Unicredit, Italy's largest bank, said Wednesday that net profit in the fourth quarter of 2010 fell by 13 percent from a year earlier, largely because of higher provisions for bad loans and investment losses.
Unicredit SpA reported net income of (EURO)321 million ($456 million), down from (EURO)371 million a year earlier.
Provisions for risks and charges more than doubled to (EURO)472 million, from (EURO)232 million in the same period a year earlier.
Unicredit also reported a (EURO)157 million loss on investments, compared with a profit of (EURO)217 million in the last year, and recorded a goodwill impairment of (EURO)199 million related to Unicredit's subsidiary in Kazakhstan.
The bank generated full-year 2009 profit of (EURO)1.3 billion, down 22 percent from a year earlier.
The bank said 2009 results reflected a better interest rate environment and higher trading income, which last year was hurt by the difficult financial markets.
Unicredit is proposing a cash dividend of (EURO)0.03 per share and said its a Core Tier 1 ratio _ a sign of a bank's health _ had risen to 8.58 percent at the end of the year.
The bank's share price rose 1.2 percent to (EURO)1.77 in early Milan trading.
