by Paolo Algisi
Unicredit closes the quarter with a
profit of €2.7 billion, up 16 percent on 2023 and higher than
the €2.3 billion expected by analysts, while archiving the first
six months of 2024 with €5.2 billion in profits, 20 percent
higher than last year, and generating €6.7 billion in capital,
evenly split between the two quarters. "Record" results,
stresses CEO, Andrea Orcel, who revises 2024 guidance on
revenues, up from 22.5 billion to over 23 billion, and that on
capital generation, expected to be above 350 basis points, while
for now not touching the target of profits above 8.5
billion."Our underlying performance significantly exceeds" this
target but for now, Orcel explained, 'we have decided not to
update' the guidance to maintain some 'flexibility' and protect
"our future performance." Unicredit will decide between the
third and fourth quarters whether to raise targets or put some
hay on the table. "The size" of profit 'could depend on
integration charges' booked in the second half, Morgan Stanley
points out. On the shareholder remuneration front, the
distribution of 10 billion during 2024, including 3.1 billion on
account of 2024 results between buybacks (1.7 billion) and
coupons (1.4 billion), as well as the distribution policy from
2024 results, with at least 90% of profits returning to
shareholders. On this front, the target of 8.6 billion was 60
percent achieved with the provision of all 5.2 billion in
profits for the six-month period.The accounts were accompanied
by the announcement of the €370 million purchase of Aion Bank, a
Belgian digital bank with branches in Poland, Germany, and
Sweden, and Vodeno, a Polish fintech that owns a cloud platform
that enables financial and non-financial companies-from banks to
retailers, marketplaces, e-commerce, and fintechs-to offer their
customers a full range of banking services even without owning a
license.Orcel intends to "further enhance" Vodeno's "proprietary
technology," "using it as a sandbox (a circumscribed
environment, ed.) to develop, test and innovate for the benefit
of our entire group," including through its own team of 200
"talented" engineers, while Aion Bank, which has implemented
Vodeno's technology, "gives us the ability to enter specific
customer segments and entire markets across Europe, offering
additional opportunities to efficiently deploy our excess
capital" due to the expectation of a "return of more than 15
percent."Among the markets to look at Orcel points to Poland,
left "reluctantly" with the sale of Pekao and where Vodeno is
based and has operated "successfully."
On the large acquisition front, Unicredit remains
"constructive but disciplined" even though at the moment there
are "no conditions" to sink the punch due to inflated stock
market valuations that make buybacks more convenient. In Russia,
where it has set aside 200 million euros after the seizure of
463 million assets, Orcel confirms that it is committed to
"phasing out" its activities, without giving Moscow the
opportunity to seize them."We want to have clarity on what we
can do within the rules," he says, commenting on the appeal to
the EU court on the compatibility of the ECB impositions with
the current legal framework.Whatever the court's decision,
Unicredit will consider it a "win-win" by finally having
certainty on how to act.On the stock market, the stock closed up
0.21 percent at 39.10 euros.
ALL RIGHTS RESERVED © Copyright ANSA
