MILAN (Reuters) -UniCredit said it would grow its net profit on average by 10% a year through 2024 to above 4.5 billion euros ($5 billion) by betting on fee income to drive revenues.
UniCredit on Thursday unveiled a new three-year strategy under Andrea Orcel, who took the helm in April. The former head of investment banking at UBS has pledged to boost profitability after Italy’s second-biggest lender restructured under previous CEO Jean Pierre Mustier.
Shares extended gains after the release to gain 5.2% by 0916 GMT. The stock is still well below pre-COVID levels and trades at a deeper discount versus peers after the pandemic derailed Mustier’s capital distribution plans.
UniCredit said it planned to pay out at least 16 billion euros to shareholders between 2021 and 2024.
The bank said it saw its 2022 net profit above 3.3 billion euros, virtually unchanged from its latest guidance for 2021 based on its new definition of net income.
($1 = 0.8834 euros)
(Reporting by Valentina Za; editing by Agnieszka Flak)
