The guidance on 2023 di UniCredit "will be substantially improved" with the presentation of the third quarter accounts. This was announced by the CEO of Unicredit Andrea Orcel at the 27th Annual Bank of America Merrill Lynch Financials CEO Conference. The banker noted that the institute is "well on track on 2022 guidance regardless of context." “We will achieve all targets even in the event of a mild recession and if there is a severe recession we are ready to face any shock and outperform our competitors' average,” he added.
Unicredit: the reasons for the leap forward
The increase in interest rates "is catapulting forward the performance" of the banks, underlined Andrea Orcel. In fact, 2022 for banks, explained the banker, “will be the best year never had in a long time. It's not fair, there's a war going on, but it's an observation” he continued, emphasizing the positive impact of the lowest cost of credit (“for us it's almost zero”) as well as the rise in interest rates which supports the interest margin as it hasn't been for years. The bank does not currently register any signs of an economic slowdown even if Orcel acknowledges that “it is inevitable that there will be a slowdown in 2023. But we must always remember – is the conclusion – that the starting point was very high” he concluded, referring to the growth rates recorded by Italy before the outbreak of war in Ukraine.
At Piazza Affari, the title leaps forward and scores the best performance not only in the banking sector, but in the entire basket of blue chips: at 11:05 the share recorded +4,94%, exceeding 11 euros.
Orcel: “No focus on M&A, only if profitable”
“Why should I focus on M&A, unless it is a very profitable deal, risking derailing UniCredit's organic growth in value?”. This is the rhetorical question posed by Orcel during the conference. The banker also recalled the difficulty of valuing institutions in a context in which the stock exchanges list shares at a fraction of the assets and in which the markets are extremely volatile.
Orcel: "We're studying Russia's exit, but it's not a gift"
A hasty exit from Russia it would have been "an emotional and also immoral reaction because it would have been a gift to the people you are trying to oppose", added Orcel, recalling the initiatives carried out by the institute to limit exposure in Moscow and eliminate the impact of each scenario capital future. "We are trying to contain what we have in Russia in an orderly manner and possibly an exit, but it must not be a gift", reiterated the top management, also underlining the need to take care of the 4 employees "who have been with us for over 15 years".
