Shares in Italian spirits group Campari were among the biggest decliners on the MIB index on the Milan Stock Exchange on Thursday, penalized by a recommendation downgrade from RBC.

Analysts at the Canadian bank downgraded their recommendation to 'underperform' from 'in-line performance', with a price target reduced from 9.4 to 8.2 euros.

A lot of things are happening at Campari at the moment, and we're becoming increasingly concerned", say Royal Bank of Canada staff.

Analysts cite, in no particular order, the growing volatility of results (three of the last four quarters have been disappointing, in their opinion), the forthcoming departure of a CEO who is highly regarded by the market, and a major acquisition in the complicated cognac market.

Given the weakness of the Courvoisier brand, as well as the destocking and promotions affecting the sector, RBC considers the operation to present a "considerable" risk, leading it to rule out any value creation through the acquisition.

Despite all these factors, the stock has outperformed its peers in the spirits sector", notes the bank, which consequently prefers to downgrade its recommendation.

At 12:00 pm, Campari's share price was down more than 2%, the third biggest drop on the Milan Stock Exchange's MIB index.

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