its 13 markets.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, Merrill Lynch, Orcel, He's, Cole Smead, ALPHA Orcel, Siena, UniCredit, Smead, Jean, Pierre Mustier's, Mustier, it's, Carlo Franchini, Danilo Masoni, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: Discount, MILAN, UBS, Smead Capital Management, Fund, ALPHA, Banco, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Banca Ifigest, Thomson Locations: buybacks, Europe, Arizona, Ukraine, Athens, HVB, Berlin, Milan

☆ UniCredit’s Greek stake is less odd than it seems
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-13 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

But Italy’s UniCredit (CRDI.MI), which on Monday purchased 9% of Alpha Bank for about 300 million euros, should have better luck. This will include merging the lenders’ Romanian units and Alpha distributing UniCredit’s asset-management products in Greece. Probably the most reassuring news for investors in the Italian bank is that Orcel has no plans to raise its stake. UniCredit hasn’t requested regulatory permission to buy more and doesn’t envisage doing so, according to a person familiar with the matter. For shareholders, then, UniCredit’s mini-Greek adventure is unusual but easily tolerable.

Persons: Italy’s, Andrea Orcel, Crédit, Société, Orcel, UniCredit, UniCredit hasn’t, Liam Proud, Aimee Donnellan, Oliver Taslic Organizations: Reuters, Alpha Bank, Alpha, Piraeus Financial, X, SEC, Thomson Locations: Greece

☆ Nexi CEO: happy to help UniCredit on payments but contract is set
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-09 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The logo of Italian payments group Nexi is pictured outside their headquarters in Milan, Italy, March 28, 2019. Italian payments infrastructure group SIA in 2016 signed a 10-year contract with UniCredit to manage cards and shop payments as well as cash withdrawal machines ahead of a being acquired by Nexi, which inherited the contract. Nexi finance chief Bernardo Mingrone told an analyst call on Thursday that the contract did not envisage the possibility of an early break-up. While the contract is "very solid" and runs over the long term, Nexi is "very keen to help UniCredit achieve their ambitions in payments, which are growing," Nexi CEO Paolo Bertoluzzo added. Asked whether UniCredit might dispose of its merchant acquiring business, Bertoluzzo said he would be "very surprised" if UniCredit did anything with it.

Persons: Alessandro Garofalo, Nexi, UniCredit, Andrea Orcel, Bernardo Mingrone, Mingrone, Paolo Bertoluzzo, Orcel, Jean Pierre Mustier, Bertoluzzo Organizations: REUTERS, SIA, Nexi, Thomson Locations: Milan, Italy

☆ Europe needs bigger banks but mergers hard without banking union -Intesa CEO
▼ + stars: | 2023-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - European banks need to join forces if the region is to withstand competition from the United States and China but without a banking union, cross-border mergers do not make sense, the head of Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) said on Monday. "You need synergies and the area where investors are looking for synergies is cost," he said, adding it was not easy "to deliver real cross-border synergies on the cost side". "I think we'll need to wait for a banking union to see real, significant cross-border consolidation. Orcel last month said Europe was destined to "irrelevance" if it did not work to unify its capital markets and create a banking union that allowed lenders to compete with U.S. rivals and adequately finance the region's economy. Intesa has a 30% market share of deposits and mutual funds, and 20% of insurance products, the CEO said.

Persons: Carlo Messina, Andrea Orcel, Messina, Intesa, Andrea Enria, Valentina Za, Kirsten Donovan Organizations: MILAN, CNBC, U.S, Central Bank's, Thomson Locations: United States, China, Europe, Orcel, Messina, Italy

