The investment in Generali remains “financial, we are observing why the environment is moving and, therefore, as a function of that we will make our decisions”, said the CEO of Unicredit in an interview with Class Cnbc on the day of the presentation of the best semester in the bank's history, closed with a net profit of 6,1 billion euros. This result allowed Piazza Gae Aulenti to raise its 2026 profit guidance, which is estimated to be well above 11 billion euros, approximately 11,5 billion excluding integration costs.
The manager reiterated that "for now, as we've said more than once, we're observers" of the second phase of the banking game triggered in Italy by Intesa Sanpaolo's takeover bid for MPS. But rather than a conclusion, Orcel's words sound more like "let's wait and see what happens." In Italy, he added in the call, "we find ourselves in a scenario where, in four or five years, we could organically gain half the market share we would get by acquiring one of these medium-sized banks, and at zero cost."
Speaking of the Monte dei Paschi the manager has however The existence of negotiations with Delfin was flatly denied, the holding company of the Del Vecchio family, regarding the share that the Luxembourg-based financial company holds in the capital of Rocca Salimbeni (equal to 17,53%).
Orcel on Commerz: "Possible merger within two or three years."
“We are convinced that it will take two or three years to keep the banks separate before taking any action and, to be clear, even if we had a larger share, we would not proceed with the merger before“, said the CEO of Unicredit speaking about Commerzbank during the conference call on the half-year results with analysts.
“We are now in a period that I could define as a stalemate, between the closing of the offer and the potential obtaining permits, which could take 4 to 5 months or even more. During this period, it makes perfect sense to align ourselves with other stakeholders, both the German government and the works council,” the manager explained.
"We truly believe," Orcel added, "that this merger must be done right, and the difference between a successful merger and a failed one lies precisely in how it is executed. We believe that having two banks aligned in principles, values, culture, model, and technology will make the merger much smoother and much more effective."
Commerz: Unicredit open to dialogue with the government and concessions to top management
From operational aspects to politics. With the German Government “we would like to find a coherent way forward” and “we would be happy to keep them as shareholders” within Commerz's capital, Orcel said in a call with financial analysts, speaking about future talks with Berlin: “What we are looking for a direct dialogue where it is possible to clarify many of the misunderstandings and, in our opinion, misleading information."
From this point of view, he assured, "we will be able to demonstrate that we agree on many more points than we disagree on," the CEO of UniCredit stated after the Berlin government said last week that it did not intend to hinder the operation.
Speaking instead about the management of the second German bank, in the interview given this morning to Class Cnbc, Orcel said: “The good news, regarding Commerzbank's refusal to cooperate, – he stated – is that we have not made any concessionsWe have come to have control, potentially, without having to make any concessions, as is usually done in a transaction. So now we're pretty open.”.
Orcel also believes that it's "probably the right time" for the unions and the German government to initiate a dialogue on Commerz's future. "My interpretation," he explains, "is that everyone let the offer go forward to see what the shareholders' final position would be. And now they're taking stock." Ultimately, according to the CEO, this is "the right time, between now and the authorization, to engage in dialogue," and "when we talk face-to-face, people will realize we agree on much more than they think."
