UniCredit announced an updated profit ambition after reporting quarterly numbers that exceeded analyst expectations. The bank said it is aiming for net profit of 11 billion euros this year, following a 2025 performance that topped a bank-gathered average forecast. Management attributed part of the outperformance to returns tied to stakes acquired in other lenders and to tax credits applied against past losses.
Previously, UniCredit had guided for a net profit of 10 billion euros in 2027. On Monday the bank said it has an ambition to reach 13 billion euros in 2028, describing an "exceptional" average growth rate of 7% a year over the 2026 to 2028 period. Those targets sit alongside a strategy under CEO Andrea Orcel that has used the bank's large excess cash reserves to acquire sizeable positions in other banks.
UniCredit has spent billions of euros to become the main shareholder in Commerzbank of Germany and in Alpha Bank of Greece, while stopping short of pursuing full takeovers of those institutions. The bank has also taken positions, occasionally on a temporary basis, in additional financial groups as part of what Mediobanca Securities analysts called a "game of stakes."
The group, which operates extensively in Germany, Austria and eastern Europe, posted net profit of 2.17 billion euros for the fourth quarter. That result was supported by 336 million euros of tax credits arising from past losses, which helped the bank exceed the average analyst forecast of 1.96 billion euros collected by banks.
UniCredit's announcement combines the immediate boost from one-off tax relief and gains related to ownership stakes with an elevated multi-year growth ambition. The bank's updated near-term and longer-term profit targets reflect both the use of excess liquidity for strategic stakes and management's public growth aspirations for the remainder of the decade.
Financial conversion note: ($1 = 0.8450 euros).