MILAN, Oct 26 (Reuters) - Italy's No.2 bank UniCredit (CRDI.MI) on Wednesday raised its 2022 profit goal above 4.8 billion euros ($4.8 billion), helped by higher interest rates and lower loan loss provisions that also drove quarterly earnings above forecasts.
UniCredit posted a profit for July-September of 1.71 billion euros, well above analysts' consensus forecast of 1.00 billion euros provided by the bank.
UniCredit had already improved its 2022 guidance in July, indicating a net profit target of around 4 billion euros.
Quarterly earnings were also boosted by much higher than expected trading income, which UniCredit said had been helped by companies' demand for hedging products.
The erosion reflects a second share buyback UniCredit is carrying out as it hits a goal of returning 3.75 billion euros of last year's earnings to shareholders.