22 April 2020

CEO Jean Pierre Mustier has sent UniCredit employees a message about the decision to take additional 1Q20 loan loss provisions of €900 million relating to the impact of Covid-19

2:00 min

Dear colleagues,

 

As you well know at UniCredit we always want to have a prudent and conservative approach to risks. So this morning, well ahead of our first quarter results on 6 May, we announced to the financial markets that our results will be affected by the Covid-19 pandemic. Nothing surprising you might think, but as you know we are committed to being transparent and open in our interactions with all our stakeholders: we always do the right thing. 

 

As you can see from the press release, we are being very prudent and have decided to anticipate €900 million in loan loss provisions to be taken in the first quarter. This in order to prepare for the inevitable negative impact this unprecedented situation will have on all sectors of the economy. All the banks will have to take such technical adjustment, based on the IFRS9 rule, but we prefer to take it earlier so to have it behind us. 

 

In the midst of all this turmoil, UniCredit remains a strong and solid bank with a CET1 ratio of around 13 per cent, and ample liquidity reserves. 

 

This is very much thanks to your incredibly hard work and commitment which made Transform 2019 such a success. Thanks to the action we took over the last three years  to run down our NPLs and dispose of non-core assets, UniCredit is in a position of strength which underpins our ability to actively support our clients, communities and economies in the countries in which we operate.

 

I thank you all and let me say again how proud I am of how you have responded to the incredible challenges of the past  few weeks. I know I can count on you to continue to “do the right thing!

 

Stay safe, stay healthy.

 

Jean Pierre