Rights approval at Unicredit
SHAREHOLDERS in UniCredit, Italy’s biggest bank, yesterday approved a rights issue of up to €4bn (£3.56bn) aimed at shoring up lagging capital ratios.
The clearance by shareholders was widely expected. The capital increase is expected to be completed by the end of the first quarter of 2010, the bank said.
UniCredit , Europe’s fourth-biggest bank by market value, in the third quarter slightly beat its goal to boost its Core Tier 1 ratio, a standard of capital held against risky assets.
The bank had been at the low end among big European banks but reached 7.55 per cent for Core Tier 1 at the end of September.
The figure could reach 8.39 per cent with the completion of the rights issue, UniCredit’s second capital increase this year, the bank has said.
During the shareholder meeting yesterday, UniCredit chief executive Alessandro Profumo said the bank did not plan any new job cuts.
In other comments at the meeting, he said the bank had asked antitrust authorities for a six-month delay in selling its 3.2 per cent stake in Assicurazioni Generali.
“The authority believes our request is acceptable,” he said.
Sources close to the antitrust authorities confirmed the request for a six-month delay to 30 June had been accepted, noting the bank will continue not to exercise its voting rights relating to the stake.
UniCredit shares closed up 1.8 per cent at €2.57.
Last week Unicredit said net profit for the quarter to September dropped 20 per cent on the quarter to €94m. It said revenue fell from an exceptional second quarter, offsetting the effects of its cost and job cutting.