MILAN (ITALPRESS) – UniCredit sends the second quarter of 2026 with record numbers and raises estimates for the entire exercise. The bank led by Andrea Orcel closed the first half with a net profit of 6,3 billion euros (up 3% compared to the same period of the previous year and 24% adjusted), after having recorded in the second trimester only a profit of 2.9 billion (that rises to 3,1 billion net of extraordinary components linked to the position in Commerzbank).
The RoTE is at a high level of 23.7%. Net revenues in the quarter amounted to 6,5 billion euros (+7% year on year or +11% adjusted), supported by the excellent performance of commissions and insurance management (+14% a/a), as well as by the acceleration of interest margin (+2% on quarterly basis) supported by an increase of 8% of loans and deposits.
Within the operating scenario, the institute continues the path of strong efficiency of the use of IA and new technologies: the costs fall 1% year by year, bringing the cost/return ratio to the record level of 34% in the semester. The cost of risk remains low at 17 base points, while the balance is high with a CET1 ratio at 14.3% (15.0% pro-forma with Danish Compromise).
The group places the asticella even higher for the coming years: the ambition on net profit for the entire 2026 is in fact reviewed to “well beyond the 11 billion euros” (about 11.5 billion excluding integration costs).
Looking longer, estimates rise to more than 13 billion for 2028 and to more than 15 billion by 2030, even before the complete consolidation of the German institution. Positive news also arrive on the front of the remuneration of the members. The generation of capital has allowed to dispose of distributions to shareholders for 4.7 billion in the semester (of which 2.3 billion in the second quarter alone).
With regard to the management of dividends, the cash deposit to be charged on profits of 2026 was fixed to approximately 2.8 billion euros, equal to approximately half of the total amount previewed for the year.
On the Commerzbank dossier, from the headquarters of Piazza Gae Aulenti emphasize how the share is evolving from a “financial investment inheritance” to a “strategic transaction of significant creation of industrial value”, with the expectation of employing the capital to a total yield (RoAC) of 15%.
“UniCredit has once again achieved an exceptional series of results, which led us to our best operational performance ever and a first half record.” Andrea Orcel, CEO of UniCredit S.p.A., said this. “Unlimited is leading to a step-by-step change: we are accelerating the profitable growth of revenues, with clear results of market share increases of quality and a strong commercial momentum, while we continue to reset the frontier of efficiency. The net profit reached €6,1 billion in the first half, up 24% compared to the previous year if adjusted, and an excellent RoTE equal to 24%. These results, along with our robust defence lines, have allowed us to improve our guidance for the net profit of FY26 to well beyond €11 billion, or to approximately €11.5 billion excluding integration costs.”.
“This performance – continues Orcel – reflects the disciplined performance of our strategy in all markets where we operate. We are growing the business while making it leaner, faster and more efficient, investing in our people, technology and IA to strengthen our competitive advantage and offer better experience to our customers. I am particularly proud, in all the countries in which we operate, of our people, who demonstrate our winning strategy and our common culture. The progress achieved through our transformation, together with our diversification and our defence lines, puts us in the condition of exploiting attractive organic growth opportunities while maintaining discipline in pursuing inorganic options that increase value while remaining well equipped to perform in a wide spectrum of contexts.”.
-Photo IPA Agency-
(ITALPRESS).
