Italy's UniCredit to cut 8,000 jobs by 2023
UniCredit is planning to cut 8,000 jobs in the next three years as part of a restructuring plan to increase shareholder value, the Italian bank said on Tuesday.
Unicredit
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07:46 20/03/24
The plan, unveiled by chief executive Jean Pierre Mustie, involves the closure of 500 branches. Unicredit said the restructure would lift net profit to €5bn by 2023, from an estimated €4.7bn in 2019, with earnings per share rising 12% per year.
It also plans a €2bn share buyback which means the bank will raise its capital distribution for 2019 to 40% of underlying net profit from the original 20% plan. That will rise to 50% in 2023 on a combination of dividends and share buybacks.
UniCredit also accelerated its bad debt reduction plan, pledging to reduce non-performing loans to less than €9bn by the end of the year and below €5bn by the end of 2020.
(Editing by Frank Prenesti)