The Robin Hood Tax is literally knocking out the energy stocks of the Italian stock exchange. At 11 am, after falling to its lowest point, Snam rete Gas lost 20% and Terna 10,44%. But heavy losses also hit Enel (-9,5%) and Enel Green Power (-4%). Eni defends itself better, losing 5,6%. Of course, the bad economic data from Germany, where growth in the last quarter was very weak, and from all of Europe, which grows by only 1,75%, are weighing on all European stock exchanges, but the collapse of Italian energy is entirely due to the Robin Hood Tax surprisingly introduced by the latest Government maneuver.
As a very fresh report by UBS explains, the very fact that the new tax has suddenly dropped on Snam and Terna is hitting the two stocks particularly hard. In fact, the Robin Hood Tax raises taxes on energy companies, including renewables, by 4%, bringing the surcharge on energy income from 6,5 to 10,5%. For these reasons, UBS has cut its estimates by 6% on Enel and 13% on Snam and Terna and assumes that, in the absence of a change of course by the Government during the parliamentary process of the maneuver, the energy companies will be forced to review all the dividend policy.
