- REVENUE: 1,047.6 MILLION EURO (1,008.6 MILLION EURO IN Q1 2014)
- LOSS OF 31.3 MILLION EURO ATTRIBUTABLE TO OWNERS OF THE PARENT (LOSS OF 20.0 MILLION EURO). THE INCREASE WAS LARGELY THE RESULT OF HIGHER TAX FOR APPROXIMATELY 12 MILLION EURO DUE TO RECOGNITION OF TAX EXPENSE NORMALLY RECORDED IN THE SECOND QUARTER OF THE YEAR
- EQUITY: 4,510.2 MILLION EURO (4,286.4 MILLION EURO AT DECEMBER 31, 2014)
- NET FINANCIAL DEBT: 2,288.6 MILLION EURO (2,114.8 MILLION EURO AT DECEMBER 31, 2014). GEARING 50.74%
- POSITIVE NET FINANCIAL POSITION IN FINANCIAL SEGMENT OF 87.4 MILLION EURO (77.6 MILLION EURO AT DECEMBER 31, 2014)
- ITALMOBILIARE S.p.A. NET ASSET VALUE: INCREASE OF MORE THAN 38% TO 1,612.4 MILLION EURO AT MARCH 31, 2015 (1,165.4 MILLION EURO AT END OF 2014). ITALMOBILIARE MARKET CAPITALIZATION RISES 55.4% IN THE FIRST QUARTER
The Italmobiliare S.p.A. Board of Directors examined and approved the quarterly report as at and for the three months ended March 31, 2015.
All the Group’s core businesses reported positive results for the first quarter of 2015 with the exception of construction materials, which, after an uneven start to the year due to diverging economic trends in the countries in which it operates, closed the quarter with a result substantially in line with the first quarter of 2014.
In the three months January-March 2015, the Italmobiliare Group reported revenue of 1,047.6 million euro (1,008.6 million euro in the year-earlier period), while recurring gross operating profit decreased, due in part to the business slowdown in the financial segment, to 102.8 million euro (110.2 million euro). The Group posted a loss before tax of 29.5 million euro, but this was an improvement of 13.5% from the year-earlier period. First-quarter income tax expense was approximately 12 million euro higher than in the year-earlier period, essentially due to earlier recognition of tax normally recorded in the second quarter. This generated a loss attributable to owners of the parent of 31.1 million euro, compared with a loss of 20.0 million euro in the first quarter of 2014. The loss for the period was 54.6 million euro (a loss of 47.4 million euro in the year-earlier period).
The positive first-quarter trend for most of the Group core businesses was also reflected in an improvement of approximately 450 million euro in Italmobiliare NAV to 1,612.4 million euro at March 31, 2015. Against this increase (+38.4%), Italmobiliare total market capitalization rose by 55.4%, compared with a rise of 21.8% for the FTSE MIB index.
Looking at the Group core businesses, in the construction materials segment, where the main subsidiary Italcementi operates (which published its results on May 7), the Group reported revenue of 980.5 million euro (+5.1%) thanks to the segment’s positive performance in the group’s emerging countries and to the exchange-rate effect. The positive results in India, Morocco and Thailand, the contribution of on-going efficiency plans, together with income from carbon emission rights kept recurring gross operating profit substantially unchanged at 95.2 million euro (95.5 million euro in the first quarter of 2014), with an operating loss of 4.7 million euro (-4.2 million euro). Similarly, the loss for the period of 56.8 million euro was only slightly changed compared with the first quarter of 2014 (-2.9%).
In the food packaging and thermal insulation segment, where the Sirap Gema group operates, revenue rose by 3.1% to 54.9 million euro, thanks to a better market positioning. Operating results also showed a strong improvement: gross operating profit was up 29.8% to 4.6 million euro and operating profit was 2.1 million euro (0.8 million euro) after amortization and depreciation expense in line with the year-earlier period. Thanks to this performance, the segment returned to profit, at 0.6 million euro (a loss of 1.2 million euro for the first quarter to March 31, 2014). Performance was also positive in the financial segment, which includes the Italmobiliare parent and Société de Participation Financière Italmobiliare S.A., despite a slowdown in equities trading compared with the first quarter of 2014. Positive liquidity management and gains on the sale of some equity investments generated finance income of 6.3 million euro (11.3 million euro), while net operating expense was down 20.6% to 3.4 million euro. Profit for the period was 1.2 million euro (5.2 million euro). First-quarter performance in the banking segment (Finter Bank Zürich and Crédit Mobilier de Monaco) was affected, albeit to a limited extent, by the Swiss National Bank’s decision to abolish the minimum exchange rate for the franc. Thanks to the 16.6% rise in total income to 5.3 million euro (including extraordinary income), the segment returned to profit, at 0.4 million euro (a loss of 0.4 million euro in the first quarter of 2014).