One trillion. Or rather, an American-style trillion, or a thousand billion. This applies globally to the luxury market: a good part of this figure is capitalized on the Milan Stock Exchange, where 41 companies in the sector are listed for a total capitalization value of almost 100 billion euro, or about 16% of the total of the Italian Stock Exchange.
This was discussed yesterday in Piazza Affari, on the occasion of the opening of the three days dedicated to the Italian Equity Week, the event on the main driving sectors of the Italian economy and their impact on the markets, just after the choice of Euronext , the largest pan-European financial market, to open an office in Milan. The first day was therefore that of Lyfestyle Day, with a focus on a sector, that of luxury, which "sees Italy as a global leader, with a 10% share of turnover worldwide, a contribution of 5% of GDP, and half a million jobs created,” he said Andrea Illy, president of Altagamma.
“The challenge – Illy went on – is to continue the splendid growth path of the last decades with even more competitive companies, also thanks to the listing on the Stock Exchange”: only from 2000 onwards, according to the data presented by Market Analysis and Borsa Italiana, between IPOs and subsequent capital increases, listed companies raised more than 13 billion euros (against requests that exceeded 48 billion in all), largely in the personal goods and automotive sectors, considered a luxury thanks to the tradition of Italian design and brands such as Ferrari.
Among the major operations, during the event the one of Piaggio in 2006 was mentioned, which moreover saw 89% of foreign investments, Cucinelli in 2012, when requests exceeded the initial offer by 17 times, Moncler the following year with a 27-fold oversubscription and 95% of foreign investors. The latest IPOs on the Ftse Mib were those of Yoox-Net-A-Porter in 2015 and Ferrari last year, at the end of the spin-off from FCA.
“Lifestyle is a fundamental sector for growth – he commented Raffaele Jerusalmi, managing director of Borsa Italiana -. To strengthen the visibility of Italian listed companies on our market, we are announcing today the launch of a showcase entirely dedicated to listed Italian brands. Some of the selected stocks will then be included in a special index created by Ftse Russell”, which will certainly include Pirelli, Ferrari and Campari.
An indirect response to the Euronext operation: “It is a competition between markets that has existed for many years now – said Jerusalmi -. We are pleased that they consider Italy as an important country“. There is therefore no fear: “They have not only opened in Milan but also in Germany and Holland and in other countries. They do what we do. We too are present in Paris”.
The Milan Stock Exchange, however, has little to envy to the others in terms of performance in 2017: the Ftse Mib from January to July recorded an increase of 11,7%, against +10,3% of the S&P 500, +5,5% of the Frankfurt Dax, and even lower performances by the French Cac 40 or the London FTSE 100. Even the Ftse Italia Mid Cap, in which luxury companies are also listed, recorded +26,4%, almost double the corresponding French market, the best among the others with +14%.
