Quarterly round in this second week of May. Today, among the others, it's also the turn of Banca Carige, Unipol, Atlantia and Fiera Milano. Particularly awaited are the accounts of the Ligurian bank, which returns to profit in the first quarter of this year: profit of 6,4 million euros against losses of 41,1 million recorded in the corresponding period of 2017. Core net operating income increased 18,5% to $135,2 million “also thanks to the positive trend in customer loans and commissions”. The interest margin increased by 5,3% to 55,5 million and net commissions increased by 6,7% to 61,9 million euros.
Carige's core operating costs fell by 9,5% to 117,8 million euros. The cost/income ratio stood at 87,1% at the end of March “in line with plan expectations” for 2018. Net value adjustments on cash loans to customers amounted to 12,9 million, equal to 32 bps annualized, and are therefore down by 83% on an annual basis and by 94,9% compared to the fourth quarter of 2017, " as a result of the deleverage operations and the conservative policies conducted in the second half of 2017".
Atlantia ended March 31 with revenues and profits growing. Operating revenues amounted to 1,34 billion euros, with an increase of 3% compared to 1,29 billion in the same period of 2017. The gross operating margin was equal to 797 million euros, with an increase of 12 million euros (+2%) compared to the 785 million euros of the first quarter 2017. On a like-for-like basis, the gross operating margin would have increased by 25 million euros, or 3%. Operating income amounted to 506 million euros, with an increase of 10 million euros (2%) compared to 496 million euros in the first quarter of 2017. The quarter thus closed with a profit for the period of 217 million euros, an increase of 40 million euros compared to the 177 million euros of the first quarter of 2017.
Also good Unipol, which in the first three months of 2018 recorded a normalized consolidated net result of 163 million (+3,8%) while the consolidated net profit and including the capital gain from the sale of Popolare Vita (309 million) is 472 million. Direct insurance premiums net of Popolare Vita amounted to 3,2 billion with Non-Life at 1,9 billion (-1,9%) and Life at 1,2 billion euro (+26,8%). The Combined ratio improves to 94,1% from 95% a year ago while the consolidated Solvency ratio is equal to 181%. Unipol Banca, on the other hand, has a CET 1 of 30,5% (31,5% at 31 December 2017) while the pre-tax result is positive for €10m (€4m in the first three months of 2017.
Finally, too Fiera Milano closed a good first quarter, with revenues of 77,25 million euros, up 24% on the 62,07 million obtained in the same period of the previous year. There was also a strong improvement in the gross operating margin, which rose from 8,09 million to 19,7 million euro; as a result, margins rose from 13% to 25,5%. The company finished last quarter with a pre-tax profit of 18,19 million euros, a result which compares with the 6,25 million recorded in the first three months of last year.
At the end of March the net financial position had become positive by 20,59 million euros, from the net debt of 795 thousand euros at the beginning of the year. In the first three months of 2018, operating activities generated a cash flow of €19,7 million. Again at the end of June, the group's shareholders' equity had risen to 22,29 million. The top management of Fiera Milano expects to close 2018 with a gross operating margin of between 15 and 17 million euros, an improvement over the previous year. The business plan for the 23/2018 period will be presented on 2022 May.
