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☆ UniCredit to assess CEO pay rise ahead of general meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

"The board examined Orcel's pay package in light of the important performance reached in 2021 under his leadership," the report said. "Orcel separately indicated ... he prefers to keep his fixed pay unchanged and have his variable pay closely linked to performance goals," it added. "The board agrees ... and will reassess Orcel's pay ahead of the 2023 general shareholder meeting in light of results and progress made in 2021 and 2022," it concluded. Annual pay of up to 7.5 million euros makes Orcel one of Europe's best paid bank executives, analysts say. The Financial Times first reported UniCredit sought a pay hike for Orcel citing people familiar with the matter.

☆ UniCredit to reassess CEO pay ahead of general meeting
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-03 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

MILAN, Dec 3 (Reuters) - UniCredit (CRDI.MI) will reassess the remuneration of CEO Andrea Orcel ahead of its 2023 general meeting to see if the results achieved by Italy's second-biggest bank in 2021-2022 warrant an increase, a document on its website showed. "The board examined Orcel's pay package in light of the important performance reached in 2021 under his leadership," the report said. "Orcel separately indicated ... he prefers to keep his fixed pay unchanged and have his variable pay closely linked to performance goals," it added. "The board agrees ... and will reassess Orcel's pay ahead of the 2023 general shareholder meeting in light of results and progress made in 2021 and 2022," it concluded. The Financial Times first reported UniCredit sought a pay hike for Orcel citing people familiar with the matter.

☆ UniCredit seeks pay hike for CEO Andrea Orcel -FT
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: 1 min

Dec 2 (Reuters) - UniCredit (CRDI.MI) is seeking to boost the pay of Chief Executive Andrea Orcel after he told colleagues he wants a bigger reward for turning around the Italian bank, the Financial Times reported on Friday, citing people familiar with the matter. Reporting by Akriti Sharma in Bengaluru Editing by Chris ReeseOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Explainer: ECB to start offloading debt to fight inflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-12-02 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

FRANKFURT, Dec 2 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank is all but certain to start offloading some of its 5 trillion euro ($5.3 trillion) bond stash next year as it ramps up efforts to bring down record-high inflation in the euro zone. The ECB will lay out the "key principles" of the QT programme on Dec 15, with kick-off expected in the first few months of 2023. Through quantitative tightening, the ECB will mop up the liquidity created by QE by shedding its bond holdings. The ECB bought 3.3 trillion euros worth of assets under APP, most of which are government bonds. The ECB also has a separate Pandemic Emergency Purchase Programme, worth 1.7 trillion euros.

☆ Unicredit: 2023 to be dominated by disinflation
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-28 | 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: 2023 to be dominated by disinflationMarco Valli, chief European economist at Unicredit, discusses the lender's outlook for 2023, making his case for why the year is likely to be more about disinflation in Europe and the U.S. than strong recessions.

SummarySummary Companies Coal miners struggling to fund expansion plansThermal coal costs more than coking coal after price surgeMost Western bankers pulling back from coal industryLONDON, Nov 24 (Reuters) - It's the best of times, it's the worst of times. At least when it comes to mining coal. With funding hard to come by from Western banks, coal miners outside China have turned more to equity markets this year. "With regard to thermal coal mining, any transaction in coal mining requires an enhanced environmental risk review," a Deutsche spokesperson said, adding that the bank was updating its coal policy. Bens Creek listed shares partly because of the lack of appetite from banks to support any expansion of coal mining, chief executive Wilson said.

[1/2] The logo of Deutsche Bank is pictured on an office of the company in London, Britain July 8, 2019. REUTERS/Simon DawsonSummarySummary Companies Wuermeling says banks should not tie their handsSees German banks maintaining capital ratiosFRANKFURT, Nov 23 (Reuters) - German banks should avoid making multi-year promises to their shareholders despite bumper profits this year as the outlook for the economy is worsening, Bundesbank board member Joachim Wuermeling told Reuters. "If you are bound by such promises, even though the environment has changed radically, you get into a very difficult dilemma." Wuermeling said German banks had only modestly raised their payout ratios in their own plans and most should manage to preserve their capital ratios even after taking into account large dividend increases in absolute terms. ($1 = 0.9740 euros)Reporting by Francesco Canepa and Frank Siebelt Editing by Tomasz JanowskiOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ European shares hold near 3-month highs as business activity slowdown eases
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Sruthi Shankar | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The Europe-wide STOXX 600 index (.STOXX) inched up 0.1% to its strongest level since Aug. 19. S&P Global's flash Composite Purchasing Managers' Index (PMI) for the euro zone, seen as a good gauge of overall economic health, nudged up to 47.8 in November from the previous month. Traders have currently priced in a 77% chance that the U.S. central bank will hike rates by 50 basis points in December. The European Central Bank will release its own meeting minutes on Thursday. ECB Vice-President Luis de Guindos said the central bank will keep raising interest rates until it brings inflation down to around its 2% mid-term goal.

