(Alliance News) - UniCredit Spa announced Thursday that it has received approval from the European Central Bank to execute the remaining part of its 2023 share buyback program for up to EUR3.09 billion.

The approval was based on financial information, provided by the company, which demonstrated the soundness of capital and resilience of the model under stress scenarios. The first tranche of the EUR2.50 billion share buyback program for 2023 ended on March 7, 2024.

Together with the proposed dividend, this leads to a total distribution for 2023 of EUR8.6 billion: an increase of about EUR3.35 billion compared to 2022. Pro forma for this distribution, UniCredit's CET 1 ratio is 15.9 percent at the end of 2023.

"This figure underscores UniCredit's commitment to delivering attractive and sustainable shareholder returns while maintaining a strong capital base, and confirms the company's confidence that it can deliver attractive shareholder returns and create long-term value," the bank explained.

The launch of the share buyback program, as well as the dividend of up to EUR3.02 billion, are dependent on approval by the company's shareholders at the AGM convened for April 12, 2024.

Due to the restrictions of the blackout period, the share buyback will begin as soon as possible after the first quarter financial results, which will be announced on May 7, subject to shareholder approval and depending on market conditions.

UniCredit's stock closed Thursday down 2.8 percent at EUR33.97 per share.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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