PRESS RELEASE

Stock Exchange, more companies only thanks to EGM
Profits of listed companies in marked improvement
The picture of Piazza Affari in the latest Consob Statistical Bulletin

Stock market capitalisation in sharp decline compared to Gross Domestic Product. Equity investments in sharp decline, while those in bonds are growing. The MTA (Mercato telematico azionario), Piazza Affari's main market, continues to shrink (9 exits). However, the total number of companies listed or traded on the Milan Stock Exchange rose from 407 to 412, although the positive balance (+5) is due exclusively to the growth (+16) of small, very small and medium-sized companies admitted to the EGM (Euronext Growth Milan), the unregulated market dedicated to SMEs, which balances the drop on the MTA (-9) and VORVEL (-2), the former HI-MTF. At the same time, the profitability of listed Italian companies is clearly improving.

This is the picture in “chiaroscuro” of the Italian Stock Exchange at the end of 2022, portrayed in Consob's latest Statistical Bulletin. The data in the Bulletin, published today on the website www.consob.it, do not take into account developments after 31 December and outline a securities market that is slightly recovering compared to the values recorded at mid-year, but below the level of the end of 2021.

The indicators depict an uncertain economic situation, which is affected by the war in Ukraine, of the surge in inflation driven, among other things, by increases in the energy sector, and which is also affected by the interest rate hikes decided by the European Central Bank.

On the other hand, the 2022 earnings of non-financial companies show a strong increase, by as much as 123 per cent to EUR 28.2 billion for those listed on the MTA and by 52 per cent to EUR 591 million for the EGM. Banks' profits also improved compared to 2021 (EUR 15.3bn, +55 per cent), while there was a 3 per cent drop for insurance companies (to EUR 6.1bn) and a 20 per cent drop for other financial companies (to EUR 0.8bn).

The drop in share prices depressed the overall capitalisation of listed Italian companies, which had fallen by 18.6 per cent year-on-year as at 31 December. In relation to Gross Domestic Product, market capitalisation fell from 33 per cent at the end of 2021 to 25 per cent at the end of 2022.

The portfolio of securities held with Italian intermediaries decreased (-8.8 per cent) by households and businesses. The weight of investments in shares and in bonds issued by financial companies is growing. Instead, the weight of investments in mutual funds decreased. Volumes of assets relating to investment services were down, especially the collection of financial instruments (-15.4 per cent to 363.4 billion) and insurance products with a predominantly financial content (-47.1 per cent to 28.1 billion) by Italian intermediaries.