MILAN, Jan 28 (Reuters) – UniCredit reported better-than-expected full-year results on Friday, although one-off effects from chief executive Andrea Orcel’s new strategy led to a fourth-quarter loss .
The second Italian bank has also confirmed the abandonment of its proposed bid for the Russian bank Otkritie Bank due to geopolitical tensions between Moscow and Ukraine.
Earlier this month, news reports of Unicredit’s interest in Otkritie Bank caused the Italian bank’s stock price to fall.
In Milan, the action Unicredit gained Friday 0.3% in the morning.
Unicredit reported revenue for 2021 of 18 billion euros, higher than its forecast of more than 16 billion euros. Its underlying profit amounted to 3.9 billion euros, against a forecast of more than 3.7 billion.
Restructuring costs and other charges related to the disposal of assets deemed non-strategic, as part of the 2022-2024 plan that Andrea Orcel unveiled in early December, however resulted in a loss of 1.44 billion euros for the term from October to December.
According to a consensus provided by the company, analysts on average expected a loss of 1.15 billion euros for the period.
Unicredit has confirmed that it will distribute 3.75 billion euros to shareholders from 2021 results, comprising a cash dividend of 1.17 billion euros and a share buyback of 2.58 billion euros.
In addition, the Italian bank announced on Friday that it had agreed to renew its insurance partnership agreements with Allianz in Germany, Italy and the countries of Central and Eastern Europe.
As part of this agreement, UniCredit will be able to distribute its products through the intermediary of the German insurer. (Report Valentina Za; French version Elena Vardon, edited by Blandine Hénault)