Mario Greco's farewell to Generali, confirmed yesterday evening by the insurance company, "has nothing to do with the targets, the company's financial objectives, or with the confidence of being able to achieve them". This was explained by the outgoing managing director of the Lion himself, who from 1 May he will be CEO of Zurich, in a conference call with financial analysts: "There have never been any uncertainties about the company's strategies - Greco clarified -, which have been supported by the board of directors and shareholders".
Greco, who also mentioned the distance of views with the shareholders on his role in the company that emerged during the negotiations on the renewal of the mandate, claimed in the brief conversation with the financial analysts that he had restored the capital of the company during the period at the helm of the company company, its financial position and that it has fully completed the turnaround program, signaling however that much more can still be achieved in the future of the company. As for frictions on the renewal of his mandate, clarified the manager, they had nothing to do on the creation of value in the company and there were no discussions on the possible creation of value. Greco said that "even looking back I would support all the decisions that have been made in Generali". A note from the group pointed out that "there was no specific contrast or conflict with the shareholders, who indeed supported the strategy and its execution". Greco also reported that financial results at the end of 2015 “will be good and in line with 2018 financial targets which envisage total dividends in excess of €5 billion, cumulative net cash flow of over billion and additional cumulative cost savings for 500 million, for a total of 1,5 billion in the period 2012-2018”.
The conference call was also attended by the CFO Alberto Minali, referred to by many as the possible substitute by Mario Greco (the CEO of Generali Italia, Philippe Donnet is also in the running). In this regard, it seems that Generali wants to bring forward the next board meeting to Friday 29 January (the day after tomorrow): this is learned from sources in the financial circles, currently not confirmed by the Trieste company.
Generali, according to some rumors, would aim to choose the new CEO in place of Mario Greco by mid-February, even if in theory, the mandate of the outgoing managing director has its natural expiry on April 28th. But the relationship will most likely break up sooner.
Meanwhile, the title Generali he suffers even today in Piazza Affari: when there is less than an hour left to close the Stock Exchange session, it loses 1,77%, remaining below 14 euros at 13,90 per share.
