UPDATE 1-UniCredit hikes profit outlook after stakes in rivals, tax credits help 2025 income
Oggi 07:52 - RSF
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By Valentina Za
MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest bank UniCredit said it aimed to lift its profit to 11 billion euros ($13 billion) this year, after topping analysts' forecasts for 2025 with earnings boosted by stakes in rivals bought under CEO Andrea Orcel's expansion strategy.
UniCredit, which had previously guided for a net profit of 10 billion euros in 2027, said on Monday it had an ambition to get to 13 billion euros in 2028 with "exceptional" average growth of 7% a year in 2026 to 2028.
UniCredit has spent billions of euros from its large excess cash reserves to become the main shareholder in Germany's Commerzbank and Greece's Alpha Bank , though it has stopped short of full takeovers.
Under the leadership of Orcel, a veteran dealmaker, UniCredit has also invested, sometimes temporarily, in other financial institutions in what Mediobanca Securities analysts have dubbed a "game of stakes".
The bank, which also has large operations in Germany, Austria and eastern Europe, posted a net profit of 2.17 billion euros for the fourth quarter, benefiting from 336 million euros of tax credits from past losses to surpass a bank-gathered average analyst forecast of 1.96 billion euros.