Money Buzz! Europa

Category: Milan

  • Italy exports and imports fell in March 2020

    Italy exports and imports fell in March 2020

    In March 2020, compared with the same month of the previous year, both exports and imports fell (-13.5% and -18,1% respectively), show latest Istat data.

    Outgoing flows decreased by -12.2% for EU countries and by -14.7% for non EU countries.

    Incoming flows dropped by -15.5% for EU area and by -21.7% for non EU area. The trade balance in March 2020 amounted to +5,685 million Euros (5,082 million Euros for non EU area and +603 million Euros for EU countries).

    In March 2020, import prices decreased by 3.1% on monthly basis (unchanged for the the euro zone, -5.9% for the non-euro zone). Over the last three months, compared to the previous three months, import prices decreased by 2.0% (-0.3% for the euro zone and -3.6% for the non-euro zone).

    Import prices decreased by 5.1% in March 2020, compared to the same month a year ago (-0.7% for the euro zone, -9.2% for the non-euro zone).

  • Pirelli revenues, decline of 20% compared with March 2019

    Pirelli revenues, decline of 20% compared with March 2019

    Pirelli revenues in Q1 2020, of 1,051.6 million euro, show a decline of 20% compared with 31 March 2019 because of sharp drop in demand.

    Total net profit was 38.5 million euro (101.4 million euro in Q1 2019) and net cash flow: -753.5 million euro, substantially in line with -712.9 million euro in Q1 2019.

    Covid-19 impact on Pirelli factories

    In the first quarter of 2020, the tyre sector was significantly impacted by the Covid-19 emergency at the global level and by the related lockdown measures, with a general deterioration of economic conditions, fall in consumption and production.

    In the first quarter, the demand for car tyres registered a fall of 20% in sales’ volumes, in both Original Equipment (-22.7% in line with car production) and Replacement (-19.3% because of restrictions on mobility).

    The fall in demand struck the Standard segment in particular (-22% for Car tyres ≤17’’) and to a lesser degree New Premium (-11.6% for Car tyres ≥18’’), the more resilient segment.

    During the quarter, production at Pirelli underwent significant discontinuities because of the suspension of activities in countries where this became progressively necessary both to protect workers’ health and because of the marked fall in demand.

    The experience gained in China, where production and commercial activities are returning to normal, enabled Pirelli to respond quickly to the deep changes in the global scenario, defining an action plan and new 2020 targets.

  • Skrill is official global payments partner of AC Milan

    Skrill is official global payments partner of AC Milan

    AC Milan and Skrill shared details of the four year partnership deal they recently signed which sees Skrill become the Club’s Official Global Payments Partner.

    Although the deal was signed some weeks ago, and the Skrill name has already appeared in the San Siro stadium on several occasions, both parties were reluctant to talk about marketing activities at a time when both the Club and Italy were enduring the devastating arrival and impact of the COVID-19 outbreak.

    Skrill has a track record of supporting football as well as other popular sports and identified AC Milan as an ideal partner, given the highly relevant profile of the team’s fan base and followers around the world, combined with the general popularity of digital wallets and prepaid cards as payment methods in Italy.

    As part of the partnership agreement, Skrill has become the preferred payments partner for AC Milan merchandise sales and is a live payments option on its international online store which serves fans around the world.

    The partnership also means that Skrill branding will be prominently displayed at all AC Milan home matches and promoted on an ongoing basis across the club’s online channels including its website and official App, as well as its hugely popular social media channels.

    Skrill has additionally been integrated into Vivaticket giving fans the option of using Skrill’s digital wallet when buying match tickets and other AC Milan experiences once they resume.

  • Entirely online processes available in 48.3% of Italian Municipalities

    Entirely online processes available in 48.3% of Italian Municipalities

    Entirely online processes, in 2018, at least for one service out of the 24 observed, was available in 54.6% of the Italian Regions and 48.3% of the Italian Municipalities, latest Istituto Nazionale di Statistica data show.

    Despite the growth of computerization of internal activities, 87.8% of the local PAs still used analogue tools (stamps, signatures, abbreviations) in the protocol and among them 45% used these tools for more than half of the documentation.

    Internet access with fast connections (at least 30 Mbps) is avaible for 41% of the local PAs, ultrafast (at least 100 Mbps) for 17.4%.

    More advanced technologies in larger municipalities

    In 2018, almost all the Public Administrations (99.6%) used desktop PCs (39.2% with an average life longer than 5 years) and 62.4% laptops.

    The presence of desktop personal computers was widespread (94.5 out of 100 employees; laptops available for 8.3 out of 100 employees).

    Regions and Autonomous Provinces also used other mobile devices, GIS and CAD instruments, video conferencing tools, with percentages between 90% and 100%.

