By Giovanni Legorano
MILAN--UniCredit SpA (UNCFF, UCG.MI) Chief Executive Federico
Ghizzoni said Tuesday that the bank has approved a plan to close an
additional 350 branches in Italy by 2015, on top of the 150
branches where closures were planned to take place by the same year
and have already happened.
Speaking to journalists here, Mr. Ghizzoni said that the bank
will close 110 branches this year, out of the 350, and that this
will result in cost-savings on real estate of around 15 million
euros ($20 million). UniCredit has around 3,600 branches in
Italy.
"These cost savings will be used to further invest on the
development of Internet and mobile banking. Since 2009, we have
closed 800 branches and this corresponds to savings of EUR100
million a year," Mr. Ghizzoni said.
The CEO also touched upon a plan to create a sort of bad bank in
Italy that could solve in a systemic way the issue of growing
non-performing loans held by Italian banks.
The plan, reported by Italian media over the weekend, would see
the creation of a private entity by Italy's largest banks which
will buy non-performing loans by banks and get funding from private
institutional investors. The state would not be involved in such a
plan.
"This plan hasn't progressed because there are differences on
how the assets [NPLs] will be valued. We are proceeding alone on
this [NPLs management]," Mr. Ghizzoni said.
He also said that the bank plans to merge its two Ukrainian
units--Ukrsotsbank (USCB.UR) with UniCredit Bank Ukraina.
Write to Giovanni Legorano at giovanni.legorano@dowjones.com
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