Indices up; wait for U.S. inflation

(Alliance News) - On Tuesday, European indexes remain in the green at mid-session as the release of U.S. inflation data is awaited.

Thus, the FTSE Mib is in the green 0.4 percent to 33,452.70, the Mid-Cap picks up 0.5 percent to 46,402.32, the Small-Cap is green 0.3 percent to 27,444.33, while Italy Growth is up 0.3 percent to 8,071.60.

In Europe, Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.1 percent, London's FTSE 100 is up 1.0 percent, and Frankfurt's DAX 40 is up 0.3 percent.

On the Mib, Leonardo is doing even better than everyone else and is up 4.3% after reporting its final results for 2023 and approving its business plan from 2028.

In detail, the company explained that the business plan to 2028 includes total orders of EUR105 billion, total revenues of EUR95 billion, and Free Operating Cash Flow doubled to EUR1.35 billion.

In addition, profitability of 10 percent in 2026 and 11.5 percent in 2028 is expected, while doubling the dividend to EUR0.28 per share has been proposed.

Also doing well are Saipem, up 2.8%, and DiaSorin, up 2.3%.

Telecom Italia rises 1.0%, after publishing a supplementary press release and presentation of its business plan to 2026, specifying that pro forma net debt net of estimated deleverage for the Netco deal of about EUR6.1 billion as of December 31, 2023, is expected to be about EUR7.5 billion at the end of 2024.

A2A also rises, up 1.1 percent. The company reported a net profit of EUR659 million in 2023, up 64 percent from the previous year when it was EUR401 million.

The board of directors resolved to propose to the ordinary shareholders' meeting to approve a dividend of EUR0.0958 from EUR0.0904 in 2022.

As of Dec. 31, revenues stood at EUR14.76 billion from EUR23.16 billion, down 36 percent from fiscal year 2022 due to bearish dynamics in commodity prices, the company explained in a note.

Assicurazioni Generali advances 1.0 percent after announcing Monday that it achieved a "record" normalized net profit of EUR3.58 billion in 2023, up 14 percent from EUR3.13 billion in 2022. The board also proposed a dividend per share at EUR1.28, up about 10 percent from EUR1.16 in 2022.

Among the bearish performers is Unipol, down 1.2 percent. Also going down is Italgas, down 0.4 percent.

On the cadet segment, Salvatore Ferragamo rises 0.4 percent after announcing Tuesday that it will rejoin Euronext's MIB ESG index, the Environmental, Social and Governance basket dedicated to Italian blue-chips that identifies the top 40 listed companies with ESG best practices, as of March 18.

The board of Cementir Holding -- in the green by 2.3 percent -- on Monday reviewed the draft financial statements for the year ending Dec. 31, 2023, reporting a group net profit of EUR223.3 million compared to EUR161.2 million in 2022.

The board proposed increasing the dividend by 27.3 percent to EUR0.28 per share from EUR0.22 a year earlier.

Fincantieri rises 2.6 percent after announcing Thursday that it improved its loss in 2023 to a loss of EUR53 million from a loss of EUR324 million as of Dec. 31, 2022. Revenues in the period stood at EUR7.65 billion from EUR7.44 billion in 2022.

In addition, the company announced Tuesday that it has signed a Memorandum of Understanding together with the Alexandria shipyard in Doha, Qatar, for a collaboration that will focus on possible new defense ship programs will different types.

Maire Tecnimont gains 1.2 percent. In recent days the company announced that Tecnimont has been awarded through competitive bidding by Sonatrach an Engineering, Procurement, Construction and Commisioning contract for a new linear alkyl benzene sulfonate plant in the Skikda industrial zone, 350 kilometers east of Algiers. The value of the contract is approximately USD1.1 billion.

Among the smallcaps, Somec gives up 0.6 percent, after announcing that it has reviewed its pre-closing data for fiscal year 2023 and, as a result, revised downward its expectations for 2023, published last September. Specifically, the company now expects Ebitda to be below the minimum value in the previously disclosed range by about 25 percent. Net financial position, on the other hand, will be above the maximum value expected from the range by about 20 percent.

Conafi is not yet affected by trading. The company on Monday announced that Raffaele Borriello has resigned, effective today, from his position as director and chairman of the board.

Safilo Group gains 1.0 percent after announcing that it has renewed its global license agreement with Missoni for Missoni-branded eyewear until the end of 2029.

Among SMEs, Espe rises 16 percent after announcing Tuesday that it has concluded agreements with three major Independent Power Producers customers to build ground-mounted photovoltaic plants on Italian territory for a total of 59 MWp or about EUR31 million.

Siav is not yet trading. The company announced Monday that its subsidiary Mitric has entered into a strategic distribution agreement with Gulf Software Distribution, one of the leading players in IBM value-added distribution in the Middle East.

The agreement, which took effect immediately, marks a new chapter in Mitric's expansion into geographic markets with high technology and innovation potential such as the United Arab Emirates, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain, Saudi Arabia and Egypt.

Pasquarelli Auto gives up 2.1 percent. The company announced Friday that it has signed an agreement to lease a business unit of Giansante Auto, a dealership for the Fiat, Abarth, Lancia and Fiat Professional brands for the provinces of Chieti and Pescara, as well as a retailer of used cars, founded in 1949.

In 2022 Giansante Auto had revenues of about EUR24.3 million, a negative EBITDA of about EUR1.1 million and a loss of about EUR1.4 million. In 2023, the company activated the negotiated settlement procedure for business crisis resolution. The transaction is aimed at the possible future purchase of Giansante Auto. The rent for the business unit is set at EUR10,000 monthly.

In New York, the Dow closed in the green by 0.1 percent at 38,769.66, the Nasdaq closed in the red by 0.4 percent at 16,019.27 while the S&P 500 also finished in the red by 0.1 percent at 5,117.94.

Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0934 against USD1.0948 recorded in Monday's European stock close, while the pound was worth USD1.2795 from USD1.2807 on Monday evening.

Brent crude is worth USD82.73 per barrel versus USD82.45 per barrel at Monday's close. Gold, meanwhile, trades at USD2,182.35 an ounce from USD2,181.00 an ounce on Monday evening.

Tuesday's macroeconomic calendar calls for the OPEC monthly report to be released at 1200 CET.

From the US - at 1330 CET -, the inflation figure will be published while in the evening, at 2230 CET, it will be the turn of the publication of the weekly oil stocks report.

By Claudia Cavaliere, Alliance News reporter

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