UniCredit paid €70m by Irish operation

The IFSC-based subsidiary of Italian bank UniCredit paid its parent company a dividend of €74 million in June last year, according to accounts just published by the companies office.

UniCredit Bank Ireland plc made a net profit after tax of €80 million last year compared with €74 million in 2014.

The bank said the key drivers were a successful reduction of total assets, in particular a reduction in its intercompany exposure, which decreased by €3.9 billion year on year.

The bank also successfully reduced its funding dependence on the Central Bank of Ireland, which fell from €6 billion at the end of 2014 to €400 million at the end of last year.

In his chairman's statement, Ronan Molony, who is a partner with law firm McCann FitzGerald, described the bank's performance as "very satisfactory".

“The company will continue to pursue a strategy of reduction of intercompany assets, more than €4 billion will mature during 2016, and some moderate investments with low risk profile will be pursued,” he said.

Mr Molony noted the Irish bank’s sovereign and corporate exposure to Russia, which is subject to EU-US sanctions connected with its support of separatists in Ukraine, was less than 1 per cent of its credit and structured finance portfolio.

“The bank maintains a constant monitoring position on these exposures and the events likely to impact their valuation and will continue this approach,” he added.

UniCredit's Irish operating costs rose by €2.8 million during the year, due mostly to a €2.1 million increase in regulatory costs charged by the European Central Bank, the Central Bank of Ireland and the European Single Resolution Fund levy.

Increase

It also incurred an increase of €200,000 in its IT costs to support its business development.

The company’s total assets at the end of 2015 amounted to €25.1 million, down from €28.3 billion in 2014. Total shareholders equity increased by €100 million during the year to €2.3 billion.

The average number of staff employed by the IFSC bank last year was 36. Staff expenses amounted to €4.1 million last year, of which wages and salaries were €3.4 million.

Directors were paid €346,407 compared with €496,919 in 2014. This comprised €226,407 in management compensation and €120,000 in directors’fees.

The bank said its SREP Common Equity Tier 1 ratio was set by regulators at 9.25 per cent from January 1st 2016. At the end of last year, its fully loaded CET1 ratio was 27.31 per cent.