# UniCredit
**UniCredit S.p.A.** is an Italian-headquartered commercial bank listed on Borsa Italiana that operates a network of 13 banks plus one across Italy, Germany, Austria, and [Central and Eastern Europe](https://www.edgepedia.org/central-and-eastern-europe), and which describes itself as the only truly pan-European bank, with top-three positions in 90% of its markets.[1](https://biznes.pap.pl/download/attachment/53625246/DOC.20260227.53625246.zal06_2025-Annual-Reports-and-Accounts-General-Meeting-Draft.pdf) At the end of 2025 it held total assets of €870,238 million, deposits of €535.4 billion and loans of €433.5 billion, served through 3,075 branches of which 1,941 are in Italy.[2](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html) • [3](https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/azioni/profilo-societa-dettaglio.html?isin=IT0005239360&lang=en&mic=MTAA) Since 2021 it has been led by Andrea Orcel, under whom profitability roughly tripled and the bank launched a bid for Germany's Commerzbank.[4](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e)
| Key fact | Detail |
|---|---|
| Total assets | €870,238m at end-2025, up from €784,004m in 2024[2](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html) |
| FY25 net profit | €10.6bn as stated by the company (excluding non-distributable one-offs); the financial-highlights table shows €11,086m[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) • [2](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html) |
| Profitability | RoTE 19.2% in FY25; about 24% in 1H26, described as the highest among Europe's largest banks by assets[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) • [4](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e) |
| Efficiency | Cost/income ratio 38.5% in 2025, down from 54.6% in 2021[2](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html) |
| Capital | CET1 ratio 14.7% fully loaded in FY25; RWAs €296.3bn[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) |
| Distributions | €9.5bn distributed in FY25; ordinary policy of 80% payout on net profit[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) |
| Commerzbank stake | 47.6% of shares (49.7% of voting rights) secured by July 2026, pending regulatory approvals[6](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/unicredit-secures-176-commerzbank-2026-07-08/) |
## History: from the 2016-17 crisis to recovery
In the fourth quarter of 2016 it took €12.2 billion of provisions: €3.6 billion to increase write-downs on non-performing loans to be sold off (the FINO project), €4.5 billion on the retained NPL portfolio (the PORTO project), and €4.1 billion of other provisions. Loan-loss reserves fell from €10.3 billion at 31 December 2015 to negative €2.5 billion a year later.[7](http://www.lyddonconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Unicredit-out-of-the-frying-pan-08dec17.pdf)
**The €13 billion rights issue.** The recapitalisation was funded by a rights issue in February and March 2017 that raised €13.0 billion, a 13-for-5 issue increasing shares in issue by 260%, with up to 1,606,876,817 new shares at €8.08 each, announced on 1 February 2017 and paid in by 3 March 2017.[7](http://www.lyddonconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Unicredit-out-of-the-frying-pan-08dec17.pdf) The same restructuring left the group with two wholly owned non-Italian pillars, Hypovereinsbank (HVB) in Germany and BankAustria in Austria, both restyled with the UniCredit name.[7](http://www.lyddonconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Unicredit-out-of-the-frying-pan-08dec17.pdf)
## Business model and footprint
UniCredit reports its income by activity as retail banking 48.6%, corporate, investment, finance and market banking 47.2%, and other 4.2%.[3](https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/azioni/profilo-societa-dettaglio.html?isin=IT0005239360&lang=en&mic=MTAA) Revenue including intragroup business is distributed geographically as Italy 44.1%, Germany 21.9%, Central and Eastern Europe 19%, Austria 10.5%, and Russia 4.5%.[3](https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/azioni/profilo-societa-dettaglio.html?isin=IT0005239360&lang=en&mic=MTAA) The 2026 registration document gives a 1Q26 split of approximately 23% Italy, 10% Austria, and 19% Central and Eastern Europe, the latter covering the Czech Republic, Slovakia, Bulgaria, Romania, Bosnia and [Herzegovina](https://www.edgepedia.org/herzegovina), and Serbia.[8](https://www.onemarkets.hr/content/onemarkets-relaunch-hr/hr/pravne-napomene/osnovni-prospekti-i-dodaci/ostali-izdavatelji/unicredit-SpA/2026.prospectus.pdf/unicredit_spa_-_registrationdocument_881425247)
