On March 20, 2017 Scope Ratings upgraded Unicredit’s Issuer Credit-Strength Rating (ICSR) to A, with a Stable Outlook, from A-. The upgrade reflects the bank’s strenghtened position following the transformational capital increase executed in February 2017, aimed at a significant clean-up of the bank’s balance sheet. Supported by a more promising macroeconomic background in Italy, and by lower need for bad-loans provisions, Unicredit’s profitability is set to improve, in Scope’s view. The short-term rating is S-2, with a Stable Outlook.

With sizeable franchises in Italy, Germany, Austria, several east European countries, as well as Russia and Turkey, Unicredit can rightly claim to be a true pan-European bank, rather than just an Italian bank with some foreign operations.

Over the past decade, Unicredit has suffered from bad asset quality, low profitability and difficulties integrating acquired banks. Profitability remains impaired, but asset quality has stabilised for the last several quarters. The new business plan, supported by the large recently completed capital increase, will lead to an accelerated clean-up of legacy bad assets, as well as an improvement in group’s earnings.

Download the updated rating report.