In dividend day, CNH Industrial collapses on the stock market. By mid-morning, the stock was at the bottom of the Ftse Mib, dropping more than 5% to 12,66 euros. It is not so much that weighs on the performance of the shares of the Agnelli family company the coupon effect (equal to 11 cents with a weight of about 1% on the fall in the share), as much as the announcement relating to the halt of negotiations with the Chinese giant Faw for the sale of Iveco and other assets. A setback that the market did not like.
The 18 April, CNH communicated that it has interrupted the negotiations with the Chinese group for the possible sale of the On-Highway business, emphasizing that the management will continue to work to carry out the spin-off of these assets at the beginning of 2022. According to rumors, there was too much distance between the assessments that the two groups assigned to Iveco. There is also talk of difficulties in defining the perimeter of the operation and also of the golden power risk, especially after the recent statements also expressed by the Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti, who not surprisingly expressed satisfaction with the group's decision. “We welcome and welcome the news. The Italian government has followed the whole affair with attention and active discretion because it considers the production of heavy road vehicles to be of national strategic interest. The Mise, at this point, is ready to sit down at the table to intervene to protect and maintain this production in Italy”, commented the Minister of Economic Development, Giancarlo Giorgetti. "The table will be convened as soon as possible", added the Deputy Minister for Economic Development, Alessandra Todde, who had followed the Iveco affair in the previous government. The unions are also satisfied.
The unions are also satisfied: "We welcome the news with relief, especially as Iveco's production volumes seem to have recovered in general and therefore we are confident that this historic Italian company can go ahead on its own", said Gianluca Ficco, national secretary of Uilm. “Now we need to give certainties. An urgent summons to the Mise is needed to give employment prospects through the implementation of the industrial plan based on technological innovation”, added Michele De Palma, national secretary of Fiom-Cgil.
The French Economy Minister also welcomed CNH's retreat, Bruno Le Maire, on the strength of the fact that CNH controls the transalpine bus manufacturer Heuliez.
Secondo Equita analysts however, the failure to sell is "a negative event", even if the estimates on the company's future remain positive. “After all, in the last few weeks the shares had flared up precisely in anticipation of a possible sale of the On-Highway division. From the end of October to last Friday, the quotations practically doubled, rising from 6,62 to 12,65 euros per share. However, the race had slowed down in the last period after Giorgetti had taken the field threatening the exercise of golden power.
"We believe that today's inevitable stock weakness is a buying opportunity as CNH will spin-off its on-highway business (Iveco+FPT), which in any case represents a catalyst to remove the holding discount," they said. underlined the experts of Equita recalling among other things that the business linked to agriculture has shown evident signs of recovery and also the commercial segment is in a recovery phase. For Equita, Cnh shares have a fair value at 15 euros.
