Continue on vertical collapse of Saipem in Piazza Affari. At the end of the morning, the shares of the plant engineering company of the Eni group lost more than seven points on the Stock Exchange (at 30,27 euros), after having recorded a -14% opening. The title is clearly behind the Ftse Mib, which in the same minutes instead travels in positive territory. Very high exchanges: already more than double the daily average of the last month.
The quotation discounts the consequences of the scandal in Algeria which led the CEO of Eni, Paolo Scaroni, to revolutionize the top management of the subsidiary. Yesterday Saipem communicated the resignation of the vice president and CEO, Pietro Franco Tali, and the precautionary suspension of the chief operating officer of the engineering & construction area, Pietro Varone. Both offices were entrusted to the non-executive director Umberto Vergine.
The decision was taken “following the notification of guarantee information to Saipem spa in the context of an investigation launched by the Milan prosecutor's office" into alleged crimes of corruption committed "within 2009 and relating to certain contracts stipulated in Algeria". Eni's financial director, Alessandro Bernini, who at the material time held the same role in Saipem, also resigned.
Tali said he was "convinced that the company's business has always been carried out in compliance with applicable laws, internal procedures, the code of ethics and the 231 model and that the company will defend itself in the appropriate forums".
