Unicredit shares fall rights issue concerns

Shares in Italian bank Unicredit fell sharply after it announced the details of a 7.5bn euro ($9.8bn; £6.3bn) rights issue. The stock was briefly suspended after the bank announced that the new shares would be offered at a 69% discount to Tuesday's closing price. Shares were down 7.1% by mid-morning on Tuesday. The bank faces a 7.97bn euro capital shortfall in order to meet new rules set by the European Banking Authority. In a statement, the bank said it had secured interest for just 24% of shares on offer so far, worse than expected. The price, represents a discount of 43% to the theoretical ex-rights price, the price a stock should have after it has been diluted by the issue of new shares. "Whatever way you slice and dice it, UniCredit's discount is much bigger than for the other banks and that being the case, I think it's come as a bit of a shock to some investors, and I think some of them are just bailing out," said Andrew Lim, banks analyst at Espirito Santo. Fund raising Unicredit has the second largest funds shortfall in Europe after Spanish bank Santander. It announced the rights issue in November along with 5,000 job cuts after reporting a 10.6bn-euro loss in the three months to September due to writedowns on its holdings of eurozone debt. Its London trading operation will close as part of the cost-cutting plans, with the loss of 150 jobs. European banks have been told to increase the amount of capital they hold to deal with possible economic and financial risks. If the bank struggles to raise the money it could suggest other banks may also find it difficult. "A bank of this significance, of a large European country, not being able to obtain money easily is clearly an indication of a lack of investors interested in the banking industry," said Ralph Silva from SRN analysis.