Telecom Italia shares were weak in the Piazza a Piazza Affari, which at the end of the morning dropped by just over two percentage points, to 0,932 euros, against a European Stoxx down by 0,39%. Since the beginning of the year, the stock has risen by 32%, while in the last month the balance is positive by 11%. The market is wondering about the future of the telephone company in light of recent stock movements.
After the request for the dissolution of Telco by the three Italian shareholders (Intesa Sanpaolo, Mediobanca and Generali), news was added this morning of Telefonica's sale of the convertible bond for 139 million euro.
"The sale of the convertible - explains Stefano Vulpiani of ICBPI -, even if supported by the strong appreciation of the bond, fuels questions about the future role of Telefonica in the Telecom Italia shareholding structure, in the light of the recent Telco spin-off and the well-known Antitrust restrictions in Brazil".
Andrea Devita of Banca Akros fears that Telefonica's move on the convertendo could correspond to a lower "commitment" by the Spanish group and this "could increase Telecom's speculative appeal". "The move is almost negligible, however it could signal a strategic rethinking of Italian investment," he adds.
After the demerger of Telco, Telefonica will directly have 14,8% of Telecom Italia. In November, he bought the bond by converting for 103 million euros to mitigate the dilution of his share due to the conversion.
