Mib worst among Europeans; MPS tops the Mib

(Alliance News) - At mid-day Monday, Piazza Affari veers toward the downside while Paris and Frankfurt hover around parity after all opening higher on a poor day in terms of macroeconomic data.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the red 0.6 percent to 26,542.98, the Mid-Cap drops 0.7 percent to 42,048.32, the Small-Cap is in the red 0.5 percent to 27,540.42, and Italy Growth is in the green 0.2 percent to 9,125.94.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in fractional green as is Frankfurt's DAX while London is closed for bank holiday.

On the macro front, of note, Italy recorded a trade surplus with non-European countries in April, as reported by Istat on Monday.

Italy's trade balance with countries outside the EU shows a positive figure of EUR1.22 billion, which compares with a deficit of EUR2.71 billion in the same month a year earlier.

The energy deficit of EUR5.83 billion is lower than a year earlier, when it was EUR9.29 billion, while the surplus in the interchange of non-energy products of EUR6.57 billion is up from March 2022, when it was EUR7.05 billion.

On the main index in Piazza Affari, Banca Monte dei Paschi remains on top with 1.1 percent followed by Tenaris up 0.9 percent and Hera, up 0.1 percent.

The rest of the Mib, however, veered entirely into the red zone, with Banco BPM closing the list down 1.9 percent. Mediobanca and Nexi also hurt, down 1.7 percent.

Eni - down 0.3 percent - announced Monday that it has signed an agreement with RINA, a multinational inspection, certification and engineering consultancy firm, with the aim of developing joint initiatives "to contribute to the process of energy transition and decarbonization of their respective activities with particular attention to the shipping sector, in which RINA and Eni will be able to enhance each other's expertise," according to the press note.

Stellantis--down 0.1 percent--announced Thursday that Stellantis Ventures, the company's venture capital fund, has invested in Lyten to accelerate the commercialization of Lyten's 3D Graphene applications for the mobility sector, including the LytCell lithium-sulfur battery for EVs, lightweight composite materials, and new onboard sensing systems.

Lyten, a company pioneering the use of three-dimensional graphene, will leverage the unique tunability of this material to improve vehicle performance and customer experience while promoting the decarbonization of the transportation sector.

UniCredit--declining 0.6 percent--reported Friday that it has expanded its payments partnership with Mastercard that enables the former to provide all cardholders with a first-class offering, with a simplified product proposition, a streamlined digital experience with a full suite of in-app solutions, and the development of a dedicated approach to innovation, increasing payment choice for customers across multiple payment solutions.

Telecom Italia is in the red by 1.2 percent. The company had announced Friday that Elio Schiavo has been appointed chairman of the board of directors of Olivetti, a benefit company wholly owned by the group and active in the field of Internet of Things.

On the cadet segment, the bullish are the minority, led by Alerion, in the green by 1.2 percent followed by BFF Bank, up 1.0 percent, and Maire Tecnimont, advancing 0.8 percent. Maire announced Thursday that it has signed a new EUR40 million loan agreement with BPER Corporate & Investment Banking, assisted for 80% of the amount by a guarantee granted by SACE, in order to further strengthen the group's financial structure.

The board of directors of Autogrill - in the red by 0.2 percent - on Thursday approved the signing, as borrower, of an intercompany, revolving, multi-currency, cd downstream loan agreement of up to EUR700 million with Dufry Financial Services, an indirect wholly owned subsidiary of Autogrill's controlling shareholder Dufry.

OVS - in the red by 1.8 percent - announced that it purchased 201,669 ordinary shares between May 18 and May 24, 2023. The shares were purchased at an average unit price of EUR2.6027 for a total consideration of EUR524,876.13.

Saras gives up 0.2 percent and goes to the bearish side after opening up 0.9 percent.

Worst of all is Salcef Group, down 2.2 percent.

On the Small-Cap side, Tesmec--down 1.0%--reported Friday that Cerved Rating Agency, an Italian agency that specializes in assessing the creditworthiness of non-financial companies, confirmed the company's "B1.2" solicited rating assigned to the company.

Bialetti gives up 0.4 percent. The company announced Friday that Bialetti Holding Srl purchased 100,000 ordinary shares in the company.

The shares were taken over at an average unit price of EUR0.2660, for a total value of EUR26,600 or so.

Trevi Finanziaria Industriale - in the red by 0.9 percent - reported Thursday that its Trevi and Soilmec divisions were awarded contracts and orders worth a total of EUR216.2 million in the first four months of 2023. Thanks to these acquisitions, the group's order book as of April 2023 stands at EUR591 million.

Mondo TV--up 1.2 percent--reported Thursday that it has signed a new license with Sia All Media Latvia, a leading broadcaster operating in the Baltics, for the television broadcast of Agent 203 and Monster Loving Maniacs.

The series were co-produced by Mondo Tv with Toon2Tango, and the license includes the possibility of broadcasting the series for a period of three years.

At the top is Conafi Prestitò, up 6.0 percent, while on the other side of the list is Seri Industrial in the red by 6.7 percent.

Among SMEs, Casta Diva Group climbs 3.6 percent, after announcing Monday that it had approved its draft financial statements as of December 31, 2022, in which revenues stood at EUR83.6 million, up 210 percent from EUR26.9 million in the same period last year.

Value of production stood at EUR83.9 million, up 182% from EUR29.7 million.

Profit is EUR1.8 million from EUR429,211 in 2021.

Imvest - in the red by 2.6 percent - announced that it has approved draft financial statements for the year ended Dec. 31, 2022, having reported sales revenue of EUR4.0 million from EUR2.8 million in the same period in 2021.

Value of production is EUR4.6 million from EUR2.6 million in the same period of the previous year.

Loss amounts to EUR1.2 million from one of EUR5.3 million in 2021.

Neosperience - down 1.9 percent - reports that a reserved capital increase has been approved, excluding pre-emptive rights and aimed at completing the acquisition of Rhei Srl, already 51 percent owned.

The value of 100 percent of Rhei has been quantified at EUR6.3 million and the minimum value of 49 percent thus amounts to approximately EUR3.09 million.

In New York on Friday, the Dow closed in the green 1.0 percent to 33,093.34, the Nasdaq rose 2.2 percent to 12,975.69 while the S&P 500 finished up 1.3 percent to 4,205.45.

In Asia, the Nikkei closed up 1.1 percent, the Hang Seng finished down 1.0 percent while the Shanghai Composite finished the day in the green by 0.3 percent.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0714 against USD1.0703 in Friday's European equities close. In contrast, the pound is worth USD1.2341 from USD1.2330 on Friday evening.

Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD76.75 per barrel versus USD76.56 per barrel Friday night. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,946.20 an ounce from USD1,941.55 an ounce Friday night.

On Monday afternoon's macroeconomic calendar, no major events are scheduled.

By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter

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