☆ ION discussing earn-out price clause with DK in Prelios deal-sources
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-23 | by ( Valentina Za | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

The two sources close to the matter said ION and DK were discussing a so-called earn out clause, which would see ION pay part of the price at closing and the rest once the business hits certain financial targets. ION and DK declined to comment. Sources had told Reuters earlier this month ION was in discussions with DK over a potential acquisition of Prelios, on which the New York-based fund has put a 1.4 billion euro ($1.44 billion) price tag. Shortly before that, ION had snatched for 1.5 billion euros Italian banking software firm Cedacri. U.S. fund DK first invested in Prelios in 2017, buying other investors to take it private.

☆ UniCredit to give staff in Germany 2,500 euro tax-free bonus-memo
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-18 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 18 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest lender UniCredit (CRDI.MI) will give its staff in Germany a bonus of 2,500 euros ($2,594) to compensate for rising inflation, a copy of an internal memo seen by Reuters and confirmed by a spokesperson showed. Trainees will receive a bonus of up to 1,250 euros, depending on the time they worked for the bank, the memo showed. The bonuses are exempt from tax as well as social security charges and will be paid out in December, it added. Under a third package of inflation relief measures costing in aggregate more than 65 billion euros, Germany announced in September that employers can pay out tax-free bonuses to staff of up to 3,000 euros each until the end of 2024. UniCredit had roughly 14,000 employees in Germany as of end-September, its website showed, making it its second biggest market after Italy where it employs nearly 35,000 people.

☆ Euro zone predicted to have a deep recession and a difficult, slow recovery
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-16 | by ( Silvia Amaro | ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +4 min

The euro zone economy is heading towards a recession, according to several economists. Daniel Roland | Afp | Getty ImagesThe euro zone is expected to plunge into recession in the coming months with economists warning "it will not be shallow." The 19-member zone that shares the euro currency has been under significant pressure since Russia's unprovoked invasion of Ukraine in February. Speaking earlier this month, ECB President Christine Lagarde highlighted that "the risk of recession has increased." Gas storageEven if the euro zone emerges out of recession in the first quarter of next year, economists say the subsequent months will still be hard.

☆ Sterling edges up against weakening dollar after UK GDP data
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-11 | by ( Stefano Rebaudo | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +2 min

Nov 11 (Reuters) - Sterling edged higher against a weakening dollar on Friday after British economic data came in stronger than expected. "UK GDP monthly and quarterly data early this morning are helping GBP-USD hold the line at around 1.17," Unicredit analysts said. Investors poured into risky assets after Thursday’s U.S. inflation data, sending the dollar tumbling and U.S. Treasury yields to a five-week low. Sunak suggested a squeeze on public spending and potentially higher taxes in a move that could further weaken the economy. Investors are also waiting for jobs data due next week, which might provide further cues about potential inflation second-round effects.

☆ ECB's Enria calls time on era of big bank buybacks
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-10 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

FRANKFURT, Nov 10 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank's top supervisor Andrea Enria appeared to call time on a season of large share buybacks by banks on Thursday as the economy weakens. Banks including UniCredit (CRDI.MI) and Societe Generale (SOGN.PA) have been reporting bumper profits and announcing dividends and share buybacks, boosted by a sharp increase in interest rates and a trading boom after more than a decade of mostly meagre returns. "Banks have been able to distribute big, until recently we had quite a number of hefty share buybacks," Andrea Enria told an event at the Dutch central bank. Reuters reported on Wednesday supervisors were urging banks to preserve capital in the face of a souring economic outlook after finding they were making overly optimistic assumptions about the economic outlook. This year, the ECB has given the green light to all buybacks that were put up for approval, including from UniCredit, Societe Generale and ING (INGA.AS).

