By Valentina Za
MILAN, Feb 9 (Reuters) - Italy's second-largest bank UniCredit said it aimed to lift profit to 11 billion euros ($13 billion) this year, after topping analysts' forecasts for 2025 with earnings
boosted by stakes in rivals bought under CEO Andrea Orcel's expansion strategy.
UniCredit, which had previously guided for a net profit of 10 billion euros in 2027, said on Monday it had an ambition to get to 13 billion euros in 2028 with "exceptional" average growth of 7% a year in 2026 to 2028.
UniCredit has spent billions of euros from its large excess cash reserves to become the main shareholder in Germany's Commerzbank and Greece's Alpha Bank, though it has stopped short of full takeovers.
Under the leadership of Orcel, a veteran dealmaker, UniCredit has also invested, sometimes temporarily, in other financial institutions in what Mediobanca Securities analysts have dubbed a "game of stakes".
UniCredit said proceeds from its stakes in rivals would add 1 billion euros to net revenue in 2028 compared to 2025. Net revenue dipped last year, hit by a contracting lending margin and costs sustained to hedge market risks on the stakes.
UniCredit said it would keep up its strict control of costs, further lowering them to one third of revenue in 2028 from 36% this year.
The bank has seen its share price increase nine-fold since Orcel took over in 2021 and has used record profits fuelled by higher interest rates to reward shareholders through share buybacks and dividends. It said it aimed to distribute 30 billion euros back to investors over the next three years.
UniCredit, which also has large operations in Germany, Austria and eastern Europe, posted a net profit of 2.17 billion euros for the fourth quarter, benefiting from 336 million euros of tax credits from past losses to surpass a bank-gathered average analyst forecast of 1.96 billion euros.
($1 = 0.8450 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za; Editing by Jamie Freed, Kirsten Donovan)
