The shareholders' meeting of Rcs gave the green light for the new Board of Directorswhich will be made up of the six members indicated in the majority list, two directors from the Assogestioni list and one from that of Urbano Cairo, a shareholder of the group with 4,6%.
The first list, filed by Mediobanca representing approximately 39% of the capital, was voted by 66,78% of those present (equal to 59% of the capital), while the list of the management committee (filed representing 3,2% of the capital) obtained 21,68% of the votes present. Urbano Cairo's list was voted by 11,45% of the shareholders present at the meeting.
The Board, in office until 2017, will be composed of Maurizio Costa, Pietro Scott Jovane, Teresa Cremisi, Laura Cioli, Gerardo Braggiotti, Tom Mockridge; the minorities go to Stefano Simontacchi from the Cairo list and Dario Frigerio and Paolo Colonna indicated by institutional investors.
“The first test bench” for the new Board of Directors “will be the selection of the new director" of the Corriere della Sera, “which we hope will happen on the basis of his ability to innovate and at the same time respect the principles of our tradition and not on the basis of a willingness to use scissors. We have seen many, too many. Let's hope we don't see this one too." This is what can be read in a press release from the Corriere's editorial board, distributed shortly before the start of the shareholders' meeting. The company has announced that "the new director will be chosen in the next few days by decision of the new board of directors".
Furthermore, "at the beginning of March, the company initiated discussions with the lending banks aimed at providing them with more complete information in view of the approaching of certain contractual deadlines - continues the note -, as well as to start a shared process of redefining , an overall improvement for the company, of the terms and conditions of the loan agreement".
The negotiations cannot fail to be conditioned by the outcome of the open negotiation with Mondadori for the sale of Rcs Libri: "The sale operation, if it were successfully completed with the right value and within the right terms, could bring the necessary liquidity to accelerate the strategic development of RCS”.
L'ESPRESSO: HERE IS THE NEW BOARD OF DIRECTORS, 12 MILLION PROFITS IN THE FIRST QUARTER
Another shareholders' meeting, that of the L'Espresso Editorial Group, also gave the green light today to theinnovation of the Board of Directors, who will remain in office until 2017. The list presented by the majority shareholder Cir has been approved, which provides for the entry of Alberto Clò.
Furthermore, the proposal for Anima funds was approved, which indicated Massimo Belcredi as director. The number of board members drops from 12 to 11. As for the other names, Agar Brugiavini, Carlo De Benedetti, Rodolfo De Benedetti, Francesco Dini, Silvia Merlo, Monica Mondardini, Elisabetta Oliveri, Luca Paravicini Crespi, Michael Zaoui have been confirmed.
A note from the company also states that L'Espresso closed the first quarter of 2015 with a profit of 12 million euros, compared to 2,1 million in the period January-March 2014, thanks to "lower taxes for 2 million, the restructuring of the television activities for 1,1 million and the capital gain of 6,1 million generated by the sale of All Music at Discovery Italia”. Consolidated revenues fell by 3,7%, to 146,6 million, while circulation revenues dropped by 3,8%, to 55,7 million, and advertising revenues by 2,8%.
The consolidated gross operating margin, substantially in line with the first quarter of 2014, was equal to 13,9 million. The consolidated operating result was 10,2 million euros, equivalent to that of the same period of 2014. Net debt decreased further, to 11,2 million, from 34,2 at the end of 2014. The forecasts for the entire year "are heavily dependent on the trend of the advertising market, which is still uncertain", concludes the company.
MONDADORI COMES BACK IN PROFIT: FOR THE DIVIDEND, "SPEAK TO THE SHAREHOLDER"
As for the Mondadori group, today the managing director Ernesto Mauri, on the sidelines of the shareholders' meeting, announced that profits will grow in the coming years, but also that for the return to the dividend - suspended since 2010 - the floor belongs to the shareholder : "Now we are back to profit, albeit modest (about 600 thousand euros, ed). 2014 was an important year as there was a turnaround after two years of heavy losses. The three-year plan provides for a significant increase in margins: the profit will continue to grow in the coming years, but for the dividend it depends on the shareholder".
Mauri then announced that Mondadori has registered a drop of around 5% in advertising in periodicals Italians in the first quarter. Speaking more generally of the advertising market in Italy, Mauri underlined that 2015 should be better than 2014, even if the first quarter didn't start well.
Finally, in response to the criticisms expressed by some RCS MediaGroup directors regarding the decision to put it up for sale Rcs Books exclusively to Mondadori, which presented a non-binding offer until 29 May, Mauri cut it short: "If you're against selling this or that, you have to get the money out to make the capital increase and the problem is solved . Each of us is heading towards sectors considered core business and, in this sense, I greatly appreciated the recent statements by RCS CEO Pietro Scott Jovane”, who said he wanted to concentrate on more strategic activities.
Once you have identified “your core business areas, then you have to invest in innovation and digital – underlines Mauri – we have already identified them and they are the ones where we earn the most, these are logical, rational and common sense considerations. There are no longer publishers who have a piece of this and a piece of that, today you have to be a leader otherwise you run the risk of disappearing”. Mauri also said that due diligence on RCS Libri “is ongoing. It started about three weeks ago and will have to last a maximum of six weeks. If they do it earlier, it's even better. Nothing has changed for us. We will certainly make the offer by 29 May”.
