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 consolidated results for the nine months to September 30, 2006.
The consolidated profit of the IFI Group for the nine months to September 30, 2006 amounts to € 179.7 million. This is a decrease of € 400.3 million from the profit for the first nine months of 2005 (€ 580 million) which, however, included significant nonrecurring net income recorded by the IFIL Group.
The net financial position of IFI S.p.A. shows a negative € 94 million. The positive change of € 183.7 million compared to the balance at the end of 2005 (-€ 277.7 million) is due to the sale of the investment in Exor Group (+€ 206.6 million), dividends received (+€ 54.3 million), net of the purchase of IFIL stock (-€ 65.5 million), and other net changes (-€ 11.7 million).
Consolidated equity of the Group at September 30, 2006 amounts to € 3,362.8 million (€ 3,084 million at the end of 2005). The increase of € 278.8 million is due to the consolidated profit of the Group for the period (+€ 179.7 million), the share of negative translation differences (-€ 83.9 million) and other net changes (+€ 181.7 million) reported by the IFIL Group, and other variations (+€ 1.3 million).
The consolidated profit of the Group for the third quarter of 2006 is € 50 million (€ 192.4 million in the corresponding period of 2005). The negative change of € 142.4 million is mainly due to the lower profit contribution by the IFIL Group which, in the third quarter of 2005, included significant net nonrecurring income.
Major events
In October 2006, IFI purchased 260,284 IFIL ordinary shares (0.03% of the class of stock) on the market for an investment of € 1.5 million. IFI currently holds 675,200,000 IFIL ordinary shares, equal to 65.01% of the class of stock, and 1,866,420 IFIL savings shares, equal to 4.99% of the class of stock. The investment represents 62.93% of capital stock.
Business outlook
IFI S.p.A. forecasts a profit in 2006 that will be much higher than that of 2005. On the basis of the indications formulated by the IFIL Group, for 2006, the IFI Group is expected to show a consolidated profit, although lower than that of 2005 which included significant nonrecurring income.
