Declines expected in opening; focus on Stellantis

(Alliance News) - Piazza Affari is expected to fall ahead of Monday's start of trading on a day marked by several incoming macro data for Italy and the eurozone.

The FTSE Mib is seen down 248.5 points or 0.7 percent after closing up 0.5 percent at 33,414.56 Friday.

London's FTSE 100 is expected to be essentially flat, Paris' CAC 40 is shown down 53.3 points or 0.7 percent and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is estimated to be down 53.1 points or 0.3 percent.

In Milan on Friday evening, the Mid-Cap was up 0.2 percent to 47,052.26, the Small-Cap gained 0.8 percent to 27,332.93, and the Italy Growth was up 0.2 percent to 7,678.22.

Earlier in the day, eyes will be on Stellantis, after Carlos Tavares surprisingly resigned as CEO, effective immediately, after months of tension.

The announcement, which came on Sunday evening with stock exchanges closed, was welcomed by the board of directors, which has already begun the process of appointing a successor, expected by June 2025. In the meantime, management will be entrusted to a new executive committee chaired by John Elkann.

Elkann thanked Tavares for his work, emphasizing his crucial role in consolidating Stellantis as a global leader, following successes with PSA and Opel. He also reiterated his commitment to continue with the company's strategy in the long-term interest of shareholders and stakeholders.

Meanwhile, on Friday evening, on the highest-capitalization list in Piazza Affari, Amplifon took the top spot at the end of the session, up 2.3 percent, followed by STMicroelectronics, which gained 2.2 percent.

Telecom Italia closed at the bottom, down 1.5 percent. The former monopolist reported Friday that it had cashed in EUR250 million from the sale to Ardian of the remaining 10 percent in Inwit, which instead finished at par.

The deal, the signing of which had been disclosed to the market last August 13, is based on a valuation of Inwit shares of EUR10.43 and, taking into account existing net debt at the Daphne 3 level, results in TIM's proceeds of about EUR250 million, which is not included in the organic guidance for net debt for 2024.

Nexi gave up 0.1 percent while the POS payments and ATM withdrawal system is down in Italy, due to a problem apparently caused by Worldline.

Nexi said, "With reference to the serious incident communicated yesterday by Worldline, which has generated major disruptions on several banks in Europe and especially in Italy, currently, the issue is not yet resolved by Worldline."

"Worldline has communicated that it is working to identify potential alternative solutions to reactivate services, pending the restoration of the damaged physical infrastructure. At this time, we have not yet received firm information on the timing of resolution."

BPER Banca -- up 1.0 percent -- announced Thursday that it intends to advance repay the Banca Carige bond to 2029 -- a Tier II callable fixed-rate bond with reset.

The redemption will be at par for EUR200.0 million, plus accrued interest up to the redemption date. Upon completion of the transaction, the bond will be delisted from the DomesticMOT.

On the Mid-Cap, Digital Value rose 1.9 percent. The stock has gained just under 50% in the past month.

Acea -- up 1.1 percent -- announced Thursday that it had been awarded the tender for the management of integrated water service in the Ato Ovest Provincia di Imperia area, worth an estimated more than EUR1.0 billion. Through Acea Molise, a wholly owned subsidiary of the group, Acea will acquire 48% of the newly formed mixed public-private company Rivieracqua, which holds the concession until 2042.

Mondadori closed up 0.2 percent. According to a report in Il Sole 24 Ore on Friday, negotiations to acquire Lattes Editori, a well-known Turin-based publisher specializing in books for secondary schools, stalled after months of negotiations.

On the Small-Cap, the Tesmec rally continued, rising 7.1 percent, its third consecutive session among the bullish.

CY4Gate--up 3.8 percent--reported Friday that it has signed contracts worth a total of about EUR1.2 million with leading Italian corporate and institutional clients to acquire solutions in Cyber Security and Forensic Intelligence.

doValue closed up 2.5 percent. SIH Partners limited its short position on the stock to 0.79 percent from 0.80 percent.

Among SMEs, Soges Group rose 1.0 percent after its board of directors approved the implementation of a transaction that includes the acquisition of the entire share capital of Hotel Bretagna and, indirectly, its wholly owned subsidiary Incorsi.

RedFish LongTerm Capital - down 0.8 percent to EUR1.20 - approved the issuance of the first tranche of the "6% Sustainable Growth 2024-2029" bond, amounting to EUR2.6 million out of a total of EUR15 million.

Consisting of 103 bonds with a nominal value of EUR25,000 each, the tranche will be issued on December 2 and mature on December 1, 2029, with gross annual interest of 6 percent, paid monthly. At the same time, the company agreed to a partial repayment of EUR2.5 million of the "TV Eur + 500bps 2022-2025" loan, in an agreement signed on November 28.

Gentili Mosconi closed at a breakeven after reporting Thursday its results for the first nine months of the year, which recorded consolidated revenues of EUR31.2 million, compared to EUR37.0 million in the same period of 2023, showing a 16 percent decline.

Reway Group - unchanged at the end of the day - reported on Friday that its subsidiary Gema - among the leading operators active in infrastructure maintenance and civil works in the railway sector - has been awarded two new contracts in the railway sector with a total value of EUR56 million.

The first contract, awarded entirely to Gema by Rete Ferroviaria Italiana and worth a total of about EUR45.6 million, concerns the executive design and construction of acoustic mitigation works along the BolognaLecce railway line in the municipality of Tortoreto, Teramo.

In Asia, the Nikkei is up 0.7 percent to 38,474.45, the Shanghai Composite gains 0.8 percent to 3,353.28 and the Hang Seng rises 0.2 percent to 19,461.29.

In New York, the Dow closed Friday up 0.4 percent to 44,910.65, the Nasdaq rose 0.8 percent to 19,218.17 and the S&P 500 gained 0.6 percent to 6,032.38.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0527 from USD1.0556 on Friday in closing European equities. The pound is worth USD1.2694 versus USD1.2703 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth YSD72.36 per barrel from USD73.38 at Friday's close. Gold trades at USD2,632.25 an ounce from USD2,655.54 an ounce Friday evening.

Monday's macroeconomic calendar features manufacturing PMIs from Spain, Italy, France, Germany, the Eurozone and the UK, coming between 0915 CET and 1030 CET.

At 1100 CET, eyes on Italy's Gross Domestic Product and the Eurozone unemployment rate.

At 1600 CET, the focus will shift overseas, with PMIs and T-Note auctions at 1600 CET.

Among companies in the Piazza Affari, no special events are planned.

By Giuseppe Fabio Ciccomascolo, Alliance News senior reporter

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