Italy Financial News

(ANSA) - Rome, March 18 - Taking a nap while on the job is not fair grounds for dismissal, Italy's highest court said Thursday.

A Verona security guard sacked after a boss caught him asleep will have to be rehired until he defends himself with a union rep, the Cassation Court said.

The court, whose rulings set precedents, said cat-napping was among the misdemeanours which should be handled under Italy's Workers' Statute, which protects workers from unfair dismissal.

(ANSA) - Rome, March 18 - Based on current trends, Italy's GDP this year will expand by no more than 1% and "even 1% is optimistic," the head of the industrial employer association Confindustria said on Thursday.

"While there have been improvements in the economy they have been weak. Should this trend be confirmed then GDP in 2010 will grow by no more than 1% and even 1% is already a bit optimistic," Emma Marcegaglia said.

(ANSA) - London, March 18 - Enel in 2009 posted a net profit of 5.35 billion euros, up 1.9% over the previous year, which will allow Italy's biggest utility to pay a dividend of 25 cents a share, a company report said on Thursday.

Turnover last year rose 4.7% to 64.035 billion euros, while earnings before interest, taxes, depreciation and amortisation (EBITDA) climbed 12.1% to 16.044 billion euros.

The group's net profit in 2009 included the one-off sale of renewable assets to Spain's Acciona for 970 million euros.

(ANSA) - Rome, March 18 - Year-on-year exports were up 1% in January, the first increase since September 2008, when the global economic downturn began to be felt, national statistics bureau Istat reported on Thursday.

However, compared to December of last year exports fell by 1.6%.

Imports were off 0.3% from January 2009 but up 1.1% from December.

Italy's trade deficit at the end of January stood at 3.36 billion euros, down from 3.608 billion euros in January 2009.

(ANSA) - Rome, March 17 - Real estate sales tumbled 11.3% in 2009 over the previous year, after plunging 13.7% in 2008 over 2007, but average prices fell by only 0.7%, a sector report said on Wednesday.

Despite the steep drop in sales, the report added, the worst appears to be over with sales in the last quarter of 2009 down by 4%, the smallest decline all years.

As the economy pulls out of recession, the report observed, the real estate market will also pick up.

(ANSA) - Milan, March 17 - Four leading international banks were ordered to stand trial on Wednesday for allegedly defrauding the city of Milan in a 2005 derivatives swap operation.

The banks are Switzerland's UBS, JP Morgan of the United States, Deutsche Bank and the Dublin-based German-Irish bank Depfa.

This is the first time in Italy that banks have been brought to court on charges of defrauding municipalities.

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 17 - The European Commission on Wednesday said plans presented by Italy and several other European Union members to correct their budget deficits were based on economic scenarios which were too "optimistic".

Italy, like many other EU countries, allowed its deficit and debt to expand above the ceiling set by the euro Stability and Growth Pact (SGP) in order to stimulate the economy out of recession following the global economic downturn.

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 17 - Greece must act "swiftly and directly" to implement its anti-crisis plan in order to obtain the confidence of markets, Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the European Parliament in his role as chairman of the G20's Financial Stability Board (FSB) chairman, Draghi observed that Greece "is in the grips of a budget crisis and budget crises must be dealt with through immediate and direct actions in order to convince markets".

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 17 - The recovery in Europe from the recent global economic downturn "is uneven and weak in Europe and fragile everywhere," Bank of Italy Governor Mario Draghi said on Wednesday.

Speaking to the European Parliament in his role as chairman of the G20's Financial Stability Board (FSB) chairman, Draghi observed that "almost all banks are on the way to resolve their financial problems, but their balance sheets are still exposed to elements of fragility linked above all to the state of the economic recovery".

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 16 - The euro zone needs to 'rethink' its position and role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) given that it is giving to it more than it is receiving, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Tuesday.

"Does it seem normal that while the area has a common problem, Greece, we are all split up within the IMF? And while the bloc is one of the leading shareholders in the IMF, we can't use its resources?" Tremonti asked on the sidelines of a meeting of EU economy and finance (ECOFIN) ministers.

"Something is not right, there is too great a difference between what we put in and what we get out. Perhaps it wouldn't be a bad idea for us to just hold on to some of the contributions we give to the IMF," he added.

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 16 - The euro zone needs to 'rethink' its position and role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) given that it is giving to it more than it is receiving, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Tuesday.

"Does it seem normal that while the area has a common problem, Greece, we are all split up within the IMF? And while the bloc is one of the leading shareholders in the IMF, we can't use its resources?" Tremonti asked on the sidelines of a meeting of EU economy and finance (ECOFIN) ministers.

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 16 - The European Union is in favor of a plan Italy has presented to lower its deficit and would like to see it applied rigorously, accord to a report on Italy's updated stability and growth plan which ANSA viewed on Tuesday.

The European Commission is expected to approve the Italian plan on Wednesday and in its recommendations the EU executive is expected to tell Italy to be ready to adopt "further measures" in the event the economic picture changes from the one cited in the plan.

(ANSA) - Brussels, March 16 - The euro zone needs to 'rethink' its position and role in the International Monetary Fund (IMF) given that it is giving to it more than it is receiving, Italian Economy Minister Giulio Tremonti said on Tuesday.

(ANSA) - Roma, March 16 - People are least satisfied with public healthcare in regions in the south that spend a greater part of their budgets on it than in the rest of the country, a new study revealed Tuesday.

The report by Italian healthcare watchdog Osservasalute showed that southern regions spend the equivalent of 9.73% of their gross domestic products on healthcare compared to 6.61% in the center and 5.56% in the north.

(ANSA) - Rome, March 16 -Fiat Group Automobiles (FGA) last month saw both its sales and market share climb in Europe with new car registrations significantly higher than the European average.

FGA new car registrations jumped 5.1% over February of last year, compared to a 3.2% rise for Europe as a whole.

FGA's market share rose from 9% in January to 9.2%, the same as in February 2009.

Within FGA, Fiat marque sales climbed 6.2% over February 2009, Lancia sales jumped 18.7% and those for Alfa Romeo rose 9.1%.