UniCredit vows to match 2023 income this year after beating forecast

UniCredit on Monday pledged to match in 2024 the previous year’s result despite the negative economic backdrop, as it posted a much higher than expected 2023 profit and said it would return it all to shareholders.

Net income in the October-December period came in at 2.8 billion euros, more than double a 1.2 billion euro ($1.3 billion) average analyst consensus forecast provided by the bank.

Revenues surpassed expectations, while UniCredit booked lower than forecast costs and provisions against loan losses.

The lender said it would pay out to investors 8.6 billion euros in share buybacks and dividends out of its 2023 earnings, which is 100% of its underlying profit.

It will then adopt a 90% payout policy from this year, raising slightly the cash part, it added.