## The turnaround and the Orcel era
Andrea Orcel, who took over in 2021, sharpened the bank's clean-up into a cost and capital-return program. Orcel cut 10% of the global workforce in his first two years, lowering the cost-to-income ratio from 54.6% in 2021 to around 38% in 2025.[4](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e) The reported series shows net profit rising from €1,570m in 2021 to €6,473m (2022), €9,537m (2023), €9,775m (2024), and €11,086m (2025), while the cost/income ratio fell from 54.6% to 47.0%, 39.7%, 37.9%, and 38.5% over the same years.[2](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html) Total shareholder returns including dividends jumped by more than 1,000% from December 2021 to 2025.[4](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e)
## By the numbers
FY25 revenues were €24.5 billion (net revenue €23.9 billion), broadly flat despite lower rates, with operating costs of €9.4 billion producing what the company calls a best-in-class cost/income ratio of 38%.[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) The CET1 ratio stood at 14.7%, above the 12.5%-13% management target range, after absorbing 54 basis points from equity investments, 103 basis points from regulatory headwinds, and 11 basis points from the Italian banking tax; RWAs stood at €296.3 billion, up 6.9% year on year.[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html) FY25 EPS was €6.89 (up 20%), DPS €3.153 (up 31%), and tangible book value per share €39.54 (up 19%).[5](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html)
Against [Commerzbank](https://www.edgepedia.org/commerzbank), the profitability gap is the strategic argument for the bid: Commerzbank's return on equity is around 8% while UniCredit's is almost 20%. In the first half of 2026 the cost/income ratio improved further to 34.3% (35.2% in the second quarter), cost of risk stayed at 17 basis points, and CET1 rose 7 basis points quarter on quarter to 14.26%.[9](https://www.websim.it/static/upload/uni/unicredit-24-07-26.pdf)
## The Commerzbank bid
**September 2024.** On 11 September 2024 the German government sold 4.49% of Commerzbank, about 53.1 million shares, at €13.20 per share via accelerated bookbuilding, generating €702 million, with the entire package allocated to UniCredit; UniCredit simultaneously bought a further 4.5% on the exchange, giving it just under 10% of the bank plus access to another 11.5% via derivatives, and applied to raise its stake to 29.9%. By October 2025 UniCredit held roughly 28% of Commerzbank's share capital with regulatory approval to go to 29.9%.[10](https://tesi.luiss.it/46158/1/801341_CIANFARINI_COSTANTINO%20F.pdf)
**The 2026 exchange offer.** On 16 March 2026 UniCredit announced a voluntary public takeover offer in the form of an exchange offer under Sections 34 and 14 of the German WpÜG; the offer document, published 5 May 2026 after BaFin approval, offered 0.485 newly issued UniCredit shares per tendered Commerzbank share, around €30.80 per share, a 4% premium.[11](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/capitalfinancing-update/2026/59722322/) • [4](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e) The offer was launched with a view to exceeding the 30% voting-rights threshold, addressing the risk that a mandatory takeover offer could otherwise have been triggered by Commerzbank's buy-back program.[11](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/capitalfinancing-update/2026/59722322/) The acceptance period expired 16 June 2026 and the additional acceptance period 3 July 2026, with 198,477,598 Commerzbank shares validly tendered, 17.6% of the capital.