OREANDA-NEWS. November 30, 2011. UniCredit approved the strategic development plan up to 2015 that confirms the status of the powerful European financial group.

The main priorities of the Group strategic plan are:

To concentrate on key Group business (customer service of corporate and retail banking);

To decrease costs in 10%, mostly in Western Europe;

To reduce staff by 7200 employees in Western Europe and increase staff by 1,135 people in Eastern Europe;

To achieve profit equal to € 6.5 bn in 2015.

UniCredit Group has launched a capital increase program up to 7.5. bn euro by the end of Q1 2012. As a result CAR (capital adequacy ratio) indicator will be not less than 10.35% (according to international standards of Basel II).

Management of UniCredit Group approved the negative financial results of Q3 2011 that amounts to 10.6 bn euro. The net loss is almost entirely due to the goodwill write off according to current market evaluation and regulatory requirements. These assets were not taken into account earlier in the calculation of regulatory capital of the Group, except those of Greece government obligations, and therefore do not affect regulatory capital of the Group as well as its liquidity indicators.

Borys Tymonkin, CEO of UniCredit Bank™, PJSC "Ukrsotsbank" noted: "This decision is strategically weighted and well-timed. The assets that were written-off included among others expenses on investments of the recent years; expenses, connected with cost of non-existing brands of the local banks of Austria, Germany, Ukraine; Greek government securities".

Operational profits of the banks of the Group remain unchanged on the same level as earlier that allows Group to forecast profit in 4Q 2011.