Mib up slightly, caution reigns in markets

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari contradicts expectations and opens Thursday's session slightly higher, however, showing a mixed performance in the wake of the latest performance.

The FTSE Mib is up 0.1 percent to 28,726.74, the Mid-Cap is down 0.1 percent to 42,430.13, the Small-Cap is tied at 26,730.63, and Italy Growth is down slightly to 9,093.11.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 is up 0.3 percent to 7,612.17, Paris' CAC 40 falls 0.2 percent to 7,314.18 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 gives up 0.2 percent to 16,069.79.

Fincantieri and Leonardo--up 0.1 percent and down 0.2 percent, respectively--reported that Orizzonte Sistemi Navali, the joint venture owned 51 percent by the former and 49 percent by the latter, has signed, with the Directorate of Naval Armaments of the General Secretariat of Defense, the framework agreement for maintenance in operational condition for the aircraft carrier Cavour and the Navy's Horizon-class destroyers Andrea Doria and Caio Duilio.

The agreement has a maximum total value of EUR190 million and will run out at the end of 2028. In the coming days, the first implementation contract is expected to be signed between prime contractor OSN and Navarm, covering the first two years of service.

Eni rises 0.7 percent and Saras falls 0.6 percent despite the fact that the Italian Antitrust Authority, thanks to a report received through its whistleblowing platform, announced on Wednesday that it had opened an investigation against Eni, Esso, IP, Iplom, Q8, Tamoil and Saras for an alleged restrictive agreement on competition in the sale of motor fuel.

According to the authority, the major oil operators allegedly coordinated in determining the value of the bio component required to comply with obligations under current regulations.

At the bottom of the Mib, STMicroelectronics does worse than all at the start, down 2.1 percent.

On the Mid-Cap, in addition to the aforementioned Fincantieri and Saras, Anima Holding rises 0.2 percent after finalizing the closing for the acquisition of an 80 percent stake in Castello SGR, a company active in the promotion and management of alternative investment products mainly real estate based in Milan.

The consideration, fully paid in cash, is EUR60 million, plus about EUR1.7 million for the estimated net financial position.

Safilo Group gives up 0.3 percent. The company and Juicy Couture announced the renewal, through Dec. 31, 2027, of their global licensing agreement for the design, production, and distribution of women's eyewear and sunglasses and girls' eyewear under the Juicy Couture brand.

Among small-cap companies, SS Lazio drops 0.5 percent after selling Sergej Milinkovic Savic outright to Saudi club Al Hilal SFC. The Capitolini are to receive a fixed consideration of EUR40 million, payable in two installments.

Greenthesis drops 1.8%. Last night, the company announced Wednesday that it had appointed Vincenzo Cimini as its new general manager, effective immediately and reporting directly to the CEO, Simona Grossi.

Born in Latina in 1967, with a degree in economics from La Sapienza in Rome, Cimini also holds a master's degree from LUISS and a course in integrated waste management from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology in Boston, and previously worked at Planesys. To date, he holds 469,073 shares in the company.

"The appointment of Cimini as general manager, a figure who has grown within the company, is a response to the greater complexities that the market and the new business model impose in order to achieve the new and more ambitious growth and development objectives that the company, and with it the entire Greenthesis group, have set for themselves," the company commented.

Of note on the same list is the 8.4 percent drop in Pierrel, which, with 144,592 shares changed hands, is the basket's worst performer.

On the alternative capital market of Borsa Italiana, Prismi rises 6.5 percent after deciding to launch a EUR7.5 million convertible bond.

The POC will be divided into 663 bonds of EUR10,000 each, to be offered to Medigest, Area 62 and Tendercapital Alternative Funds. The term will be five years and no coupon payments are expected.

Prisms, from July 1, 2026, will have the option to request conversion of the bonds, which can be converted from July 1, 2026 to June 30, 2027 up to a maximum of 37.5 percent of the issued and outstanding bonds and, from July 1, 2027 up to 75 percent of the remaining bonds.

Tinexta gains 0.2 percent and Digital Magics rises 3.4 percent after kicking off a joint venture, with equal shares, aimed at making investments targeting high-potential digital startups.

The funding needed for the initiative will be contributed by Tinexta through equity financial instruments earmarked for future investments; the deal-flow of the newco will be managed by a dedicated Digital Magics team through an advisory agreement.

Participatory investments in about 10 companies, with an average ticket of EUR250,000 and the possibility of follow-on, are expected, with a total value of EUR5 million. The joint venture will have a duration of about10 years, with an investment cycle of about five years.

Energy rises 0.8 percent after reporting that it ended the first half of the year with revenues of EUR39 million, down from EUR53.3 million in the same period last year. Order backlog dropped to EUR6.5 million from EUR43.8 million, which was composed, however, of 70 percent of 2021 backlog outstanding due to material shortages. Ebitda margin is 20 percent, in line with corporate expectations and what was expected at IPO.

"Energy's management believes it can achieve in fiscal year 2023 an amount of revenues close to what was achieved in the previous year and an Ebitda margin of 20 percent. In addition, due to the opening of grid services markets to storage systems, strong growth in 2024 in the large storage systems market is expected by leading strategic research firms in the sector; therefore, Energy confirms the 2024 targets communicated to the market at the IPO, with 2022 -2024 revenue CAGR of 30 percent and Ebitda margin of 20 percent," the company explained.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed down 1.2 percent to 32,490.52, the Shanghai Composite gave up 0.9 percent to 3,169.52, and the Hang Seng was down 0.2 percent to 18,916.71.

In New York, the Dow Jones closed Wednesday down 0.3 percent to 35,061.21, the Nasdaq finished just above par at 14,358.02 and the S&P 500 rose 0.2 percent to 4,565.72.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.1215 versus USD1.1194 in Wednesday's closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2922 from USD1.2888 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD79.53 per barrel versus USD80.03 per barrel at Wednesday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD1,982.16 an ounce from USD1,974.04 an ounce last night.

On Thursday's macroeconomic calendar, the Eurozone current account balance figure will be released at 1000 CEST.

At 1430 CEST, from the U.S., will come initial claims for unemployment benefits while at 1600 CEST space will be given to existing home sales. At 1730 CEST, an auction of four- and eight-week Treasury bonds is scheduled.

Among the companies in the Piazza Affari, the results of Altea Green Power, Gismondi and Labomar are forthcoming.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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