The profit of Atlantia, the company which among other things manages a large part of the motorway network, was affected by the consequences of the collapse of the Morandi bridge in the first nine months of 2018. The company recorded a profit attributable to the group of 733 million EUR, down by 15% due to the effect of the posting of around 350 million euros as a preliminary estimate of the costs directly related to the collapse of a section of the Polcevera Viaduct in Genoa. EBITDA for the period amounted to 2.913 million euros, up 3% (+4% on a like-for-like basis). Traffic on the group's Italian motorway network increased by 0,3%, but traffic on the foreign network grew even more, by 2,3%. The passenger traffic of the subsidiary Aeroporti di Roma, on the other hand, increased by 3,6%, while that of Nice airport by 4,2%.
“The operational management of the Group in Italy and abroad shows a positive trend in the first nine months of 2018 which makes it possible to forecast growth in the gross operating margin which will also benefit from the line-by-line consolidation of the Abertis group in the last 2 months of the year”, explains Atlantia in a note. “The results for 2018, pending the outcome of the investigations in progress regarding the collapse of a section of the Polcevera viaduct in Genoa, are impacted by the expected costs of its restoration and by the costs in relation to the consequent initiatives undertaken by Autostrade for the 'Italy for Genoa (whose preliminary estimate at 30 September 2018 is equal to 350 million euros)".
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The Board of Directors also announced that, "in consideration of the current general context, as well as the decision taken by the Board of Directors of Autostrade per l'Italia not to distribute any interim dividends, it has not proceed with the distribution of the interim dividend for the 2018 financial year usually paid in November". The board "has thus decided to postpone the distribution of the profit for the current year in a single solution to May 2019, subject to approval by the competent Shareholders' Meeting, to an extent corresponding at least to the expected flow of dividends deriving from airport activities , technological and international companies owned by Atlantia”. The reaction of the markets to the accounts was good: the Atlantia share, on a day in which the Ftse Mib travels in negative territory, gained almost 1% in the mid-afternoon, to 18.395 euros per share.
