* Shares in Tod’s jump more than 5% after the announcement
* The company aims to win over young people to drive growth (Adds details)
ROME, April 9 (Reuters) – Italian fashion group Tod’s said on Friday that it is appointing Instagram star and influencer Chiara Ferragni as a board member, stepping up its efforts to win over the younger buyers driving the sector’s growth.
The luxury leather goods maker shares jumped more than 5% after the announcement of Ferragni, a 33-year-old Italian digital entrepreneur with more than 23 million followers on his Instagram account where he shares fashion and style advice and raises awareness about social issues. .
“We believe that Chiara’s knowledge of the world of youth, combined with the experiences of other board members, can build thinking focused on solidarity with others, with a strong focus on the younger generation, who, now more than ever, need to be heard,” Tod said. .
Tod’s, known for his shoes, launched a new strategy in late 2017 to change his brand and appeal to younger consumers, but the COVID-19 pandemic has hampered his efforts. Sales fell by nearly a third in 2020 due to lockdowns and falls in tourism, marking the fifth consecutive year of annual sales decline.
“Ferragni’s entry into Tod’s board will lead to increased brand visibility, and investors hope this will help in driving group sales in today’s challenging market,” said a Milan-based trader.
Generations Z and Y, born after 1995, will meet about two-thirds of total demand in the luxury goods sector by 2025, up from about 45% in 2019, consultants Bain said in its latest estimate.
“Chiara’s knowledge of the youth world is invaluable,” said Diego Della Valle, Tod’s founder and top shareholder.
Reporting by Claudia Cristoferi; Edited by Giulia Segreti and Pravin Char
FILE PHOTOS: A technical employee works on the production line for a Volkswagen electric model ID. 4, in Zwickau, Germany, 18 September 2020. REUTERS / Matthias Rietschel
FRANKFURT (Reuters) – Volkswagen overtook software maker SAP on Wednesday as the most valuable company on Germany’s blue-chip DAX index, as investors welcomed the automaker’s plans to take Tesla.
Volkswagen shares are up as much as 12%, giving the company a market valuation of more than 136 billion euros ($ 162 billion), compared to SAP 127 billion.
Volkswagen shares have been up 47% year-to-date, supported by a series of announcements about its electric vehicle expansion strategy, which culminated in this week’s “Power Day” including plans to build six gigafactories in Europe by 2030.
Chief Executive Herbert Diess said on Tuesday that he thought Volkswagen, the world’s second-largest automaker after Toyota, was worth 200 billion euros, still far short of Tesla’s $ 650 billion market value.
($ 1 = 0.8401 euros)
Reporting by Christoph Steitz, Alexander Huebner and Hakan Ersen. Edited by Mark Potter
MILAN, Feb 22 (Reuters) – ASTM shares surged 27% on Monday, lifted by a buyout offer from a top Italian motorway group investor who wants to take the company private and revamp it.
Nuova Argo Finanziaria (NAF), which holds a 42% stake in ASTM, said at the weekend it would offer 25.60 euros per share in a new vehicle to buy minority investors at an outlay of up to 1.7 billion euros ($ 2 billion).
This represents a premium of 28.8% over ASTM’s official closing price on Friday.
The NAF said it plans to transform business, adding it will be easier to pursue reorganization of unlisted companies.
The Italian Gavio family are major investors in the NAF along with the infrastructure arm of French private equity firm Ardian.
Ardian agreed to invest in ASTM just days before a highway bridge operated by toll road company Atlantia collapsed in August 2018, killing 43 people.
In response to the tragedy, the Italian government has stepped up investment oversight by concessionaires, establishing a new body to monitor safety standards.
$ 1 = 0.8269 euros Report by Elisa Anzolin, written by Valentina Za; Edited by Kirsten Donovan
RIO DE JANEIRO (Reuters) – The chief executive of Brazil’s state-owned oil company Petrobras is trying to fight President Jair Bolsonaro’s bid to topple him over his insistence on raising gasoline prices in line with rising international markets, two sources with firsthand knowledge of the matter told Reuters on the day. Friday.
The company’s shares plunged 5% in early trading on new investor concerns about political interference in Petroleo Brasileiro SA, as it was officially recognized – a trend that has forced the sacking of at least one previous CEO.
Roberto Castello Branco was appointed to lead Petrobras when Bolsonaro took office in early 2019, and he regularly handles presidential complaints about pricing.
Bolsonaro raised the stakes during an announcement on a lower fuel tax on Thursday, signaled his dissatisfaction with Branco in the most explicit terms and said there would be changes at Petrobras “in the coming days”.
