Europeans down slightly; Visibilia trailing among PMIs.

(Alliance News) - Major European indexes open the day Monday slightly down, with the Mib being the only one to move just above par.

The FTSE Mib, therefore, opens in fractional green at 28,607.28, the Mid-Cap gives up 0.1 percent to 42,115.63, the Small-Cap is in the red 0.3 percent to 26,941.89, and Italy Growth is just below par at 8,909.73.

Paris' CAC 40 starts the day in fractional red, Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.2 percent and London's FTSE 100 is down 0.3 percent.

On the macro front, of note, German industrial production declined on a monthly and annual basis in June, according to official data released Monday.

According to Destatis, industrial production fell 1.5 percent from the previous month in June, accelerating from the 0.1 percent decline recorded in May.

The June figure was worse than the market consensus of 0.4 percent decline, as cited by FXStreet. The May figure was revised up from the initial 0.2% decline.

On the Mib, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena leads the way and opens up 4.5 percent after reviewing Thursday evening results as of June 30 reporting a group profit before tax of EUR615 million, up from the EUR44 million pre-tax profit reported in the corresponding period of 2022. Net interest income increased to EUR1.08 billion from EUR658.5 million in the first half of 2022.

Banco BPM and Leonardo also did well, up 1.8 percent and 1.6 percent respectively. Saipem and Tenaris follow, advancing 1.2% and 0.7%. The Mib's other oil stock, however, is just above par.

Azimut Group rises 0.1 percent after announcing Friday that it recorded positive net inflows of EUR513 million in July, reaching EUR4.3 billion since the start of the year with a full-year target of between EUR6-8 billion.

Banca Generali - just above par - reported Friday that it achieved net inflows of EUR455 million in July, down from EUR543 million in July 2022.

Since the beginning of the year, total inflows amount to EUR3.72 billion, up 4 percent from the same period last year when it was EUR3.59 billion.

FinecoBank -- in the black by 0.1 percent -- reported Friday that net inflows in July were confirmed at EUR486 million, in line with the estimates announced in the first-half results. Since the beginning of the year, inflows amount to EUR5.7 billion.

Interpump closes the listing down 2.8 percent after closing Friday in the red by 4.7 percent. The board of directors approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with consolidated net income for the period rose from EUR139.5 million to EUR168.5 million, up 21 percent. Net sales for the first half of 2023 were EUR1.18 billion, up 15 percent from EUR1.02 billion in the corresponding period last year.

On the cadet segment, Datalogic reverses course after four bearish sessions -- due to half-year results with a EUR12.1 million profit down from EUR8.8 million recorded in the first half of 2022 -- and takes the top spot with a 2.9 percent rise.

It is followed by illimity Bank, which, in surplus by 2.3 percent, on Friday announced that it had approved results for the first half of the year in which it posted a net profit up 66 percent to EUR52.2 million from EUR31.5 million in the same period a year earlier. Net interest income stood at EUR97.7 million as of June 30 from EUR74.1 million and up 32 percent from 2022.

The board of MARR -- in the red by 2.3 percent -- on Friday approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, which closed with a net profit of EUR18.7 million and compares with EUR10.5 million in the first half of 2022.

The first six months ended with total consolidated revenues at over EUR1.0 billion, up from EUR874.3 million in the same period last year.

Also trailing, still down 2.3 percent, was Saras. It reported Friday that Urion Holdings (Malta) Ltd sold 6.1 million ordinary shares in the Moratti company.

The shares were sold at an average unit price of EUR1.31, for a total value of EUR8.0 million. Of note, three funds moved on the stock on Friday: Citadel Advisors cut its short to 0.75 percent from 0.84 percent; Marshall Wace raised it to 1.54 percent from 1.46 percent; and WorldQuant defined a net short position of 0.55 percent.

On the Small-Cap, Restart and Autostrade Meridionali are at the top, rising 6.4 percent and 5.9 percent, respectively.

Bologna's Guglielmo Marconi Airport--green by 1.0 percent--reported Friday that it had surpassed a record 1.1 million passengers in July, which improves by nearly 90,000 on the previous one.

The figure also shows a 17 percent increase over July 2019, before the arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic, and 13 percent over July 2022.

Tesmec - in the red by 0.2 percent - reported that the board of directors reviewed and approved the financial report as of June 30, which closed with a net loss of EUR2.6 million - generated purely in the first quarter, with a second quarter essentially breakeven - compared with a profit of EUR7.9 million in the same period last year.

Exprivia -- trading at a parity of EUR1.58 per share -- announced Friday that its board of directors approved its half-year financial report as of June 30, reporting a pre-tax profit of EUR8.1 million, up 9.1 percent from EUR7.5 million in the same period last year 2022.

TXT e-solutions -- in the red by 1.0 percent -- reported Thursday that it almost doubled net income in the first half year-on-year to EUR6.8 million from EUR3.5 million in the same period last year.

Among SMEs, Visibilia Editore opens down 12 percent to EUR0.48 after confirmation Sunday evening of the untimely death of Luca Giuseppe Reale Ruffino, who held the role of chairman and CEO as well as the company's majority shareholder. Dagospia and Corriere della Sera broke the news, which said it was suicide.

Ruffino, 60, had been appointed chairman of the board last March.

Medica - which still does not price - reported on Friday that it had closed the first half of the year with preliminary consolidated sales of around EUR33.6 million, up significantly from the EUR20.4 million in sales achieved in the first half of 2022.

Svas Biosana -- flat at EUR8.44 per share -- reported Friday that it ended the first half of the year with revenues of EUR55.0 million compared with EUR44.5 million in the same period last year.

GPI announced Friday that it had completed the acquisition of Evolucare Investment SAS through its subsidiary GPI France.

The company's current top managers -- CEO, Philippe Blanco, and commercial director, Gauthier Frandon -- will hold 3.4 percent of the capital.

Masi Agricola -- in the green by 0.2 percent -- reported Friday that it closed the first half of the year with revenues of EUR33.1 million, down from EUR36.9 million in the same period last year.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 0.2 percent at 32,254.56, the Hang Seng was in the fractional red at 19,523.92, and the Shanghai Composite finished down 0.6 percent at 3,268.83.

In New York on Friday, the Dow Jones closed in the red by 0.4 percent to 35,065.62, the S&P finished down 0.5 percent to 4,478.03 while the Nasdaq closed down 0.4 percent to 13,909.24.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0988 versus USD1.1038 in Friday's European equities close while the pound was instead worth USD1.2736 from USD1.2781 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD86.19 per barrel versus USD86.29 per barrel at Friday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,936.78 an ounce from USD1,943.43 an ounce Friday night.

On Monday's economic calendar, at 1030 CEST, space is given to the Sentix index of Eurozone investor confidence.

On the corporate calendar, the results of AbitareIn and Credito Emiliano are expected.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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