(Alliance News) - Mid-day Friday, the Mib changes course and, after opening in the red, now moves above parity, buoyed by some good results from listed companies.
On the macro front, of note, the Hamburg Commercial Bank's PMI index for the construction sector for the Eurozone fell to 43.5 points in July from 44.2 in June, signaling a sharp and accelerating decline in overall construction activity at a pace of contraction that was the strongest to date.
Italy's HCOB PMI index for the Italian construction sector released by S&P Global on Friday fell to 48.0 in July from 48.6 in June and remaining below the no-change threshold of 50.0.
As a result, the FTSE Mib is in fractional green at 28,712.77, the Mid-Cap is up 0.1 percent to 42,269.80, the Small-Cap is up 0.8 percent to 27,083.06, and Italy Growth is in the red 0.5 percent to 8,907.50.
Paris' CAC 40 is in the green by 0.6 percent, Frankfurt's DAX 40 rises with 0.3 percent and London's FTSE 100 is just above par.
Among the day's other macros, Istat reported Friday that it estimates Italy's industrial production index rose 0.5 percent in June compared to May, slowing from the figure -- revised upward by 0.1 percentage point -- of 1.7 percent in May. FXstreet estimated a 0.3% decline.
Adjusted for calendar effects, in June the index declines in trend terms by 0.8 percent from a 3.6 percent decline in May--revised from an estimate of a 3.7 percent decline--and an improvement over FXstreet's forecast of a 2.0 percent decline.
On the Mib, Banca Monte dei Paschi di Siena does best of all with a 3.5 percent rise after Thursday evening's review of results as of June 30 reporting a group profit before tax of EUR615 million, up from the pre-tax profit of EUR44 million reported in the corresponding period of 2022. Net interest income increased to EUR1.08 billion from EUR658.5 million in the first half of 2022.
FinecoBank -- in the black by 1.0 percent -- reported Friday that net inflows in July were confirmed at EUR486 million, in line with the estimates announced in the first-half results.
Since the beginning of the year, inflows amount to EUR5.7 billion.
Banca Mediolanum -- advancing 0.2 percent -- reported Friday that it reported trading results of EUR773 million in July, of which total net inflows amounted to EUR478 million, corresponding to EUR5.2 billion since the beginning of the year.
Net inflows in assets under management amounted to EUR176 million, corresponding to EUR2.3 billion since the beginning of the year.
Saipem - in the green by 0.3 percent - reported Thursday that it had been awarded two new contracts for offshore E&C activities in Romania and Germany, worth a total of about EUR1.8 billion.
On Thursday, Pirelli--which gave up 0.4 percent--reported that it had signed a renewal of its prior agreement with the Italian Revenue Agency to continue to take advantage of the Patent Box tax benefit, excluding trademarks, with reference to the 2020-2024 tax years.
The estimated tax benefit for the three-year period 2020-2022 is approximately EUR40 million, with a similar estimated positive impact on net income.
On the cadet segment, Sanlorenzo is confirmed as the best in the list with 4.4 percent after announcing Thursday that it achieved a group net income of EUR39.0 million in the first half of the year, up 20 percent from EUR32.5 million in the first half of 2022.
Banca Ifis follows, rising 2.7 percent. On Thursday the board of directors approved the results for the first half of the year, Net income attributable to the group was EUR91.0 million, up 26 percent from EUR72.5 million in the first half of 2022.
Also doing well was illimity Bank- up 2.7 percent-, which on Friday morning announced that it had approved results for the first half of the year in which it posted net income up 66 percent to EUR52.2 million from EUR31.5 million in the same period a year earlier.
Net interest income stood at EUR97.7 million as of June 30 from EUR74.1 million and up 32 percent year-on-year.
Salvatore Ferragamo -- in the green by 2.1 percent -- reported Thursday that it closed the first half with revenues down to EUR600 million from EUR630 million in the same period a year earlier. UBS also raised the target price of the stock to EUR14.00 from EUR13.50 with a 'sell' recommendation.
As explained by the fashion house, as of June 30, 2023, the Retail distribution channel reported net sales down 5.9 percent compared to the same period in 2022, mainly due to the slowdown in the U.S. market and some planned closures as part of the strategic plan, while performance in EMEA and Greater China was positive.
Datalogic-which advanced 0.6 percent after closing the session with a 12 percent loss, on Wednesday released its consolidated half-year financial report as of June 30 reporting a profit of EUR12.1 million down from EUR8.8 million recorded in the first half of 2022. The company, however, writes in a note that "the group's expectations for the second half of the year are for a decrease in turnover compared to the previous year."
On the Small-Cap side, Banca Profilo - trading at EUR0.20 - reported record results above its business plan targets and ended the half-year with a net profit of EUR9.6 million, up 42 percent from EUR in the first half of 2022.
Total customer deposits for the period stood at EUR5.8 million from EUR5.5 million as of June 30, 2022. Direct deposits amounted to EUR1.11 billion from EUR1.10 billion in the same period in 2022. Total net revenue as of June 30 was EUR41.0 million, up 17 percent from EUR35.1 million a year earlier.
TXT e-solutions--advancing 3.1 percent--reported Thursday that it had almost doubled net income in the first half year-on-year to EUR6.8 million from EUR3.5 million in the same period a year earlier.
doValue gains 1.5 percent despite the slight drop in profit, as shown in the half-year accounts released Wednesday. Net debt was EUR479.0 million as of June 30, which compares with EUR432.7 million as of March 31.
FILA--down 0.5 percent--reported Thursday that in the first half of the year it posted a net income for the period of EUR21.2 million, down from EUR24.9 million in the same period last year. Total revenues amounted to EUR420.5 million up from EUR396.8 million in the same period last year.
The board of directors of Cairo Communication -- up 1.8 percent -- on Thursday reviewed and approved the half-year financial report as of June 30, 2023, which closed with a net profit attributable to the group was about EUR15.9 million from EUR11.3 million in the first half of 2022. In the first half, the group confirmed consolidated gross revenues at EUR599.2 million from EUR598.6 million in 2022.
Among SMEs, Intred climbed 0.4 percent after the board of directors reviewed revenues as of June 30, which amounted to EUR24.5 million, up 7.3 percent from the same period last year.
The increase in turnover was mainly supported by sales of fiber-optic connections, up 12 percent from the same period last year.
Innovatec gives up 6.6 percent after reporting Thursday that first-half revenues fell to EUR95.5 million from EUR163.0 million year-on-year.
In New York on Thursday, the Dow Jones closed down 0.2 percent at 35,215.89, the S&P gave up 0.3 percent to 4,501.89, and the Nasdaq left 0.1 percent at 13,959.72 on the parterre.
Among currencies, the euro changed hands at USD1.0941 against USD1.0947 on Thursday in closing European equities while the pound was worth USD1.2706 from USD1.2717 on Thursday evening.
Among commodities, Brent crude is worth USD85.66 per barrel versus USD84.89 per barrel at Thursday's close. Gold, on the other hand, trades at USD1,933.51 an ounce from USD1,935.41 an ounce on Thursday evening.
On Friday's economic calendar, several labor market reports will arrive from the US at 1430 CEST, including unemployment and hourly wage reports.
At 1900 CEST, eyes on the Baker Hughes drilling rig data and, as usual on Friday, the COT Report will arrive.
By Chiara Bruschi, Alliance News reporter
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