To this aim UniCredit wants to get to around 20 billion euros of in-house funds, Orcel said. UniCredit and Amundi are tied by a 10-year distribution agreement they signed in 2017, when UniCredit sold its internal asset manager Pioneer to Amundi. Orcel, who has been working to increase the bank's fee income since arriving in 2021, said on Tuesday UniCredit had been "rebalancing" its relationship with Amundi. By replacing the Amundi funds with its own products or those of partners who pay the bank more to sell their funds, UniCredit increases the portion of distribution fees in asset management it pockets. "In terms of value, I think in-house, strictly speaking, we're looking at about 20 billion euros," he said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Orcel, Valérie Baudson, Amundi, Mathieu Rosemain, Valentina Za, Matthew Lewis Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Reuters, Thomson Locations: Paris

☆ UniCredit CEO says shareholders prefer buybacks to dividends
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Unicredit Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 27 (Reuters) - Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) is using mostly share buybacks to return capital to shareholders, rather than dividends, because that is what investors prefer, Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said in a shareholders' meeting on Friday. "This is what shareholders tell us when we speak with them," Orcel told a meeting that approved a 2.5-billion-euro ($2.64 billion) share buyback. Presenting quarterly earnings on Tuesday, Orcel said that UniCredit would consider increasing over time the cash portion of its distribution, which is "arguably low." With shares trading at between 5 and 5.5 times the bank's forward earnings, "I think I am doing investors a favour by reducing the share count and boosting the yield going forward", Orcel said.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, Orcel, UniCredit, Valentina Za, Alvise Organizations: REUTERS, Thomson

☆ UniCredit to have more than 10 bln euros in excess capital by end-2023 - CEO to paper
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Unicredit logo is seen displayed in this illustration taken, May 3, 2022. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsROME, Oct 25 (Reuters) - UniCredit (CRDI.MI) will have more than 10 billion euros ($10.60 billion) in excess capital by end-2023 and will consider whether to use it for M&A deals or to reward its shareholders, the lender's Chief Executive said in an interview published on Wednesday . "If M&A at our conditions is complicated, what is left is distribution (of capital). Therefore what we will give back from 2024 will have an ordinary component and probably and extraordianry one," Andrea Orcel told Italian financial daily Il Sole 24 Ore.($1 = 0.9432 euros)Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro, writing by Giulia Segreti, editing by Alvise ArmelliniOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, Gianluca Semeraro, Giulia Segreti, Alvise Organizations: REUTERS, Rights, Thomson

☆ UniCredit revamps Buddy online banking service to ease cloud shift
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-25 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Unicredit Bank logo is seen in this illustration taken March 12, 2023. REUTERS/Dado Ruvic/Illustration/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILAN, Oct 25 (Reuters) - Italy's UniCredit (CRDI.MI) on Wednesday announced improvements to its mobile banking service Buddybank, in a move that Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said would ease the eventual transition to a cloud-based core banking infrastructure. UniCredit had managed to unify the backend structure supporting traditional commercial banking operations and Buddybank, Orcel told a press conference. To shift to Buddy R-Evolution, UniCredit customers have only to download the application in order to access their current account without any changes to their bank details. A change of bank details caused disruptions this month for customers of rival Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) which is gradually shifting younger, digitally-savvy clients to its cloud-based mobile bank Isybank.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, Andrea Orcel, UniCredit, Buddy R, Orcel, Intesa Sanpaolo, Valentina Za, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, Wednesday, Thomson

☆ UniCredit 'rebalancing' Amundi relationship in fee income drive
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

It's rebalancing a little bit, and will rebalance going forward," UniCredit CEO Andrea Orcel told analysts when presenting the bank's third quarter results. Sources told Reuters in May that UniCredit had been trimming the proportion of Amundi funds in its total AUM, paying penalties for failing to meet contractual minimums. Orcel said UniCredit will maintain its current "open architecture" approach to asset management, which involves partnering with all major players, including Amundi, to offer "best in class" products. Since taking over at UniCredit in 2021, the former investment banker, has been working to boost revenue from asset management in an effort to increase net fee income as a proportion of UniCredit's overall revenue. As he sought to review the 10-year Amundi distribution deal, Orcel signed an agreement with Azimut (AZMT.MI) in late 2022 giving the Italian asset manager access to UniCredit's clients.

