The shareholders' meeting of Unicredit approved – substantially unanimously – the Board's proposal for a new treasury share purchase transaction equal to about 1 billion euros (to be exact 999.954.005,15 euros), which second tranche of the 2021 buyback program approved by the ECB at the end of August.
At the meeting, the first in attendance for almost three and a half years, 99,3361% of the share capital present voted in favor of the resolution, equal to 63,9928% of the total share capital. Against 0,3321% of the capital present (0,214% of the share capital), abstained 0,3315% (0,2136%).
The shareholders were asked to approve theincrease in the number of shares to be repurchased up to a maximum of 200 million shares (corresponding to approximately 10% of outstanding shares) as the amount of shares for which the shareholders' meeting of last April 8 authorized the purchase is not sufficient, given the evolution of the UniCredit share price due to the macroeconomic and geopolitical context.
The total distribution of 2021 between dividend and buyback rises to 3,75 billion
Execution of second tranche brings full 2021 distribution, (dividend plus share buyback) to 3,75 billion, maintaining the remuneration commitment towards the shareholders. The Total Buyback of 2021 rises to 2,6 billion.
In Piazza Affari, the unicredit share in the late morning was 10,884 euros, up by 2,64%.
“As a bank, we will not allow events beyond our control to distract us from our goal: to better support the European economy and all its citizens,” he said Pietro Carlo Padoan, president of Unicredit. “To this end we must focus on delivering on our strategic plan, UniCredit Unlocked, and on making our bank as strong as possible to support Europe in difficult current and future times.”
The first tranche of the Buy-Back program saw the purchase of 162.185.721 shares, for a total of €1.579.999.994,85. The purchased shares were canceled on July 19. Unicredit's CET1 ratio is 15,7% in the second quarter of 2022.
“This allowed us to confirm the remuneration of our shareholders and the completion of the buyback program of treasury shares, decided last April and now authorized by the Supervisory Authority”, continued Padoan.
In relation to the repurchase operation, the cancellation of the treasury shares purchased was also approved, which does not involve a reduction of the share capital as the UniCredit shares have no par value. The cancellation will take place through a reduction in the number of existing shares, with a consequent increase in the implicit book value. Article 5 of the Statute will be amended accordingly.
Analysts in general see the operation positively because it confirms the solidity of the bank. For Unicredit the most critical issue remains that of Russian front. In recent weeks, the list of assets that will be frozen by the Russian authority was announced. Unicredit has already significantly reduced its exposure and has repeatedly stated that it does not want to sell off its assets. The exposure is direct with Unicredit Bank Russia and indirect through the German subsidiary HVB. According to some rumors, the institute is studying a non-definitive sale of the subsidiary, through an operation that leaves open the possibility of a repurchase once the conflict in Ukraine has been resolved.
