Generali's rally continues, share price at highs since 2008

(Il Sole 24 Ore Radiocor) - A day of buying on Generali, which reached 21.37 euro per share on the Italian Stock Exchange, reaching its highest level since 2008. The share price of EUR 21.1, which had been reached at the beginning of April 2022 after Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone and Delfin had taken a 10% stake in the company ahead of the shareholders' meeting for the appointment of the board of directors, was therefore surpassed. Supporting the share price, however, wasthe performance of the entire insurance sector (Eurostoxx 600 at +1.34%), which was also galvanised by the good performances in Paris by Axa and in Zurich by Zurich, both up more than two points after the market's positive response to the release of the accounts.

Generali's rally has been going on for a few sessions now, particularly after the chairman of Fondazione Crt, Fabrizio Palenzona, in an interview given to Il Sole 24 Ore the day after the Foundation's exit from the Banco Bpm shareholding structure with the sale of 1.8%, he had explained that with the funds obtained from the sale of the package, the Foundation had "consolidated the historic long-term shareholding in Generali, so as to increase the flow of dividends, which together with UniCredit and Mundys constitute the largest part of the resources that we make available to the territory". In the Lion Company therefore, Palenzona clarified, 'we are and remain on the 2% threshold'.

It should be remembered that in the shareholders' meeting two years ago, when voting split between the board of directors' list (later winner), supported by Mediobanca and foreign funds, and the one presented by Francesco Gaetano Caltagirone (voted by Delfin and Benetton), Crt sided with the latter list. For this reason, the consolidation of the shareholding in the Leone already makes the market think about the next renewal of the board of the Leone, scheduled for spring 2025.

Finally, according to some brokers, the announcement of the new EUR 500 million buyback, which took place at the end of January, also influenced the positive performance of the share. An operation that replicates what happened at the end of the previous industrial plan and which sees Generali allocate to shareholders the 'budget' not used for extraordinary operations. The share buyback will be submitted to the shareholders' meeting for approval in the spring and will start as early as this year. This move, according to the lion, demonstrates 'a commitment to shareholder remuneration and security regarding the group's cash and capital position'. We are doing it, group CEO Philippe Donnet had stressed at the end of January, because we are "confident of the successful completion of our plan, with which Generali has achieved strong growth and created value for all stakeholders. Recent acquisitions have further consolidated our leadership in the European insurance market and expanded our asset management business globally'.