OREANDA-NEWS. November 17, 2014. UniCredit Group's profit in 3Q2014 increased by 79% - to EUR722 mln, profit for the nine months reached EUR1,8 bln (+81.3%).

"Third quarter and the nine months’ Group results bring us very close to our target of €2 billion net profit for 2014 which is now very close. We are pleased with this positive trend, despite a still difficult macroeconomic context. This result comes mostly from managerial actions embedded in our Strategic Plan 2013-18 focused on innovation and growth. We are one of the most solid European commercial banks: the Comprehensive Assessment confirmed our resilience to adverse scenarios and our capital strength” - commented Federico Ghizzoni, CEO of UniCredit.

Total assets of the group increased to EUR 858 bln (+EUR19.3 bln or +2.3% Q/Q) mainly driven by loans to banks (+EUR 11.0 bn or +15.2% Q/Q) and by financial assets held for trading (+EUR 8.9 bn or +10.6% Q/Q) which are up due to the swing in interest rates and are compensated by a symmetrical change in the financial liabilities held for trading.