Mib up, ECB minutes do not scare traders

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari closed higher on Thursday, with markets orphaned by Wall Street, which remained closed for Thanksgiving.

Axel Rudolph, senior market analyst at IG, said, "Although the European Central Bank minutes show that rate hikes remain on the table and we have seen the sixth consecutive month of declining European private sector activity, albeit at a more moderate pace, European equity indices continue to rise. However, the contraction in the German private sector eased in November, beating market expectations."

The FTSE Mib closed in the green by 0.3 percent at 29,235.71, the Mid-Cap gave up 0.1 percent to 41,581.48, the Small-Cap finished just above par at 25,780.42, and Italy Growth rose 0.4 percent to 7,856.21.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 closed up 0.2 percent, Paris' CAC 40 finished up 0.3 percent as did Frankfurt's DAX 40.

On the main list in Piazza Affari Leonardo closed up 0.8 percent, rearing its head after two bearish sessions.

Enel -- down 0.1 percent -- reported Thursday that its CEO and managing director, Flavio Cattaneo, has taken over one million shares through a wholly owned subsidiary of him at an average price of EUR6.3996 each and a countervalue of EUR6.3 million.

Cattaneo now holds 2.5 million shares with a total value of EUR16 million.

Eni rose 1.4 percent. The company reported that, with its partner Petroci, it successfully started production from Baleine in August this year, achieving a time-to-market of less than two years from the giant discovery.

Oil production from Baleine stands at 20,000 barrels per day, far exceeding the 12,000 barrels per day originally planned. The project is expected to reach its plateau of 50,000 barrels of oil per day by the end of 2024, with the completion of the second phase of development; full development of the field is expected to produce up to 150,000 barrels per day.

Banco BPM -- up 0.4 percent -- reported that it has successfully completed a new senior preferred social issue with a four-year maturity in the amount of EUR500 million. The issue is the group's first full investment grade. Orders, amounting to more than EUR2 billion, exceeded four times the amount issued, with the participation of more than 150 investors, confirming the increasing recognition by investors in the Banco BPM name. About 90 percent of the allocated orders had an ESG connotation.

The bond was issued at a price of 99.818 percent and pays a fixed coupon of 4.625 percent. The bond, which is reserved for institutional investors, was issued under the bank's Euro Medium Term Notes Program.

The tail end of the list, however, is for Prysmian, which gave up 1.5 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, MFE-MediaForEurope did best of all after announcing Thursday that in the first nine months of the year it reported consolidated net income of EUR71.0 million from EUR78.5 million in the same period last year.

As of Sept. 30, consolidated revenues stood at EUR1.86 billion, down from EUR1.90 billion in the first nine months 2022. Ebit in the period was EUR98.3 million from EUR97.6 million as of September 30, 2022. MFE's class A shares closed up 7.2 percent while class B shares gained 6.2 percent.

Fincantieri - in the red by 0.9 percent - announced that it has signed a 10-year contract with the Armament Authority of the Ministry of Defense of the Arab Republic of Egypt for two Fremm units of In-Service Support and Integrated Logistic Support, i.e., preventive maintenance services, logistic studies and corrective maintenance on demand, worth about EUR260 million.

LU-VE, on the other hand, contracted 1.5 percent after declining 0.7 percent on the eve.

On the Small-Cap, Restart closed at par at EUR0.22 per share after eve's loss of 2.3 percent.

Aquafil gave up 0.9%. The company presented its 2023-2025 strategic plan on Tuesday, reporting, for the period, a forecast for sales volume growth.

However, for fiscal year 2023, in terms of volumes, a negative change of between 3 percent and 4 percent from the previous year is expected. Expected Ebitda for FY 2023 is in the range of EUR45-50 million while adjusted Ebitda from this effect is in the range of EUR68-70 million.

Cellularline - flat at EUR2.34 - on Wednesday announced that it has authorized a buyback plan for 1.0 million shares corresponding to about 4.6 percent of the share capital and for a maximum amount of EUR3 million.

Among SMEs, Fope closed flat at EUR27.20, with the weekly gain amounting to 15 percent.

Almawave--up 1.8 percent--reported that its subsidiary The Data Appeal Company has signed a binding agreement to acquire 70 percent of the share capital of Mabrian Technologies, a company based in Spain--Minorca and Barcelona--active in the development of solutions in the Travel and Destination Intelligence fields and focused on innovative data analytics and decision intelligence AI KPI's.

The deal involves The Data Appeal's purchase of 70 percent, in cash, of Mabrian's share capital. The price paid, amounting to approximately EUR3.7 million, was agreed on the basis of an enterprise value of EUR6.1 million and will be subject to adjustment on the date of closing on the basis of the Final Net Financial Position. The deal also provides for the possible recognition of an earn-out, amounting to a maximum of EUR1.5 million, upon the achievement of specific outstanding economic and financial performance, to be recognized following the approval of the 2023 financial statements.

Convergenze, on the other hand, closed 9.0 percent in the red at EUR1.31 per share before going into a volatility auction, with the stock subject to profit taking after three sessions of major gains.

In New York, markets are closed for Thanksgiving.

Among currencies, the euro changes hands at USD1.0905 versus USD1.0871 recorded at Wednesday's European stock close, while the pound is worth USD1.2531 from USD1.2463 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD80.97 per barrel from USD79.23 per barrel at yesterday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,991.65 an ounce from USD1,993.28 an ounce on Wednesday evening.

Friday's macroeconomic calendar opens with Japanese inflation at 0030 CET, ahead of the GfK index of British consumer confidence, due at 0101 CET. Japan's services and manufacturing PMIs will arrive at 0130 CET.

Then eyes on Germany's Gross Domestic Product, at 0800 CET, followed an hour later by producer prices in Spain. The ifo index on German business confidence will arrive at 1000 CET.

In the US, where markets will close at 1300 local due to the Thanksgiving holiday, the manufacturing PMI will be released at 1545 CET, along with the services PMI.

Among companies listed on the Stock Exchange, DHH's results are expected.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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