Asset Publisher

Statistical Bulletin no. 16 - June 2020

Listed companies and financial intermediation

 

Statistical Bulletin no. 16 - June 2020 
 

Listed companies and financial intermediation in 2019

In 2019 the capitalization of companies with shares admitted to trading on Italian regulated markets and multilateral trading facilities (hereinafter referred to as "Italian listed companies") increased by 17% due to the rise of market prices (the Ftse All Share Italy Index increased by 27,2% in 2019) and the ratio between capitalization and GDP increased from 28.2% at the end of 2018 to 33.1% at the end of 2019. The number of Italian listed companies rose from 344 to 360 due to the new listings on AIM (+19) and to the delistings on MTA (-3).
The consolidated accounts data of non-financial companies listed on the MTA show a significant reduction in net profit compared to previous year restated data (-24.8%), due to an increase in provisions and other costs. Listed banks reported a reduction in net income (-2.2%) mainly due to a rise in taxes. Listed insurance companies recorded an increase in net income (+7.7%) essentially attributable to the increase in revenues and income as well as to the reduction of costs and charges. The accounting data of industrial companies listed on AIM Italia compared to the previous year show an increase in equity invested (+29,6%) and an important rise in pre-tax economic results (EBIT +18,8%) but net profit improved slightly (+4,3%) due to taxes (+ 49,3%) with an effect partially reflected on cash flows (+10,8%).
The trading volume of shares of Italian listed companies on regulated markets and multilateral trading facilities based in Italy and abroad decreased by 17.9% compared to 2018. The fails volume of Italian listed shares traded on MTA was 4.4% of total turnover on MTA (3.8% at the end of 2018).
The notional turnover in equity derivatives decreased by 19.3%, involving the financial instruments having indexes as underlying asset. At the end of 2019, the notional turnover of open positions on equity derivatives was 65,7% upper than the corresponding figure at the end of 2018. The notional turnover of commodity derivatives recorded an increment of 400,2% involving basically covered warrants on commodity. The open positions of Italian electricity futures registered a decrease of 23.2% compared to the end of the previous year.
At the end of 2019, the net short positions on Italian listed shares were equal to 1% of total capitalization (1.2% at the end of 2018); for the financial sector this figure was equal to 1% of total sector capitalization (1.7% at the end of 2018).
During 2019, the trading volume of Italian government securities on Italian trading platforms decreased by 14.5%, mainly due to the decrease in trades on MTS (-20.1%). In addition, there was a contraction in turnover of Italian bonds other than government securities (-4.3%) due to a generalized decrease in exchanges on Italian trading platforms except for MOT that recorded an increase of 16.3%. Moreover, there was a reduction in the trading volume of ETFs and securitized derivative financial instruments (ETCs/ETNs) (-2.9%), attributable in particular to the drop of exchange traded facilities (-2.3%).
At the end of 2019, the margins established by the members of the central counterparty system related to Italian regulated markets were 18% lower than the value recorded at the end of 2018.
During the year, there was a decrement in the issuance of bonds by Italian banks compared to 2018, concerning public bids on the domestic market (-18.5%), conversely private bids for institutional investors increased by 70.2%.
At the end of 2019, the value of the financial instruments held by Italian intermediaries for the provision of investment services and collective management of assets increased by 9.9% compared to the corresponding figure recorded at the end of 2018, slightly higher than the increase in the monetary aggregates of the euro area (M2) referring to Italy (5.5%).
Similarly, the volume of activities related to the provision of investment services increased overall in 2019 (placement of financial instruments +10.8%, dealing for own account +8.3%, orders received and forwarded +8.1%,), except order execution (0%). Gross premiums deriving from the placement of insurance products with prevailing financial content distributed in Italy by Italian intermediaries recorded an increment (+11.5%), due to the increase in premiums related to the distribution of unit-linked policies (+16.6%).
At the end of 2019, the assets managed by Italian intermediaries showed a rise compared to the end of 2018 (+12.5%), due to the increase in assets attributable to assets managements on individual basis established in Italy (+15.3%), to Italian open ended funds (+2.9%), to Italian closed ended collective investment schemes (+15.5%), despite the decrease of assets referred to non-insurance pension schemes established in Italy (-2.5%). In addition, the assets of foreign open UCIs held in Italy increased slightly (+17.9%).
The 2019 net inflows for Italian open-end UCIs were negative for 5.4 billion euro.
The financial statements of Italian asset management companies showed a significant increase in net profit compared to 2018 (+31.6%), due mainly to the increase in net commissions (+23.5%) for the period. Instead, the net profit of the Italian investment companies decreased by 35.3%, mainly due to the reduction in commission income and dividends and similar income.

 

The Report was prepared by:
Gaetano N. Finiguerra (supervisor) - CONSOB, Head of Statistics Office, Research Department (g.finiguerra@consob.it)
Renato Grasso (coordinator) - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (r.grasso@consob.it)
Emilio Ciccone - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (e.ciccone@consob.it)
Simona Di Rocco - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (s.dirocco@consob.it)
Francesco Scalese - CONSOB, Statistics Office, Research Department (f.scalese@consob.it)

Thanks to Lucia Pierantoni for her collaboration (l.pierantoni@consob.it)
Editorial secretary: Andrea Cianciullo

For information and clarifications write to: Ufficio.Statistiche@consob.it