UniCredit SpA, Italy’s second-largest banking group, improved its earnings and profit estimates in 2021, after reporting quarterly results on Thursday above expectations, following lower loan losses and higher revenues, Reuters quoted Agerpres as saying.
In the third quarter of 2021, net profit rose to 1.06 billion euros ($ 1.23 billion), while analysts expected 838 million euros.
Revenues also rose by 19% to 4.44 billion euros between July and September 2021, while net interest income rose by 3.1% amid rising transactions, especially in Europe. East.
In 2021, UniCredit now expects a net profit of over 3.7 billion euros, after previously estimating more than three billion euros.
Annual revenues are expected to reach 17.5 billion euros, after the bank forecast about 17.1 billion euros three months ago.
UniCredit also lowered its estimates of expected loan losses for this year.
On December 9, UniCredit will present the new strategic plan, the first under the leadership of current CEO Andrea Orcel. The new plan could include acquisitions and mergers as a way to accelerate UniCredit’s profit-making strategy, analysts say.
On Sunday, the Italian Ministry of Economy and UniCredit SpA announced the cessation of negotiations on the potential takeover of Monte dei Paschi di Siena SpA (MPS) by UniCredit.
“Despite the efforts of both sides, UniCredit and the Ministry of Economy announce that negotiations on the potential acquisition of Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena will not continue,” a joint statement said.
In July, UniCredit officially announced that it had started talks to take over Monte dei Paschi, the world’s oldest bank. After saving MPS from bankruptcy in 2017, in exchange for 5.4 billion euros, the Italian Treasury has promised to reduce its stake by 64% by mid-2022, at the latest.
The takeover of MPS would have been the first major mergers and acquisitions operation started by the new CEO of UniCredit, Andrea Orcel, who took over as CEO on April 15.
UniCredit Group is present in 17 countries, with over 8,500 branches and 147,000 employees. UniCredit is one of the largest banking groups in Central and Eastern Europe, where it generates approximately 16% of its revenues.
In Romania, the UniCredit Group is present through UniCredit Bank, UniCredit Consumer Financing, UniCredit Leasing Corporation, UniCredit Insurance Broker, UniCredit Leasing Fleet Management and UniCredit Services.