[11](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/capitalfinancing-update/2026/59722322/) • [12](https://www.commerzbank.de/group/what-drives-us/commerzbank-as-a-company/2026-unicredit-position-faq.html) On 8 July 2026 UniCredit said it had secured 47.6% of Commerzbank's shares, or 49.7% of voting rights excluding treasury shares, well above the roughly 40% level Reuters described as generally associated with a position of control.[6](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/unicredit-secures-176-commerzbank-2026-07-08/) The company states that a 49.6% participation is sufficient to pursue control, with a cascade offer in Poland currently not contemplated.[13](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/investor-presentation/2026/59236961/)
**German politics and the path to a merger.** Germany still owns 12% of Commerzbank after the 2009 bailout, a stake UniCredit needs to buy to eventually merge Commerzbank with HVB in two or three years.[14](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/unicredit-posts-better-than-expected-results-after-commerzbank-bid-2026-07-23/) UniCredit envisages HVB and Commerzbank operating in parallel for 2-3 years before considering a merger, with expected pre-merger value creation upgraded to €1.2 billion (60% of the total) requiring upfront investments of about €2.2 billion.[13](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/investor-presentation/2026/59236961/)
## References
1. [UniCredit 2025 Annual Report and Accounts, General Meeting Draft](https://biznes.pap.pl/download/attachment/53625246/DOC.20260227.53625246.zal06_2025-Annual-Reports-and-Accounts-General-Meeting-Draft.pdf)
2. [Financial highlights, UniCredit](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/investors/financial-reporting/financial-highlights.html)
3. [UniCredit company profile, Borsa Italiana](https://www.borsaitaliana.it/borsa/azioni/profilo-societa-dettaglio.html?isin=IT0005239360&lang=en&mic=MTAA)
4. [How Andrea Orcel transformed UniCredit, and set his sights on Commerzbank, The Banker](https://www.thebanker.com/content/aff822b3-f4d2-49c4-bb57-c0dd0d555a5e)
5. [UniCredit 4Q25 and FY25 Group Results press release](https://www.unicreditgroup.eu/en/press-media/press-releases-price-sensitive/2026/february/unicredit--4q25-and-fy25-group-results-transitioning-from-unicre.html)
6. [UniCredit secures 48% of Commerzbank shares, nearing control, Reuters (8 July 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/legal/transactional/unicredit-secures-176-commerzbank-2026-07-08/)
7. [UniCredit SpA: out of the frying pan?, Lyddon Consulting (December 2017)](http://www.lyddonconsulting.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/12/Unicredit-out-of-the-frying-pan-08dec17.pdf)
8. [UniCredit S.p.A. Registration Document 2026](https://www.onemarkets.hr/content/onemarkets-relaunch-hr/hr/pravne-napomene/osnovni-prospekti-i-dodaci/ostali-izdavatelji/unicredit-SpA/2026.prospectus.pdf/unicredit_spa_-_registrationdocument_881425247)
9. [UniCredit analyst note, websim.it (24 July 2026)](https://www.websim.it/static/upload/uni/unicredit-24-07-26.pdf)
10. [Cross-border banking M&A in Europe: an event study of UniCredit's strategic consolidation of Commerzbank, LUISS thesis](https://tesi.luiss.it/46158/1/801341_CIANFARINI_COSTANTINO%20F.pdf)
11. [UniCredit Capital/Financing Update 2026](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/capitalfinancing-update/2026/59722322/)
12. [FAQ on UniCredit's takeover offer, Commerzbank](https://www.commerzbank.de/group/what-drives-us/commerzbank-as-a-company/2026-unicredit-position-faq.html)
13. [UniCredit Investor Presentation 2026](https://financialfilings.com/filings/unicredit/investor-presentation/2026/59236961/)
14. [UniCredit expects Commerzbank to adopt its roadmap from January, Reuters (23 July 2026)](https://www.reuters.com/business/finance/unicredit-posts-better-than-expected-results-after-commerzbank-bid-2026-07-23/)
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*Topic: Encyclopedia › Society and history › Economics and business › Finance › Banks (institutions and by country) › Banks in Europe*
*Initially written Sep 17, 2026 · Reviewed: Oct 10, 2026 · Edited: Oct 10, 2026; Oct 11, 2026 · Last review: Oct 10, 2026*
*Copyright 2026 EdgeChat AI, a subsidiary of Biostate AI.*
License: Edgepedia Community License 1.0, https://www.edgepedia.org/edgepedia/license