Alessandro Profumo
Alessandro Profumo, Chief executive of UnicreditUniCredit, the Italian bank with a significant presence in Europe, is back on track following a €4bn rights issue to fund loan demand in eastern Europe. Its chief executive explains how the company's diversified business model is now giving it an advantage over its competitors. Writer Brian Caplen
Austria & Italy: Diversification begins to deliver
UniCredit: CEE strategy now paying dividendsIn early 2009, shares in Austrian and Italian banks were pummelled by investors fearing that their exposure to central and eastern Europe would threaten balance sheets. Now they are fighting back, and staying safely in profit. Writer Philip Alexander
Allegro Con Brio Fades for Italy
Alessandro Profumo, UniCredit
Italian banks’ cautious approach has distanced them from the risky instruments and products at the heart of the economic crisis, yet prudence is more important than ever if they are to support the country’s ailing industries. Writer David Lane in Rome, Milan and Siena.
Italians reap the benefits of buyouts
Paulo Fiorentino, deputy CEO, UniCredit
Two years of consolidation have transformed the landscape of Italian banking – and in the process the country’s financial institutions have become experts in extracting maximum value from merging companies. Writer David Lane.
