Mib closes up; MFE soars on Berlusconi's farewell

(Alliance News) - At the start of central bank week and on the day of Silvio Berlusconi's death, European stock markets close higher, with former Mediaset stocks rising sharply after the news came from Milan's San Raffaele.

Silvio Berlusconi, who dominated Italian public life for decades as a billionaire media mogul, businessman and prime minister, has died at the age of 86. He leaves behind five children, all involved in running his business empire.

Despite being diagnosed with leukemia, he was active in politics until the end as a senator and partner in the right-wing government of the premier, Giorgia Meloni.

On the macroeconomic front, however, no particular cues from the Eurozone and the U.S., with traders focused on decisions from the Federal Reserve, European Central Bank, and Bank of Japan coming between Wednesday and Thursday.

The FTSE Mib closed up 0.9 percent to 27,410.47, the Mid-Cap gained 1.3 percent to 43,587.52, the Small-Cap rose 0.2 percent to 27,318.98, and Italy Growth lost 0.2 percent to 9,161.43.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gained 0.1 percent, Paris' CAC 40 closed up 0.5 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 rose 0.8 percent.

Starting with stocks linked to the founder of Forza Italia, on the main list, Mediolanum closed up 0.4 percent while, on the Mid-Cap, his creature, MFE, the new Mediaset, saw A shares rise 5.9 percent-after being suspended during the day for overbought, more than 12 percent-and B shares rise 2.3 percent. Mondadori, on the other hand, posted a gain of 1.5 percent.

All the spotlight is on the holding company Fininvest, the parent company in which Silvio Berlusconi held a 61.2 percent stake that will now be the focus of the Forza Italia founder's will. The assets left by Berlusconi, who will be buried in the mausoleum of his Arcore villa, include stock market holdings worth about EUR3 billion at market prices, plus immense real estate and financial investments that together are worth another EUR3 billion.

The prized piece remains Mediaset, 50% controlled by Fininvest and where there is a complicated guest to manage as the Vivendi group, which controls 16% through the Simon trust and then has another 3.9% directly.

On the Mib, Enel closed up 0.6 percent after appointing Stefano De Angelis as manager in charge of drafting corporate accounting documents, taking over from Alberto De Paoli.

BPER Banca - up 1.5 percent - also made a new appointment, announcing that it has "further strengthened its Private and Wealth Management division" with the entry of Dario Di Muro, who comes from Fideuram and will aim "to contribute to the development of BPER Banca's network of financial advisors."

Telecom Italia reacts 1.8 percent lower to the receipt of new offers from KKR on the one hand and CDP-Macquarie on the other for the network. The two non-binding offers, as explained by the company in a note, will be reviewed by TIM's board of directors at meetings scheduled for June 19 and 22.

On the Mid-Cap, according to an Evaluation.it analysis, Salvatore Ferragamo -- up 2.2 percent -- "shows a slightly higher riskiness than the market average -- beta of 1.05 -- reflecting on the one hand its presence in a sector linked to tourist flows and economic trends and on the other hand the geographic diversification of its activities."

"The model results converge on a value per share of EUR14.8, which tends to increase/decrease by EUR1.4 for each plus/minus point of margin on sales," the stock report said.

Fincantieri gained 1.3 percent after announcing that, as part of the governmental and industrial cooperation program between Italy and Germany related to the U-212A class of submarines, it signed a contract with the Naval Armaments Directorate of the General Secretariat of Defense and National Armaments Directorate for on-demand support of German Navy vessels.

The contract will be for five years and will replicate the on-demand service model that Fincantieri operates on Italian Navy vessels, that is, intervening on call to ensure the highest performance of the units.

Among the small-cap companies, Piquadro rose 6.3 percent on the day it approved its draft financial statements for the fiscal year from April 1, 2022 to March 31, 2023, which closed with a net profit of about EUR6.5 million, an improvement of about EUR2.1 million from the year ended March 31, 2022.

II group reported sales of EUR175.6 million, up 18 percent from the same period in the previous year that ended at EUR149.4 million.

The Piquadro group reported positive Ebitda of approximately EUR27.7 million in the year ended March 31, 2023, an increase of approximately EUR2.4 million from the figure recorded for the year ended March 31, 2022 of EUR25.3 million.

Gequity declined by 3.1 percent. The company ended 2022 with a loss of EUR1.8 million, which compares with a loss of EUR2.7 million in the previous year.

As for revenues, these amounted to EUR3.8 million from EUR4.0 million in the previous year. Ebitda is negative EUR1.3 million essentially unchanged from 2021.

Newlat Food gained 0.3 percent after announcing on Friday that it had sold 3.9 million of its own shares, or about 8.9 percent of the share capital, to a group of institutional investors, including Helikon Investments and Banor, at a price of EUR5.80 per share, broadly in line with current market prices and the IPO price.

The same investors also signed an option agreement to purchase, under certain conditions, the remaining portion of treasury shares held by the company.

Among the SMEs listed on the Milan Stock Exchange, Estrima lost 1.5 percent after reporting that the board appointed the company's chairman, Matteo Maestri, as its new chief executive officer.

Maestri takes over from Ludovico Maggiore and also recaptures the role of chief financial officer in place of the resigning Cristina Ceccato, assisted by Stefania Zuccato and Barbara De Paoli.

Maggiore remains on the board, taking on the role of investor relator and continuing the development of Birò's renting and sharing business areas. In addition, Maggiore will also continue to preside together with the other two partner-directors - Matteo Maestri and Ermes Fornasier - over the development strategy of the company and the group.

Fenix Entertainment dropped 9.9 percent after reporting that it closed 2022 with a loss of EUR5.5 million compared to about EUR528,000 in profit the previous year.

Production value was EUR36.4 million, compared to EUR43.8 million in the previous year.

In New York, the Dow rises 0.1 percent to 33,908.51, the Nasdaq gains 0.5 percent to 13,324.45, and the S&P 500 is up 0.2 percent to 4,306.96.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0748 versus USD1.0770 in Friday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2510 from USD1.2581 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD71.77 per barrel versus USD76.17 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,949.76 an ounce from USD1,978.85 an ounce last night.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar calls for UK employment data to arrive at 0800 CEST, the same time as Germany's inflation data. An hour later, from Spain, room for the consumer price index.

At 1100 CEST, eyes on the ZEW index of sentiment on the Eurozone and German economies. At 1300 CEST, the OPEC monthly report will be released.

Inflation also coming from the SUA, at 1430 CEST, before the day closes with weekly oil stocks, due out at 2230 CEST.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, AbitareIn's accounts are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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