Telecom Italia up on news that CEO Bernabe could leave this Thursday
Telecom Italia is one of the only stocks moving up in Italy today – as market rumours suggest that CEO Franco Bernabe is set to resign this Thursday.
Most of Italy's FTSE MIB is in freefall – but Telecom Italia is trading over three per cent above its previous close.
Earlier this week Bernabe told the Italian parliament that the company would need to raise fresh capital in order to avoid a downgrade of its debt status to "junk".
Reuters now reports that the telecoms company is now "heading towards a resignation," and that a second person familiar with the situation said chief operating officer Marco Patuano could take up Bernabe's powers. That should apparently ensure management continuity and that its core shareholders would name a new chairman with a broadly representation role.
"Core shareholders are not worried because in such a case Patuano is the CEO," the person said.