UniCredit Group consolidated results for the first nine month of 2009: net profit of EUR 1,331 million

 

 

The Board of Directors of UniCredit approved the consolidated results for the first nine months of 2009 which show a net profit of €1,331 million (mn), €394 mn of which recorded in the third quarter. The quarterly performance confirms the Group’s ability to generate both profit and capital, but also includes trading income which is less than the exceptional levels recorded in second quarter 2009 and reflects the negative effects on the deposit margin of very low interest rates. Third quarter 2009 also shows a slowdown in the growth of impaired loans and a further improvement in the balance sheet structure, placing the Group in an excellent position to benefit from improvements in the global macroeconomic conditions.

The performance of the third versus the second quarter of the year shows several interesting developments including the increase in net commissions, the solid hold of net trading, hedging and fair value income and a further drop in operating costs. There is, on the other hand, a drop QoQ in net interest income.

Operating profit in the first nine months of 2009 reaches €9,608 mn, €2,900 mn of which recorded in the third quarter (which is above the first quarter but below the excellent second quarter).

Operating income reaches €21,129 mn in the first nine months of 2009, an increase of 7.0% YoY  on a like-for-like foreign exchange and perimeter basis, and €6,731 mn in third quarter 2009, an increase of 5.9% YoY on a like-for-like foreign exchange and perimeter basis but down - also linked to seasonal effects and non-recurring items - with respect to the exceptional result recorded in the second quarter.

In the first nine months of 2009, the Group’s portion of net profit totals €1,331 mn compared to €3,507 mn in the same period of the prior year which benefited, above all in the first two quarters, to a markedly more favorable macroeconomic scenario. The third quarter shows a much more contained drop as net profit falls from the €490 mn recorded in second quarter 2009 and the €447 mn recorded in first quarter 2009 to €394 mn.

Total assets amount to €958 bn at September 2009 (€983 bn at June 2009) with a further decline of 2.5% QoQ which brings the drop from the beginning of 2009 to 8.4% (-€88 bn). Please note that the reduction in the balance sheet items was achieved by paying special  attention to certain areas. From the beginning of the year the trading assets have been reduced by €59 bn, reaching €146 bn at the end of September (with a decline of 7.4% QoQ in third quarter 2009) and €58 bn net derivatives. Net interbank funding falls by 72.3% from the beginning of the year to €27 bn (a drop of €70 bn, €23 bn of which in the third quarter). Due to the decline in total assets and the increase in net equity, the Group’s leverage ratio[3] in third quarter 2009 shows further improvement reaching 25.4 (23.0 pro-forma the capital increase announced on September 29^th, 2009).

At the end of September 2009 the Group’s organization consists of a staff[4] of 166,421, a further reduction of 1,586 over June 2009 and of 8,098 over December 2008. The reduction in the first nine months of 2009 involves all the business areas.

The Group’s network at the end of September 2009 consists of 9,892 branches (9,974 at June 2009 and 10,251 at December 2008).

 

AS "UniCredit Bank" in the Baltic countries has operated successfully in the first nine months of 2009. The Bank's financial data show the profit after taxes € 1.9 million in the respective period. The Bank achieved a strong growth in the deposit portfolio by 92% to € 388 million, total assets remained almost constant, the loan portfolio increased by 2% to € 917 million.

AS “UniCredit Bank” operates in Corporate Banking with a head office in Latvia (Riga), two branches in Lithuania (Vilnius) and Estonia (Tallinn) and two corporate sales offices in Lithuania (Kaunas, Klaipeda).

 

 

Investor Relations:

Tel. +39-02-88628715; e-mail: investorrelations@unicreditgroup.eu

Media Relations:

Tel. +39-02-88628236; e-mail: mediarelations@unicreditgroup.eu

 

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