UniCredito Italiano
A continued push into the high-growth markets of central and eastern Europe (CEE) in 2002 along with considerable domestic strength are what make UniCredito the most exceptional bank in Italy, in the judges’ opinion.
In a year marked by a stock market meltdown and a surge in bad loans, UniCredito kept its nerve and carried on with its four-year-old expansion in CEE. It made four acquisitions last year, snapping up Zagrebacka banka, Croatia’s biggest bank, as well as leading institutions in Turkey, Romania and the Czech Republic.
As a result of these moves and previous ones, UniCredito has become the biggest foreign bank in Poland (17% market share), Croatia (27%) and Bulgaria (32%). It has invested €2.6bn to date and is considering further acquisitions in Hungary and Serbia & Montenegro.
At home, several Italian banks merged with UniCredito, enabling the group to consolidate its lead position in the domestic market.
Despite a bruising 2002, the bank lifted net profit by nearly 2% and achieved an ROE of 17.2%, making it the envy of most big European banks. With a cost-to-income ratio of 54.3%, its efficiency stayed high in 2002 and it improved its core Tier 1 capital ratio to 7.1% from 6.06% in 2001.
“The new organisation focusing on specific market segments has put UniCredito in a cutting-edge position in the Italian banking world, enabling it to meet the challenge of further improving customer service standards and quality without weakening the ex-federated banks’ territorial franchise,” said Alessandro Profumo, the bank’s chief executive.
