Finmeccanica, which holds the bulk of Italy's aerospace industry, is under pressure to speed up its restructuring efforts after posting heavy losses for the First half of the year.
The group ended the First six months showing a loss of L1,900 billion ($1.1 billion). Although the bulk of the losses came from restructuring charges, largely from automotive and energy businesses, the group still showed an underlying loss of around L335 billion. Debts have risen to above L6,000 billion and are forecast to rise to L7,500 billion by the year-end.
The group's new management has plans to raise around L3,000 billion from the sales of businesses, and hopes for a capital injection of another L2,000 billion. Italy's giant state-holding company IRI, which owns 63.4% of Finmeccanica and is itself under pressure to sell off its assets, is expected to join in the recapitalisation, but the heavy losses have reportedly shaken the confidence of the banks which hold another 25%of the group.
Source: Flight International