    In comparison with 2015, among technologies aimed by Pas to reduce costs, open source software decreased from 54.1% to 50.9% in 2018, whereas cloud computing increased from 25.7% to 34.3% (10.5% in 2012).

    The share of entities relying on e-procurement purchases remained stable (from 79.5% to 80.9%).

    Availability of online services offered by local administrations continued to improve: almost half of them offered the possibility to start and conclude online the entire process of the requested service (47.8%; 33.8% in 2015) and the possibility to upload online documents relating to the requested
    services (68.3%; 58,3% in 2015).

  • Prysmian, €500M contract for A-Nord power cable link in Germany

    Prysmian, €500M contract for A-Nord power cable link in Germany

    Prysmian has been awarded a contract by Amprion GmbH, the German grid operator, for the A-Nord underground cable connection, part of the 2GW German Corridor “A” electricity transmission project.

    Worth over €500 million, Prysmian are to design, manufacture, supply, lay, joint, test and commission a 1GW underground cable system along the entire Northern route of this German Corridor.

    Prysmian will deliver a fully qualified ±525 kV high voltage DC (Direct Current) cable system consisting of copper cables, insulated with their own proprietary P-Laser technology, complete with a separate insulated metallic return cable.

    The Group will provide all related accessories and integrated PRY-CAM monitoring system, carrying out the design and installation works with a dedicated local project engineering and management team.

    The route, with a total length of around 300 km, runs from Emden in Lower Saxony to Osterath in Nordrhein-Westfalen. Construction of the HVDC system is scheduled to commence within 2023.

  • In Italy, industrial production decreased by 28.4% in march

    In Italy, industrial production decreased by 28.4% in march

    In March 2020 the seasonally adjusted industrial production index decreased by 28.4% compared with the previous month. The change in the first quarter of this year with respect to the previous one was -8.4%.

    The calendar adjusted industrial production index decreased by 29.3% compared with March 2019 (calendar working days being 22 versus 21 days in March 2019).

    The unadjusted industrial production index decreased by 27.1% compared with March 2019.

    The index measures the monthly evolution of the volume of industrial production (excluding construction). 

  • €1.2 billion contract awarded to a Maire Tecnimont-led consortium

    €1.2 billion contract awarded to a Maire Tecnimont-led consortium

    Maire Tecnimont S.p.A. announces that its subsidiary Tecnimont S.p.A., as majority leader of the consortium including MT Russia LLC, Sinopec Engineering Inc. and Sinopec Engineering Group Co., Ltd Russian Branch, has signed an EPSS contract (Engineering, Procurement and Site Services) with Amur GCC LLC, a subsidiary of PJSC Sibur Holding.

    The contract’s overall value is approximately €1.2 billion, the significant majority of which pertains to the Maire Tecnimont Group.

    The contract relates to the petrochemical development of the Amur Gas Chemical Complex (AGCC)

    AGCC is the downstream expansion of the Amur Gas Processing Plant (AGPP), a package of which Maire Tecnimont Group is currently executing in Svobodny city, located in the Amur region in the Far East of the Russian Federation, close to the border with China.  

    The project entails the implementation of several large-scale polyolefin units, and its Mechanical Completion is expected within 2024.

    This project is going to be one the largest petrochemical facilities in the world and will be fed with products associated to natural gas of the AGPP project.

    The entire gas development initiative – composed of AGPP and AGCC – located in the Amur region, represents therefore a gamechanger in the global energy processing scenario.  

  • Enel income increases 10,5% in the first quarter

    Enel income increases 10,5% in the first quarter

    Enel Group net income was 1,247 million euros (1,256 million euros in the first quarter of 2019, -0.7%). Group net ordinary income was 1,281 million euros (1,159 million euros in the first quarter of 2019, +10.5%) net of extraordinary items in the two periods under review.

    Enel revenues were 19,985 million euros (22,755 million euros in the first quarter of 2019, -12.2%).

    The change is mainly attributable to lower volumes of electricity sales in Italy and Spain as well as gas in Spain, to Thermal Generation and Trading in Italy, reflecting a decline in trading activities and the effects connected with the application of IFRIC interpretations, on top of adverse exchange rate developments, especially in Brazil, Chile and Colombia

    Net financial debt was 47,097 million euros (45,175 million euros at the end of 2019, +4.3%).

    Electricity and gas sales

    Electricity sales in the first quarter of 2020 amounted to 77.7 TWh, a4.6 TWh decrease (-5.6%) on the same period of 2019. This change mainly reflects:

    • a decrease in quantities sold in Latin America (-1.7 TWh), mainly in Chile (-0.9 TWh);
    • a decrease in quantities sold in Italy (-2.7 TWh) and Spain (-0.7 TWh), partly offset by an increase in sales in Romania (+0.5 TWh).

