MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's biggest bank UniCredit (MI:CRDI) posted on Wednesday a larger-than-expected 2.7 billion euro ($2.93 billion) loss in the first quarter after writing down loans in anticipation of the economic damage caused by the COVID-19 pandemic.
Analysts had on average looked for a 1.53 billion euro loss in a consensus compiled by the bank, on revenues of 4.48 billion euros.
UniCredit, which has operations also in Germany and Austria, said revenues came in at 4.38 billion euros, down 8% from a year earlier, hurt by a drop in trading income despite higher fees.
The bank booked 1.26 billion euros in net loan writedowns in the period as well as other non-operating charges, it said.
Italy began on Monday to gradually unwind a near two-month lockdown which has ravaged its economy, leading authorities to expect the worst recession since World War II and a raft of bankruptcies.