• The IFI Group closes the first half of 2008 with a profit attributable to the equity holders of the company of € 206.7 million (€ 202 million in the first half of 2007)
• Net financial position of IFI S.p.A. at 6/30/2008 is a negative € 345.2 million (a negative € 392.7 million at 12/31/2007)
• For the full-year 2008, positive results are forecast for both the separate and consolidated financial statements
The IFI – Istituto Finanziario Industriale S.p.A. board of directors, which met today in Turin under the chairmanship of John Elkann, examined the consolidated results for the first half of 2008.
The profit attributable to the equity holders of the company for the first half of 2008 is € 206.7 million and increased by € 4.7 million compared to the first half of 2007 (€ 202 million). The change is due to a higher interest in the profit of the IFIL Group (+€ 10.4 million) which is partly offset by higher net financial expenses (-€ 5.3 million) and higher net general expenses (-€ 0.4 million).
The equity attributable to the equity holders of the company at June 30, 2008 is € 4,055.3 million (€ 4,160.5 million at the end of 2007). The net decrease of € 105.2 million is attributable to the share of translation differences and other changes reported by the subsidiary IFIL (-€ 324.5 million) which is only partly compensated by the profit attributable to the equity holders of the company for the first half (+€ 206.7 million), the positive dilution arising from the purchase of treasury stock by the subsidiary IFIL (+€ 10.8 million) and other net changes (+€ 1.8 million).
The net financial position of IFI S.p.A. at June 30, 2008 is a negative € 345.2 million with a positive change of € 47.5 million (compared to a negative € 392.7 million at the end of 2007) due
basically to the collection of dividends from IFIL (+€ 73 million) net of the buyback of IFIL ordinary shares (-€ 16.2 million).
Major events
Increase in the investment in IFIL
During the first quarter of 2008, IFI purchased on the market 2,950,000 IFIL ordinary shares (0.29% of the class of stock) for an investment of € 16.2 million.
IFI currently holds 726,900,000 IFIL ordinary shares, equal to 69.99% of the class of stock, and 1,866,420 IFIL savings shares, equal to 4.99% of the class of stock. The investment represents 67.73% of total capital stock.
End of the term of office of the statutory auditors Gianluca Ferrero and Giorgio Giorgi
Following the appointment of Gianluca Ferrero to the board of managing partners of the parent Giovanni Agnelli e C. S.a.p.az., on May 15, 2008, the chairman of the board of statutory auditors, Gianluca Ferrero and the standing auditor Giorgio Giorgi ended their posts pursuant to art. 148, paragraph 3 of Legislative Decree 58/1998 (for reasons of incompatibility).
Accordingly, pursuant to and as a consequence of art. 2401 of the Italian Civil Code, up until the next shareholders’ meeting, Giorgio Ferrino and Paolo Piccatti, who were already alternate auditors, took over the positions of standing auditors, and Lionello Jona Celesia, who was already a standing auditor, took over as chairman. The new alternate auditors will be elected by the next shareholders’ meeting.
Proceedings relative to the contents of the press releases issued by IFIL S.p.A. and Giovanni Agnelli e C. S.a.p.az. on August 24, 2005
In July 2008, the parties involved in the Consob sanctionary measure filed an appeal with the Court of Cassation against the December 5, 2007 – January 23, 2008 ruling by the Court of Appeals of Turin which had partially upheld the opposition’s appeal and reduced the administrative sanction levied by Consob.
In the penal proceedings, the preliminary hearing is being held pursuant to ex article 420 and subsequent articles of the Code of Penal Procedure which was stayed for the continuation of the discussion to October 10-11, 2008. The magistrate for the preliminary hearings has reserved its decision on the question of territory jurisdiction.
Giovanni Agnelli e C. press release
On August 25, 2008, Giovanni Agnelli e C. S.a.p.az. announced the purchase of ten million IFI preferred shares, equal to 6.13% of capital stock and 13.02% of the class of stock. The Group is evaluating the various hypotheses and options available in light of this purchase.
Business outlook
The confirmation of targets by the Fiat Group allows the IFIL Group to forecast a notably positive consolidated result for 2008 even though there are unfavorable market conditions for the other companies of the IFIL Group.
Therefore, for the year 2008, IFI forecasts positive results for both the separate and consolidated financial statements.
The manager responsible for the preparation of the financial reports, Pierluigi Bernasconi, attests, in accordance with paragraph 2, article 154 bis of the Consolidated Finance Act that the accounting disclosure contained in this press release corresponds to the company’s documents, accounting records and entries.
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