    Natural gas sales amounted to 3.7 billion cubic meters, down 0.3 billion cubic meters on the same period of the previous year.

    The Enel Group workforce at March 31st, 2020 numbered 67,921 (68,253at December 31st, 2019). The change in the first three months of 2020 (-332) reflects the impact of the balance between new hires and terminations (-278), the change in the scope of consolidation (-54), mainly due to the disposal of hydro plants in the United States.

  • MSGM opens a flagship store in Zhengzhou, China

    MSGM opens a flagship store in Zhengzhou, China

    MSGM opened a new flagship store inside the mall of Zhengzhou, a city located almost 700 km south to Beijing, according with milanofinanza.it

    The new boutique, based at the second floor of the department store, where other Italian brands are already present, covers a surface of about 75 square meters addressed to menswear, womenswear and accessories.

    Despite the coronavirus pandemic, MSGM is going on with its worldwide expansion strategy. The brand has 42 stores distributed in Italy, UK, France, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, Malesia and Macao.

  • First Lavazza coffee shop concept launched outside Italy, in China

    First Lavazza coffee shop concept launched outside Italy, in China

    • Lavazza and Yum China announced that they entered into a joint venture, to explore and develop the Lavazza coffee shop concept in China.
    • As the first step, a new Lavazza Flagship Store in Shanghai, their first outside of Italy, opened its doors to customers.

    Like Lavazza’s first flagship store in Milan, the Shanghai Flagship Store serves as a “gastronomic café”, offering a variety of classic and creative coffee options alongside an exceptional food selection that includes a range of traditional Italian inspired snacks.

    At the heart of it all is Lavazza’s range of premium and high-quality coffee beans, including Lavazza Kafa, one of the finest coffees in the world originating from the Ethiopian forest, and the Lavazza Classic Collection, which offers traditional Italian espresso coffee with a contemporary twist.

    A particular highlight is Bel Paese Coffee, which is an exclusive lineup created for the China market, offering a unique journey of tastes from across the different regions of Italy, including using historic espresso recipes and local interpretations.

    Coffee Design creations are also available at the Shanghai Flagship Store and offer a line of specialty drinks that bring customers an innovative coffee experience based on exceptional gastronomy techniques.

    Lavazza partnered with a Michelin starred chef for food offering

    To create the food offering for the Flagship Store, Lavazza partnered with a Michelin starred chef to bring the most authentic Italian street food to the local Chinese market.

    Customers will be able to enjoy a wide offering of savory and sweet Italian snacks, such as focaccia and cannolo alla crema, to name a few, all showcasing different gastronomic specialties from across Italy.

    In recent years, the Lavazza Group has embarked upon a process of international development aimed at tapping into new markets and meeting rising customer demand for premium coffee.

    Meanwhile, Yum China has made encouraging advances into China’s coffee market and in 2019 its brands sold 130 million cups of coffee to Chinese consumers.

  • ROinvesting becomes AC Milan official CFD partner

    ROinvesting becomes AC Milan official CFD partner

    ROinvesting, a Cyprus-based CFD trading provider, announced they have sponsored AC Milan, making them their official and exclusive CFD partner.

    ROinvesting is available in multiple languages, including English, Italian, German, Spanish, Portuguese, Lithuania, and Russian today. The app offers customer support in all of these languages as well as educational material, like webinars.

    ROinvesting is also accessible to new traders with little-to-no experience, providing tools and resources that make it easy to learn how to trade.

    The minimum deposit mandated for a trading account is $250, with a variety of funding methods provided to clients, including: Klarna, MuchBetter, Neteller, InPay, PaybyBank, Skill, or credit card.

  • Angelini Pharma acquires ThermaCare from GlaxoSmithKline

    Angelini Pharma acquires ThermaCare from GlaxoSmithKline

    Angelini Pharma acquired the ThermaCare global business rights, excluding North America, from GSK. The deal also includes the dedicated US manufacturing site for ThermaCare in Albany, Georgia.

    The acquired asset supports Angelini Pharma reinforcing both its Consumer Healthcare business and consolidating its International presence. Heat therapy is widely known to help ease muscle pain, reduce soreness, and loosen tight muscles.

    ThermaCare uses patented technology that produces real heat to help the body rebuild damaged tissue and accelerate healing. This products are formulated for: Lower Back & Hip, Neck, Wrist & Shoulder, Knee & Elbow, Multi-Purpose Muscle, Multi-Purpose Joint and Menstrual.

    “Along to prescription drugs, Angelini Pharma is recognized for having built a successful Consumer Healthcare business by consistently delivering high-quality solutions to our customers,” said Angelini Pharma CEO Pierluigi Antonelli. “I am convinced that the ThermaCare® deal will represent a significant incremental growth engine for our accelerated international expansion.“