Unicredit chairman rules out merger in short term (translated)
09 SEP 2018
Italian bank Unicredit [BIT:UCG] will not merge in the short term, Italian-language daily La Stampa reported.
The report cited Unicredit chairman Fabrizio Saccomanni who said that the lender would draw up a new strategic plan at the end of 2019 in which its future options would be evaluated. The report cited Saccomanni as noting that possible mergers and acquisitions would be examined then.
The article said that the present strategic plan focuses on organic growth, cost reduction and digitisation.
The item noted that Saccomani's comments poured cold water on the latest market speculation that the group might merge with its French peer Societe Generale [BIT:GLE] (SG).
The item also cited Bruno Le Maire, the French economy minister, as saying that at present there was nothing occuring in terms of French-Italian banking mergers.
Unicredit has a market cap of EUR 28.99bn and SG EUR 28.84bn.