Italy's UniCredit Lifts Shareholder Returns as Profit Grows — Update

By Elena Vardon

UniCredit pledged to raise shareholder payouts in the years ahead as it bets on growing market share, investments and rising profit.

The Italian bank on Monday said it is starting 2026 with strong momentum and sizeable buffers as it kicked off a new three-year strategy under which it plans to expand its market share while improving operational efficiency by investing into technology and artificial intelligence.

The group aims to make more than 25 billion euros ($29.54 billion) in net revenue this year, up from 23.9 billion euros last year, and guided for top-line growth of 5% a year to reach around 27.5 billion euros in 2028.

This is set to lift its net profit to around 11 billion euros this year and to about 13 billion euros in 2028, it said. This compares with 10.6 billion euros in 2025.

Its cost base should shrink 1% a year, it added.

UniCredit also targets a return on tangible equity--a key profitability measure--of more than 20% for 2026 and above 23% for 2028 after reporting 19.2% for 2025.

"Our ambition is consistently delivering outperformance in profitable, capital generative growth and distributions, and we are confident that we can sustain this trajectory in the coming five years," Chief Executive Andrea Orcel said.

The bank said it would distribute 30 billion euros to shareholders in the next three years and 50 billion euros in the next five years. This target excludes extra returns, which it will evaluate on an annual basis depending on excess capital, it said.

Distributions for 2025 stood at 9.5 billion euros, split evenly between cash dividends and buybacks.

Shares rose 5.4% to 77.91 euros in morning trade as investors welcomed the guidance.

The outlook accompanied results for its fourth quarter, which analysts described as messy and weak due to one-off items.

Net profit was 1.8 billion euros, up 17% on year due to tax credits and the contribution of the strategic stakes it has built up in German peer Commerzbank and Greece's Alpha Bank. This made up for frontloaded integration costs and a one-off hedging charge that pushed trading income into the red.

Total revenue slipped 5.3% to 5.7 billion euros, weighed down by softer net interest income--the difference between what lenders earn from loans and pay for deposits--as lower rates squeezed margins. Higher income from investment and insurance fees cushioned the blow.

"These results were messy, but this was expected," KBW analysts said in a note.

Write to Elena Vardon at elena.vardon@wsj.com

(END) Dow Jones Newswires

February 09, 2026 04:52 ET (09:52 GMT)