Juventus also falls on the stock market: goodbye to the Ftse Mib

From 23 March 2020 Juventus stock exchange will leave the Ftse Mib, where it will be replaced by Banca Mediolanum. Thus, after just over a year, the permanence of the Old Lady on the main list of Piazza Affari will end. The shares of the Juventus club will therefore be relegated to Mid Cap. The news was confirmed by the Ftse Italia Index Series Technical Committee.

The downgrading of Juventus comes later the heavy losses recorded by the stock in the medium term. According to data from Borsa Italiana, the monthly performance of black and white shares is negative by 24,55%, a similar figure to the annual average (-23,75%). Sui six months, on the other hand, red is 34,25%. In Thursday's session, at the beginning of the afternoon, Juventus lost 3,6%, at the price of 0,8668 euros per share.

Several factors triggered the sales. In addition to the disappointing sporting results, it weighed above all in the short term the coronavirus emergency, which will force the team to play at least the next three matches of the Serie A championship behind closed doors (including Juve-Inter, scheduled for Sunday evening), depriving the club of the important revenue guaranteed by the public that normally crowds the Allianz Stadium.

Then there are budget numbers, anything but positive. At the end of February, the Juventus club closed the first six months of the current financial year (July-December 2019) with a red of 50,26 million euros. The result is far worse than that recorded in the same period last year, when Juventus made a profit of 7,46 million. Bad too operating revenue, which – excluding transfer market gains and income from the management of players' rights – decreased by 4,7% over the year, from 271,3 to 258,4 million. It still weighs on the company's numbers the purchase of Cristiano Ronaldo, considering that the disbursement to win the Portuguese champion led to an increase in costs not covered by revenues. The rest was done by the policy of high salaries practiced by the sporting director, Fabio Paratici, to attract champions on a free transfer who have often proved disappointing but which weigh on the club's balance sheet.