The afternoon in Piazza Affari is dominated by the six-monthly reports of Atlantia and Ubi Banca, awaiting the accounts of Banco Bpm which will arrive after the markets are closed.
After the announcement of the acquisition of 29% of Bologna airport, Atlantia is once again at the center of market interest thanks to its half-yearly report.
The Benetton family company closed the first six months of 2017 with a consolidated net profit of 518 million, up 25% compared to the same period of 2016 (+6% on a like-for-like basis) and revenues of 1,54 billion, an increase of 11,4% compared to the same period last year. The figure is slightly higher than the consensus provided by Bloomberg, equal to 1,53 billion.
In the same period Ebitda rose by 10% compared to the first half of 2016, settling at 1,728 billion, while operating cash flow amounted to 1,205 billion euro (+10%). The group's operating investments in the first half of 2017 totaled 478 million euros. As regards the net financial debt as at 30 June 2017, it amounted to 11,421 billion euros with a decrease of 256 million euros compared to 31 December 2016.
For the end of the current year, the management expects an improvement in the profitability of the group and an increase in the main management indicators.
Speaking instead of Ubi Banca, the first half ended with a profit net of non-recurring items of 130 million compared to the accounting loss of the same period of 2016 of 787 million, linked to the costs of the business plan.
It should be taken into consideration that the three good banks (Banca Marche, Banca Etruria and CariChieti) recognized in May weighed on the result, attributable for 155,4 million to UBI stand alone, with a negative result of 25,4 million. The net book profit, including the badwill linked to the acquisition of the three banks, is 696 million, of which 110,9 million attributable to Ubi on a stand-alone basis and -27,7 million to the good banks.
Operating income amounted to 1,626 billion, up by 2,4% compared to the same period of 2016. In the second quarter alone, loan adjustments amounted to 152 million compared to 134 in the first quarter. Implementation of write-downs of 77 million "essentially attributable" to the Atlante fund.
“The acquisition of the three bridge banks has not called into question the capital solidity of UBI Banca” – stated the managing director, Victor Massiah, commenting on the results -. “After the acquisition of the three banks we have a solid bank in terms of capital requirements. Flows of new non-performing credit are also significantly lower than in the crisis years. Encouraging results, better than the first phase of our industrial plan and therefore encouraging for the future”.
In Piazza Affari, the Atlantia share dropped 0,27%, while Ubi Banca shares fell by 0,34%.
