UniCredit, The Italian bank in the process of acquiring Germany's HVB, saw net profits from its investment banking division rise 9.7% in the first nine months of the year, thanks to lower write-downs on loans.

The division made net profits of €770m ($904.2m) in the nine months ended September 30, up 9.7% on the same period last year, with revenues growing 5% to €2.4bn.