(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari meets expectations and opens Friday's trading session slightly higher.

Traders' eyes are on the quarterly results of listed companies in Italy and overseas.

The FTSE Mib opened Friday up 0.1 percent to 34,700.60, the Mid-Cap is down 0.1 percent to 46,748.45, the Small-Cap is down 0.1 percent to 28,427.11, and Italy Growth is up 0.1 percent to 8,100.03.

In Europe, London's FTSE 100 gives up 0.1 percent to 8,258.97, Paris' CAC 40 loses 0.2 percent to 7,489.16 and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is down 0.1 percent to 19,435.62.

Queen of the highest-capitalization basket in Piazza Affari is Saipem, which rises 2.5 percent after closing yesterday's session up 4.6 percent.

The company, after closing the first nine months of 2023 with a doubled profit to EUR206 million, confirms dividend payments from 2025 and plans to allocate between 30 percent and 40 percent of free cash flow to shareholders.

Next February, it will present its new strategic plan and a revised dividend policy, targeting annual revenues of more than EUR14 billion and Ebitda of EUR1.3 billion.

Eni is up 0.9% at EUR14.36. Before the open, the Six-legged Dog reported that it closed the first nine months with net income more than halved to EUR2.39 billion from EUR4.60 billion in the same period a year earlier. In the third quarter alone, net income fell to EUR522 million from EUR1.92 billion in the same quarter last year.

Adjusted net income, meanwhile, shows a decline in the nine months to EUR4.37 billion from EUR6.66 billion and in the third quarter to EUR1.27 billion from EUR1.82 billion. Pretax profit falls to EUR9.20 billion in the nine months from EUR11.92 billion and to EUR2.66 billion in the quarter from EUR3.27 billion.

The energy group also announced Friday that it had finalized an agreement with Seri Industrial--which flies on the 13 percent smallcap--for the potential development of the industrial chain of lithium-iron-phosphate electrochemical batteries for storage applications and industrial and commercial electric mobility.

The board of Italgas -- up 0.4 percent -- on Thursday approved its consolidated results for the first nine months, closing with adjusted net income attributable to the group of EUR361.7 million, up on the same period last year when it was EUR316.7 million, climbing 14 percent.

The company also announced Thursday that the board of directors has approved the renewal of the EMTN Euro Medium Term Notes Program for a maximum nominal amount of EUR10 billion. To date, bonds with a nominal maximum amount of EUR6.5 billion are outstanding under the previous EMTN Program, which had a nominal maximum amount of EUR5.6 billion.

Profit taking on Stellantis, down 1.1 percent. The company is focusing on solid-state battery technology, integrating it into new Dodge Charger Daytona models based on the Stla Large platform. This technology, developed by U.S.-based Factorial, uses a solid rather than liquid electrolyte, offering higher energy density and better performance than conventional lithium-ion batteries. As Milano Finanza recalls Thursday, the initiative follows a USD75 million investment made by Stellantis in Factorial in 2021.

Positive news for Unicredit, up 0.5 percent. In fact, Deutsche Bank, contrary to earlier assumptions, does not seem intent on intervening in Commerzbank to counter the Italian institution.

Telecom Italia opens positive by 0.1 percent. The former monopolist reported that the proxies in the hands of executive Simone De Rose, who has been implicated in investigations into alleged bribery among private individuals, have been reassigned.

Topping the Mid-Cap is Buzzi, which advances 2.7 percent.

Also doing well is Webuild, up 1.2 percent. The company reported this morning that its subsidiary Lane Construction has signed a contract for a new road project worth USD190 million in Florida.

This new contract brings the value of projects acquired and being finalized by Lane to over EUR1 billion from the beginning of 2024. The North American market thus remains strategic for Webuild, accounting for 13 percent of the group's total revenues as of June 30, 2024.

Worst on the list among midcaps is Maire Tecnimont, in the red by 2.2 percent. The company reported Thursday that it closed the first nine months of the year with net income up 63 percent to EUR144.5 million from EUR88.6 million in the same period a year earlier.

Also down was Brembo, which lost 2.0 percent.

On the Small-Cap, in addition to the aforementioned Seri Industrial, queen of the list, Bioera did well, continuing its positive rally, gaining 3.9%.

Fidia - down 3.1 percent - which is still paying the price for its first-half accounts, and Digital Bros, which drops 2.0 percent after closing Thursday's session up 4.9 percent.

Unieuro rises 0.5 percent following news of Fnac Darty's takeover bid. The deal, which was launched on September 2, accelerated significantly on Thursday, with more than 5 million Unieuro shares delivered, more than double the number in previous days.

Fnac Darty now holds 36.9 percent of the shares, adding to the 4.4 percent it already owns, bringing the total to just over 41 percent. However, it is still about 25 percent short of the minimum threshold of 66.7 percent needed for a successful bid.

Among SMEs, OSAI Automation System rises, by 4.8 percent, and 4AIM Sicaf, which gains 4.3 percent.

Websolute, which is up 2.7 percent, is doing well. The company announced Friday that subsidiary DNA has signed a long-term strategic agreement with Universal Music Italy to distribute content aimed at children, including the popular "Cuddles Sonore" and "Baby Dance School" catalogs.

This agreement grants UMI exclusive rights for digital and physical distribution of DNA's catalog, which includes series beloved by young children, such as "Whiskey and His Friends."

Still at the bottom of the list is Monnalisa, which extends yesterday's red, giving up 5.7 percent today.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed Friday's session down 0.6 percent to 37,913.92, the Shanghai Composite gained 0.6 percent to 3,299.70, and the Hang Seng gained 0.5 percent to 20,600.56.

In New York at Thursday's close, the Dow Jones lost 0.3 percent to 42,374.36, the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent to 18,415.49 and the S&P 500 gained 0.2 percent to 5,809.86.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0822 from USD1.0828 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2968 from USD1.2975 last night.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD74.63 per barrel versus USD74.54 per barrel at Thursday's European stock close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD2,729.57 an ounce from USD2,736.30 an ounce last night.

On Friday's macroeconomic calendar, at 1000 CEST, it will be the turn of the Italian business and consumer confidence level. At 1000 CEST, from Germany, focus on the IFO index, while from the ECB the money supply figure will be released.

From the U.S., at 1430 CEST, it will be the turn of the durable goods data, while at 1900 CEST the Baker Hughes plants report.

At 2130 CEST, as usual on Friday, the COT Report will be released.

On the corporate calendar, coming up are results from Biesse, Indel B, Sogefi and TrenDevice.

By Antonio Di Giorgio, Alliance News reporter

Comments and questions to redazione@alliancenews.com

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