“Chief Petrobras said a few days ago: ‘I have nothing to do with truck drivers.’ That’s what he said, the head of Petrobras. That will obviously have consequences, “Bolsonaro said during a live video chat after the market closed.
Petrobras has hiked fuel prices since a Reuters report on Feb.5 revealed details of its revised pricing policy, which led analysts to downgrade the company’s shares on fears of possible political interference.
However, the source said that the CEO is still steadfast for now.
“(Castello Branco) will not give up and he is not planning to leave,” said one of the sources, who requested anonymity to discuss sensitive matters. “It used to be a pro-government board of directors, and now it’s independent.”
In his comments on Thursday, Bolsonaro reiterated that he would not “interfere” at Petrobras but later said “something will happen at Petrobras in the coming days.”
“Something needs to change,” he added. “It will happen.”
Goldman Sachs analysts warned in a note Friday morning about more “noise” over fuel prices while reiterating the “buy” rating on stocks. “We realize the short term news flow is not supportive of share prices.”
Reporting by Rodrigo Viga Gaier,; Additional reporting by Marta Nogueira; Edited by Brad Haynes, Christian Plumb, and Emelia Sithole-Matarise
MELBOURNE (Reuters) – Fortescue Metals Group increased its dividend payout Thursday, but the boom in costs at a major development project in Western Australia is tarnishing its ambition to become a green energy powerhouse.
FILE PHOTO: The Australian Fortescue Metals Group (FMG) logo can be seen on bulk carriers loading iron ore in the coastal city of Port Hedland in Western Australia, 29 November 2018. Image taken 29 November 2018. REUTERS / Melanie Burton
The world’s fourth-largest iron ore miner now estimates the cost of its Iron Bridge magnetite project to be $ 3 billion, $ 400 million more than previously estimated as it delays first production to the second half of 2022 from the first half.
Earlier this week, Fortescue announced the resignation of its chief operating officer and two iron ore executives as part of a 12-week review of the high-grade ore project – a major part of the miner’s strategy to upgrade its product to win market share. and meet China’s preference for high quality ore.
“With (the review) underway, we have limited confidence in the new guidance,” RBC said in a report, while Moody’s called the swelling, caused by increased labor and logistics costs, “credit negative.”
The project is expected to produce 22 million tonnes when fully upgraded.
An update to the project was made with the miner’s first-half earnings report on Thursday which posted a 66% jump in profit, a record dividend and boosted its annual delivery forecast.
“I think what has happened in the last 24-48 hours has indeed given the market pause on its plans to deliver new projects, new technology overseas,” said UBS analyst Glyn Lawcock.
“(But) the market is very surprised by the fact that they are getting good payouts. I think the market is concerned about the jump in capital spending on Iron Bridge, commitments to spend more on renewable energy, and to reduce dividends. “
Joining BHP Group and Rio Tinto counterparts in giving investors the benefit of strong iron ore prices back, Fortescue announced a higher-than-expected interim dividend of A $ 1.47 per share, up from A $ 0.76 last year. .
China’s focus on infrastructure last year pushed up iron ore prices by more than 50%.
GREEN AMBITION
Fortescue last year embarked on an aggressive plan to develop a worldwide renewable energy project, called Fortescue Future Industries, and led by billionaire founder and largest shareholder Andrew Forrest, known as “Twiggy”.
Forrest, Australia’s second richest person, saw his personal fortune grow by A $ 1.65 billion ($ 1.28 billion) on Thursday thanks to his 36.3% stake in the company.
Among the projects are ammonia and hydrogen, and technology to use hydrogen produced from renewable energy to make steel, which is now one of the most polluting industries in the world.
Fortescue disclosed details of funding for FFI, with an allocation of 10% of net profit after tax, or approximately $ 400 million, to fund renewable energy growth, and another 10% to fund other resource growth options.
Despite the green push, Fortescue has refused to follow its counterparts Rio Tinto and Glencore who this week said they would set a coverage target of 3 to reduce customer emissions. Gaines said Fortescue was focused on reducing emissions on a “global scale”.
Fortescue’s first-half profit after tax was $ 4.08 billion, up from $ 2.45 billion a year earlier. This is in line with a $ 4.09 billion consensus of 10 analysts put together by research firm Vuma Financial.
Iron ore shipments are estimated to be in the range of 178-182 million tonnes for the financial year, up from the previous range of 175-180 million tonnes. Its stake was up 1.9% to A $ 24.88.
($ 1 = 1.2897 Australian dollars)
Reporting by Sameer Manekar and Rushil Dutta in Bengaluru; Edited by Arun Koyyur and Jacqueline Wong