Persons: Dado Ruvic, UniCredit, Amundi, It's, Andrea Orcel, Orcel, Valentina Za, Alexander Smith Organizations: REUTERS, Reuters, BlackRock, Thomson Locations: UniCredit, Italian

☆ UniCredit CEO explains why it raised its 2023 guidance
▼ + stars: | 2023-10-24 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUniCredit CEO explains why it raised its 2023 guidanceAndrea Orcel, CEO UniCredit, discusses the company's third-quarter earnings and explains why it raised its guidance.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, UniCredit

The government last week revisited a 40% tax on banks' net interest margin (NIM) that it had introduced in a shock move in August. Lenders now have the option to boost reserves by an amount equivalent to 2.5 times the tax. Economy Minister Giancarlo Giorgetti said on Sept. 27 the final outcome of the process would be "a great bank policy measure" that makes Italy's banks the strongest in Europe. The law requires banks that forego the tax to set aside money under ad hoc reserves in their accounts. If forced to boost capital through the ad hoc reserves, banks can use larger buybacks over time to compensate shareholders, one of the sources said.

Persons: Giancarlo Giorgetti, Remo Casilli, Banks, Luigi Lovaglio, Andrea Orcel, Giorgia Meloni, Giorgetti, Bernadette Baum Organizations: REUTERS, Treasury, Economy, European Central Bank, Monte, Thomson Locations: Rome, Italy, ROME, Europe, Monte dei, Siena

☆ UniCredit picks headhunters to advise board on own slate of nominees
▼ + stars: | 2023-09-26 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

The UniCredit bank logo in the old city centre of Siena, Italy, June 29, 2017. REUTERS/Stefano Rellandini/File Photo Acquire Licensing RightsMILANO, Sept 26 (Reuters) - UniCredit (CRDI.MI) said on Tuesday it had mandated Egon Zehnder and Spencer Stuart as headhunters to support the board in identifying candidates to be included in the slate of nominees current directors will put forward to appoint their successors. The current board is up for renewal next spring. In June UniCredit Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said he would be "definitely up for more," when asked about whether he would seek a new mandate at the helm of the Italian bank. Reporting by Gianluca Semeraro; editing by Valentina ZaOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

Persons: Stefano Rellandini, Egon Zehnder, Spencer Stuart, Andrea Orcel, Gianluca Semeraro, Valentina Za Organizations: REUTERS, UniCredit, Thomson Locations: Siena, Italy, Italian

☆ Italy's MPS sees 2023 profit above 1 billion euros after tenfold rise
▼ + stars: | 2023-08-04 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

FILE PHOTO-The logo of Monte dei Paschi di Siena bank is seen in a bank entrance in Rome, Italy August 16, 2018. Like peers, Monte dei Paschi (MPS) reaped the benefits of higher rates which have allowed banks to charge more for loans while what they pay out on deposits lags. To fund the voluntary staff exits by sending people into early retirement, Lovaglio oversaw a 2.5 billion euro ($2.7 billion) capital raise in tough markets last November. Shares in MPS traded 3.5% higher by late morning at 2.568 euros each. Core revenues jumped 10% on a quarterly basis to 941 million euros, leapfrogging expectations, with net interest income nearly doubling from last year and up 15% from the first quarter.

Persons: Max Rossi, Siena, Monte, Luigi Lovaglio, Lovaglio, Andrea Orcel, Valentina Za, Alvise Armellini, Keith Weir Organizations: REUTERS, STATE, MPS, Bankers, Thomson Locations: dei, Siena, Rome, Italy, MILAN

☆ Azimut to start marketing funds to UniCredit clients in Q1
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-27 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

July 27 (Reuters) - Italian asset manager Azimut (AZMT.MI) said its partnership with UniCredit (CRDI.MI) was on track and would start contributing to net profit from early next year, when it begins marketing products built for the bank's clients across its branches. UniCredit, which sold its asset management operations in 2017 to boost capital, has turned to Azimut as it works to grow its fee income by bringing back in house parts of the business. "We have entered into stage two of the ... strategic partnership with UniCredit," CEO and CFO Alessandro Zambotti said in a statement, as Azimut posted a 15% yearly rise in first-half net profit. Under the deal unveiled in December, Azimut will set up in Ireland an asset management business tailored to UniCredit clients' needs which the bank has an option to acquire for a token price within five years. Azimut has said it expects to reap a 0.5% profit margin on the sales of new products to UniCredit clients.

