Today’s need-to-know storiesUniCredit profit beats forecasts as Commerzbank stake nears 50%
UniCredit’s second-quarter net profit rose to €2.91bn, beating analysts’ average forecast of €2.8bn, as chief executive Andrea Orcel moved closer to securing control of Commerzbank.
Revenue increased 6.6 per cent year on year, with stronger fee income offsetting around €250mn of hedging and funding costs linked to its enlarged stake in Commerzbank. The bank now expects full-year profit to come in well above €11bn.
UniCredit has accumulated a stake of almost 48 per cent in Commerzbank, representing close to half of the German lender’s voting rights, after shareholders tendered 17.6 per cent of its stock in the takeover offer.
In an interview with CNBC, Orcel said UniCredit could take ownership of the tendered shares and assume effective control of Commerzbank in the fourth quarter, subject to regulatory and competition approvals.
“That would mark the moment when we go in,” Orcel said, adding that the bank would not wait until Commerzbank’s annual meeting in May.
A full takeover would be Europe’s largest banking deal in about two decades.
The Italian lender said fully consolidating Commerzbank would initially lower its common equity tier one ratio by about 200 basis points to around 13 per cent. However, it argued that the transaction would boost earnings and drive double-digit net profit growth between 2026 and 2028.
BNP Paribas profit rises on equities trading surge
BNP Paribas has reported stronger than expected second-quarter results as a surge in equities trading revenue offset higher costs and loan loss provisions.
The French lender reported net income of €4.3bn between April and June, up 33 per cent from a year earlier, while revenue increased 12 per cent to €14.1bn.
Equities revenue rose 43 per cent year on year to €1.4bn, comfortably ahead of analysts’ expectations of €1.1bn, as strong markets and heightened volatility boosted client activity.
Revenue from fixed-income and currency trading declined slightly, while the bank set aside €949mn for potential loan losses, partly due to geopolitical risks linked to the conflict in Iran.
The group’s commercial and retail banking division reported revenue of €6.9bn, up 5 per cent from a year earlier.
Jean-Laurent Bonnafé, chief executive, said the performance was partly driven by the “acceleration of [its] transformation, particularly in artificial intelligence”.
BNP Paribas said it would pay an interim dividend of €3.23 per share, up 25 per cent from a year earlier.
Jes Staley to face US lawmakers over Epstein ties
Former Barclays chief executive Jes Staley will appear before a US congressional oversight committee on Thursday as members of Congress investigate his relationship with Jeffrey Epstein.
Staley previously ran JPMorgan’s private wealth and asset management businesses, where Epstein was a major client. He later said the pair had been “very close” and described Epstein as a “friend”.
The committee believes Staley may hold information relevant to its inquiry into the federal government’s handling of the Epstein case. His testimony follows interviews and subpoenas involving other prominent Wall Street figures, including former Goldman Sachs lawyer Kathy Ruemmler and Apollo co-founder Leon Black.
US Justice Department documents released last year showed Staley had been named as a potential executor in several versions of Epstein’s will.
Staley last year failed to overturn a lifetime ban from the UK financial services industry imposed by the Financial Conduct Authority after he approved misleading statements to the regulator about the nature of his relationship with Epstein and the timing of their last contact.
Bill Winters backtracks on AI comments
Standard Chartered CEO Bill Winters has sought to clarify comments he made about replacing staff at the bank with AI.
In a letter to the FT, Winters said that his comments made in May around “lower-value human capital” being replaced with AI were interpreted as meaning that he and other corporate leaders do not value the people they work with.
“We care deeply about our colleagues and invest heavily to allow them to develop the skills that will be most relevant in the workplace,” Winters wrote. “I am sorry that my choice of words distracted from the issue.”
He also stated that the bank’s ambition is to help staff to “adapt and succeed” in the face of new technology, helping them to learn in-demand skills and redeploy some staff across the bank.
At the time when Winters made the comments, the Monetary Authority of Singapore sought clarity from the bank on the meaning.
Macquarie Group names new CEO
Australia’s Macquarie Group has named its new CEO, following the news that Shemara Wikramanayake is set to retire after eight years at the head of the bank.
Greg Ward will be taking over after 30 years at Macquarie, moving from his role as head of banking and financial services. His division, which oversees the consumer and home loan business, has grown rapidly in recent years as the bank sought to diversify earnings.
Under Wikramanayake the bank has recorded strong growth, and also announced today it has seen a first-quarter net profit contribution from its commodities and global markets segment. The bank’s shares are also up around 25 per cent this year.
The bank has experienced difficulties, with investors protesting at the last annual meeting about risk management failures, which saw Wikramanayake taking a pay cut.