☆ Russia to give central bank more time to complete Otkritie sale
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-09 | by ( Andreas Rinke | Christina Amann | ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MOSCOW, Nov 9 (Reuters) - Russia's government has submitted a draft law to parliament that would extend the central bank's right to sell bailed-out lender Otkritie to Russia's no. 2 bank VTB (VTBR.MM) without a tender for another year. The central bank and Otkritie did not immediately respond to a request to comment. The central bank bailed out Otkritie, once Russia's largest private lender, in 2017 as part of a years-long campaign to clean up Russia's banking sector. Following the bail-out and an asset review, the central bank had been looking to offload Otkritie, with Italy's UniCredit rumoured as a suitor for the bank.

The European Central Bank (ECB), which supervises euro zone banks, believes some lenders have overly optimistic assumptions about the economy, based on models that cannot fully capture the damage from the current bout of inflation, the sources say. Source: S&P Global-EBAMorgan Stanley estimates euro zone banks will pay out 40 billion euros ($40 billion) in 2022 dividends plus an additional 60 billion euros in share buybacks between this year and next - an outsized return by recent standards. "It's not a good idea to pay out capital during a recession," Intesa's Chief Executive Carlo Messina told analysts last week. "With the economy entering recession, the time of massive bank payouts is over," Marco Troiano, a managing director at Scope Ratings, said. "Running down capital cushions would weaken banks."

REUTERS/Antonio ParrinelloROME, Nov 8 (Reuters) - Italy's efforts to secure financing to keep an Italian oil refinery owned by Lukoil up and running despite new sanctions on Russia kicking in next month have hit obstacles, three people close to the matter said. Lukoil is not under sanctions, but ISAB suppliers and lenders had been wary of dealings with a Russian entity following the Ukraine conflict. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which directly employs some 1,000 workers. Lukoil could provide temporary funding for ISAB, based on the minutes of a ministerial meeting held on Oct. 17 to discuss ISAB financing. Rome is also considering buying a minority stake in the refinery to protect Italian interests, one of the sources said.

Inflation expectations are de-anchoring from central bank targets, UniCredit CEE Chief Economist Dan Bucsa said. The situation is less clear in Poland though credit holidays to ease the burden of higher central bank interest rates are remaining heading into 2023. In western Europe, economists and financial markets largely expect price growth in the euro area to fall back to the European Central Bank's 2% target by 2024. "The upcoming general election is likely to stimulate fiscal expansion and, notably, the planned significant increase to the minimum wage from January may indeed spark a more substantial wage growth across the board." According to a Czech central bank survey, companies expect year-on-year inflation to be at 10.3% in one year and at 7.5% in three years, well above the central bank's 2% target.

☆ Shares in UniCredit hit by report of friction with ECB
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

MILAN, Nov 7 (Reuters) - Shares in UniCredit (CRDI.MI) fell on Monday after a report of tensions between Italy's only bank that regulators deem of global systemic relevance and European Central Bank supervisors. Shares in UniCredit fell 3.3% by 0835 GMT against a flattish sector (.FTITLMS3010), with a Milan-based trader saying the report by the Financial Times had triggered profit taking on the stock. Citing people familiar with the matter, the FT said UniCredit had clashed with the ECB over the bank's capital distribution plans and its failure to leave Russia. A spokesperson for UniCredit referred to comments the bank had made to the FT saying the ECB had provided ongoing "challenge and guidance" during the strategic overhaul by Chief Executive Andrea Orcel and that the regulator's "public support" was indicative of its trust in the bank. Reporting by Giancarlo Navach and Valentina Za Editing by Keith WeirOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ Morning Bid: Polls and prices
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-07 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +4 min

A look at the day ahead in U.S. and global markets from Mike Dolan. Chinese stocks continued last week's tentative recovery, however, despite officials throwing cold water on any early end to draconian COVID lockdown policies. Some correction of the market's severe underperformance this year was about the only cogent reason given for the ongoing stock bounce. European Central Bank President Christine Lagarde and ECB board member Fabio Panetta both speak. They do not reflect the views of Reuters News, which, under the Trust Principles, is committed to integrity, independence, and freedom from bias.

