The Board of Directors of IFI – Istituto Finanziario Industriale S.p.A., which met today in
Turin under the chairmanship of Gianluigi Gabetti, examined the results for the first six
months of 2005.
The first half of the year ends with consolidated income for the IFI Group of
€387.6 million. Compared to the corresponding period of 2004 (which had reported a
consolidated loss of €52.9 million), this is an improvement of €440.5 million, basically
due to the increase in the result of the IFIL Group, which benefits from the gain realized
on the sale of La Rinascente and better results reported by the Fiat Group.
Consolidated stockholders’ equity of the Group at June 30, 2005 amounts to €2,731.6
million (€2,166.2 million at December 31, 2004).
The parent company, IFI S.p.A., records income of €48.4 million for the first six months
of 2005, with an increase of €5.9 million compared to the corresponding period of 2004
(€42.5 million).
The net financial position of IFI S.p.A. at June 30, 2005 shows a debt position of €276.9
million, with an increase of €13.1 million compared to the end of 2004 (-€263.8 million).
Major events during the first six months of 2005
During March and April 2005, IFI purchased on the market 16,708,441 IFIL ordinary
shares (1.61% of the class of stock) for €55.5 million and 1,866,420 IFIL savings shares
(4.99% of the class of stock) for €6.4 million. IFI currently holds 660,491,840 IFIL
ordinary shares, equal to 63.59% of the class of stock, and 1,866,420 IFIL savings shares,
equal to 4.99% of the class of stock. The investment constitutes 61.56% of capital stock.
Significant events subsequent to the end of the first six months of 2005
On September 20, 2005, Exor Group (controlled by Giovanni Agnelli e C. S.a.p.az.
through a 70.45% direct stake and 29.30% indirect stake through IFI S.p.A.) sold
82,250,000 Fiat ordinary shares to IFIL. These shares came from an equity swap
agreement between Exor Group and Merrill Lynch International last April. The transfer
of the shares from Merrill Lynch to Exor Group took place at the same time the Fiat
capital increase was executed, on September 20, 2005. The sale of the Fiat shares by Exor
Group to IFIL followed on the same date. In the identical context, IFIL, on the same date,
sold Merrill Lynch all the option rights to which it was entitled on the Fiat capital
increase. Prior to the purchase of the above stock, the investment held by IFIL in Fiat
totaled 246,083,447 ordinary shares and 31,082,500 preferred shares, after the purchase
of 5,500,000 ordinary shares on the market by IFIL on September 7, 8 and 9 for
approximately €41 million. The aforementioned transactions allowed IFIL to maintain its
investment in Fiat ordinary capital stock unchanged (30.06%) after the capital increase by
Fiat which took place on September 20, 2005.
Business outlook
Taking into account the forecasts formulated by the holdings, IFIL and Exor Group, it is
believed that the consolidated result of the IFI Group for 2005 will show a strong
increase over 2004, which closed with a profit of €117 million. As for IFI S.p.A., the
result is expected to be along the lines of that of 2004 (€37.7 million).
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