Persons: Azimut, UniCredit, Alessandro Zambotti, Andrea Orcel, Pietro Giuliani, Enrico Sciacovelli, Valentina Za Organizations: UniCredit, Wednesday, Thomson Locations: Italian, Ireland

☆ Unicredit benefitting from better-than-expected macro environment, CEO says
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: 1 min

Share Share Article via Facebook Share Article via Twitter Share Article via LinkedIn Share Article via EmailUnicredit benefitting from better-than-expected macro environment, CEO saysAndrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit, says the macro environment will be less supportive in 2024.

Persons: Andrea Orcel

☆ UniCredit lifts 2023 goals after bumper quarter
▼ + stars: | 2023-07-26 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +1 min

A logo on the UniCredit SpA headquarters in Milan, Italy, on Saturday Jan. 22, 2022. Italian bank UniCredit on Wednesday raised its net profit and shareholder reward targets for the year after posting much stronger than expected quarterly results as higher rates lifted revenues. UniCredit said it now expects a 2023 net profit of at least 7.25 billion euros ($8 billion), compared with more than 6.5 billion earlier. It plans to return at least 6.5 billion to investors through share buybacks and dividends, versus a previous goal of at least 5.75 billion. Revenues jumped by a quarter yearly, to 5.97 billion euros, topping analyst forecasts, boosted mainly by the gap between rates charged to lend and the still very low rates paid on deposits.

Persons: UniCredit, Andrea Orcel Organizations: UniCredit Locations: Milan, Italy, Italy's, UniCredit

Higher interest rates helped UniCredit (CRDI.MI) strongly beat earnings expectations in the second quarter. Germany's financial regulator BaFin has been calling on banks to raise the amount of money they set aside for bad loans. Deutsche Bank on Wednesday said provisions for bad loans nearly doubled in the second quarter from a year earlier to 401 million euros. Santander's financial chief said bad loans in Brazil may have already peaked. This sent the bank's shares up around 2% on Wednesday, with Jefferies saying that it sees upside potential to net interest income.

Persons: Ralph Orlowski, Lloyd's, Andrea Orcel, BaFin, James von Moltke, UniCredit, Jefferies, Tom Sims, Jane Merriman Organizations: Germany's Deutsche Bank, REUTERS, Deutsche Bank, Lloyds Banking Group, Lloyds, JPMorgan, Monetary Fund, European Central Bank, Union, Thomson Locations: Frankfurt, Germany, MILAN, MADRID, Europe, Spain, Santander, Brazil

☆ Digital banking in Italy's industrial heartland at over 75%, Bank of Italy says
▼ + stars: | 2023-06-28 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Digital banking in Lombardy has grown 20 percentage points since 2015, the central bank said in a report on the region's economy, which grew 3.8% in 2022, slightly above the national average. The number of bank branches in Lombardy fell 4% in 2022, bringing the total decline since 2008 to 39%, compared with 41% for the European Union, the Bank of Italy said. Even with the reduction, Lombardy has 41 bank branches per 100,000 residents, against a national average of 36, it added. To cut costs and upgrade its IT infrastructure, Italy's biggest bank Intesa Sanpaolo (ISP.MI) this month launched its digital-only bank Isybank. Citing Eurostat data, the Bank of Italy said 67% of Lombardy's population in 2022 accessed banking services online.

Persons: Andrea Orcel, Valentina Za, Richard Chang Organizations: MILAN, Bank of, Digital, Banco, European Union, Eurostat, Thomson Locations: Lombardy, Italy's, Bank of Italy

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