☆ ECB, UniCredit clash over capital plans, Russia presence, FT says
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-06 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +1 min

Nov 6 (Reuters) - The European Central Bank (ECB) has clashed with UniCredit (CRDI.MI) over the Italian lender's plans to return cash to shareholders and its failure to leave Russia, the Financial Times reported on Sunday. The report further said that, there is also tension over UniCredit's failure to cut ties with Russia, as the ECB views the bank's Russian presence as an unwelcome source of risk and has been pushing it to exit the country. UniCredit last month said it expected a 400 million euro contribution from the ECB's longer-term funds this year under the central bank's new terms, while it no longer saw any potential benefits next year. The ECB and UniCredit did not immediately respond to Reuters' request for comment. ($1 = 1.0094 euros)Reporting by Jaiveer Singh Shekhawat in Bengaluru; Editing by Paul SimaoOur Standards: The Thomson Reuters Trust Principles.

☆ SocGen profit tops forecast but France lags
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-04 | by ( ) www.cnbc.com time to read: +2 min

This photo, taken on October 28, 2019, shows the logo of the Societe Generale bank, in Ouistreham, Normandy, France. Societe Generale , France's third-biggest listed bank, joined European rivals in posting a higher than expected net income in the third quarter as market volatility boosted trading revenues. SocGen, which has appointed the head of its investment banking division as its new CEO from May 2023, said net income had come in at 1.5 billion euros ($1.46 billion)- well above a Refinitiv consensus forecast of 1 billion euros. The beat was driven by a 12% increase in Global Markets revenues, led by thriving trading in fixed income and currencies. The bank, which has seen a series of high-profile departures in recent weeks, said on Thursday it had appointed a new chief of risk.

☆ BNP Paribas profit tops forecast despite higher costs, debt markdown
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +3 min

PARIS, Nov 3 (Reuters) - BNP Paribas (BNPP.PA), the euro zone's biggest lender, posted a higher than expected net profit in the third quarter, with trading revenues helping offset rising costs and markdowns on some leverage financing deals. Net income in the three months to end September rose by 10.3% from a year earlier to 2.76 billion euros ($2.73 billion), compared with an average of 2.36 billion euros expected in a Refinitiv poll of analysts. Revenues were up 8% at 12.3 billion euros. Rising interest rates and market turbulence have forced big lenders to hold debt on their books for longer than they would have liked, and incur losses on some financing packages. However French lenders traditionally take longer than their continental peers to reap the benefits of rising interest rates.

☆ Factbox: Companies count the cost of ditching Russia
▼ + stars: | 2022-11-03 | by ( ) www.reuters.com time to read: +6 min

INDITEX (ITX.MC)Zara owner will book a provision of 216 million euros after agreeing to sell its Russia stores to UAE-based Daher Group. TRATON (8TRA.DE)Volkswagen's (VOWG_p.DE) truck division Traton in September said disposing of some assets in Russia would cause a 550 million euro loss. CREDIT AGRICOLE (CAGR.PA)Credit Agricole provisioned more than 500 million euros related to its Russian exposure in Q1. LINDEThe world's largest industrial gases company's exit from Russia recorded impairments of $993 million from its Russia exit. SIEMENS (SIEGn.DE)The Munich-based engineering and tech firm said in May it would take a 600 million euro hit in Q2 for exiting Russia.

Gross domestic product grew by 0.5% in the third quarter from the second and 2.6% year on year, national statistics bureau ISTAT said. Both preliminary readings were around half a percentage point higher than expected in Reuters survey of analysts, while the Treasury had said last month it expected a third quarter contraction. The government plans to raise next year's budget deficit to 4.5% of GDP, up from the 3.4% projected last month under current trends, a senior official said. Italian inflation hit 12.8% in October, the highest level since the country's EU-harmonised index was launched in 1996. Full year growth this year will come in at 3.7%, Federico forecast, above Rome's official 3.3% target.

Lukoil's ISAB refinery in Sicily stands to be hit by an embargo on seaborne Russian oil that comes into force on Dec. 5, putting at risk jobs in Italy's poorer south and the country's refining capacity. Although Lukoil is not affected by the sanctions, the ISAB plant has been forced to rely solely on Russian oil after creditor banks halted financing and stopped providing guarantees the refinery needs to buy oil from alternative suppliers. The sources said the government was trying to find ways to ensure the plant can receive financing from lenders and remain operational. The goal is to allow ISAB to buy elsewhere the oil it needs, two of the sources said. A sale to non-Russian buyers would avert the closure of the ISAB plant, which accounts for around 20% of Italian refining capacity and directly employs some 1,000 workers.

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