Juventus collapses on the stock market after the announcement of accounts in the red and a new capital increase of 200 million.
The Juventus club's shares opened the day by losing 14,4% and dropped by mid-morning 7,51% to 0,261 euros. Exchanges are very high: in the first minutes of trading, over 13 million pieces changed hands, compared to an average of 6,1 million over the last thirty days for the entire session.
Accounts in the red for Juve
On Friday, with the markets closed, the company released the accounts for the 2022-2023 financial year (as of June 30, 2023) filed with a loss of 123,7 million euros which compares with the red of 239,2 million euros on 30 June 2022. Partly weighing on the accounts are the "negative effects on revenues and costs related to the outcomes of Italian and international sporting proceedings", explains Juve in a note. Furthermore, the company estimates that it will be the first quarter is also in the red of the new financial year, with losses exceeding one third of the share capital.
Il net assets of the group at 30 June 2023 is equal to 42,1 million euros, down compared to the balance of 164,7 million euros at 30 June 2022, due to the effect of the loss for the 2022/2023 financial year and the movement of the fair value reserve financial activities (+1,1 million). As of June 30, 2023 net financial debt amounts to 339,9 million, an increase of 186,9 million compared to a year earlier (153 million).
Juventus: a new capital increase arrives
To stem this situation and achieve the objectives of the 2023/24-2026/27 plan - which has been updated - the board of directors has defined the guidelines of a capital strengthening maneuver to be implemented by reducing the share capital to the legal minimum and contextual increase in share capital, for a fee, for 200 million euros.
The one announced on Friday is the third capital increase in four years for the Juventus club.
As expected, Exor, the controlling shareholder, has undertaken to subscribe to its share of the capital increase, equal to 63,8%, and has also expressed its willingness to make payments towards a future capital increase of approximately 128 million euros.
For analysts of Equity “the recapitalization of Juventus does not represent a surprise”, adding that for “Exor it is an investment that represents only 0,4% of the Nav, but added to the other two capital increases of the last 4 years in total Exor has injected into the Juventus almost 600 million euros (2% of the Nav) well above the 450 million value of the stake at the market price last Friday, before the announcement of the capital increase.
Elkann: “For Juventus this is year zero”
On Saturday, on the occasion of the inauguration of the Science Gateway at CERN in Geneva, John Elkann, CEO of Exor, stated that this for Juventus “it's a zero year, because it is the year in which Juventus restarts and does so on a real basis", adding that "this year the 2023-24 season on the one hand celebrates the hundred-year bond that my family has with Juventus and that Juventus has with my family and it's also a zero year."
Elkann also underlined that 'the solidity that this capital increase gives allows Juventus to plan a future who is strong on the pitch and also off the pitch", specifying that "what we know is that if someone is strong off the pitch he is also stronger on the pitch".
