(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - Milano, 20 apr - The Italian bank UniCredit said its plans to transform Commerzbank, the German lender in which it is the largest shareholder with a nearly 30% stake, could provide a roughly 600 million euro boost to Commerzbank's bottom line in 2028. Commerzbank could generate a net profit of 5.1 billion euros in 2028, above the 4.5 billion currently projected, should UniCredit's "Commerzbank Unlocked" plan be implemented, the Italian bank said. According to slides shown during a presentation, Commerzbank's net profit could rise to 6 billion euros in 2030 and in the event of a full tie-up with UniCredit, the net profit of the combined entity could reach 21 billion euros that year.

UniCredit's plan also envision lower costs for Commerzbank, with a cost-income ratio of 40% in 2028, seven percentage points below that now forecast by the German bank.

In Germany alone, UniCredit anticipates that a merger between its German subsidiary UniCredit HVB and Commerzbank's German activities would result in a bank with a net profit of 8.5 billion euros.

In the event of a takeover by UniCredit, Commerzbank would continue on a stand alone basis until 2028, giving time to carry out the work to "align it industrially and culturally" with the Italian bank, according to presentation slides.

In response to accusations that a full takeover could result in the loss of 15,000 jobs in Germany, UniCredit said that, over a period of five years, the reduction in personnel would be less than half of this, or below 7,500. UniCredit said that some 60% of savings from the deal would come from international network activities that are tied neither to.

personnel nor to "core" activities.

(RADIOCOR) 20-04-26 12:14:37 (0269) 5 NNNN