Economy– The time has come for businesses to present their quarterly reports and various press agencies and international media have been busy writing about how Italy’s leading companies have done in the first three months of 2016. And, whilst the banking sector is struggling to reorganize itself, the news coming out of the industrial sector is encouraging, not least because the Italian market is in recovery mode. That is certainly true for Campari, that now makes a quarter of its sales on its local market and having exceeded the expectations of analysts featured (Reuters, May 9 – Campari Q1 organic sales beat expectations with 7.2 pct rise; El País reports that part of the growth shown by the alcoholic beverage group can be attributed to its acquisition of various well-known global brands (May 7 – Campari ensaya el cóctel global).
Reuters wrote that Moncler has also achieved positive results thanks to its success on international markets (May 11 – Italy’s Moncler Q1 sales rise more than expected) whilst in another article it described how the Furla group – with its “accessible luxury items” – is not only planning to open new shops in London, Melbourne and Shangai, but is also likely to go public next year (May 11 – Italy’s Furla expected to list in 2017). Meantime, Italy’s Alberto Zamperla, the man behind the world’s leading manufacturer of pleasure rides and responsible for creating amusement parks from North Korea to Guatemala, featured in a long profile piece in the Financial Times (May 6 – Alberto Zamperla, builder of roller coasters and thrill rides*).
With regards to the recovery of the domestic market, Reuters also reported on how Poste is benefitting from the sales of insurance products in Italy (May 11 – Poste Italiane beats Q1 forecasts thanks to capital gains, insurance products). On the same time Bloomberg featured the 35% increase in Enel’s profits, thanks to its domestic sales (May 11 – Enel Jumps Most in Two Months on Boost From Italian Retail Unit), whilst it was the recovery of Italy’s advertising market that had boosted Mediaset’s bottom-line (Bloomberg, May 10 – Mediaset First-Quarter Revenue Rises as Italian Ad Sales Recover).
Various articles in several papers also focused on current interest in the Italian market – and its potential for recovery – as confirmed by the foreign investments being made. Cinco Días reported on the Spanish group, Abertis that has just paid 594 million Euros for the stretch of the A4 toll road that runs from Brescia to Padua – known as the “Serenissima” – along with the inter-connecting A31 toll road (May 10 Abertis compra por 594 millones dos autopistas en Italia). Bloomberg also ran with that same story (Abertis to Buy Italian Highways For $677 Million in Growth Drive). The Foreign capital is also attracting Italian football, with Fininvest negotiating the sale of AC Milan to Chinese investors (Financial Times, May 10 – Berlusconi in talks to sell AC Milan stake to Chinese investors*; Washington Post, May 10 – Berlusconi dealing with Chinese investors for AC Milan sale).
Art & Culture – Italian art featured in a piece describing the “Maniera” exhibition in Frankfurt’s Städel Museum, dedicated to 16th century Florentine painters (Le Monde, May 7 – L’art florentin de l’outrance). Two days later, El País reported on the record price achieved at auction by Maurizio Cattelan’s “Hitler”, which it described as an “extremely powerful and disturbing” sculpture (May 9 – Un ‘Hitler’ de Cattelan, una irreverencia vendida por 15 millones). As to the Italian cultural scene, it is Riccardo Muti’s return to La Scala that was of interest to El Mundo (May 11 – Riccardo Muti volverá a dirigir en La Scala 12 años después) and to the New York Times (May 12 – Maestro Muti to Return to La Scala After Nearly 12 Years).
Tourism – With summer on its way, tourist destinations and attractions are popular subjects, often linked to some gastronomic delight, as in the “postcard” from Sardinia “sent” by the Financial Times to its readers (May 6 – Postcard from…Sardinia*), and in the guide to the joys of Bologna featured in El País, which begins with an aperitif sipped in the company of Neptune (May 10 – Un aperitivo junto a Neptuno en Bolonia). Then, The Guardian wrote about its visit to the Pizzeria Pepe in Grani, in Caiazzo, some 30 miles north of Naples, wondering (May 11 – Is this the best pizza in the world?).
While The New York Times was in the Langhe district of Piedmont, explaining that Barbera is a wine for “special occasions” (May 5 – Your Next Lesson: Langhe Barbera*), the Guardian ran a piece on Tuscany writing about interesting places to visit besides the usual destinations of Florence, Siena and San Gimignano (May 5 – Holidays in Tuscany: readers’ travel tips) which linked in with another piece inspired by a particular – and hilly – leg of this year’s Giro d’Italia, suggesting readers might like to explore the Chianti district by bike (May 7 – A classic cycle ride in Italy’s Chianti country). This classic bicycle race “always magnificent, even during the more difficult stretches”, spawned two more articles, the first in El País (May 8 – El Giro, qué gran horror) and the second, in El Mundo (May 9 – El recorrido del Giro 2016, etapa a etapa).
More traditional tourist destinations were not overlooked either. El País recommended a trip south of the Alps, with spectacular views guaranteed, from the Borromean Islands of Lake Maggiore to the elegance of Lake Como and three more lakes besides (May 12 – Los cinco lagos más bonitos de Italia). Le Monde suggested spending a weekend in Rome that also includes spending the Sunday on the beach at Anzio (May 11 – Week-end à Rome : un dimanche à la plage d’Anzio). For the Washington Post, on the other hand, the recommendation was all about staying in one of the luxury hotels linked to some of the big names in fashion (May 5 – Fashion designers are extending their talents (and brands) to hotels).
Lifestyle – Italian design also got a mention this week. The New York Times spent time at Milan’s Triennale, taking in the jewelry exhibition entitled “Brilliant! the future of Italian jewelry” (May 12 – Triennale Revival Puts Jewelry in the Spotlight), but it was pop culture that featured in an article in Le Monde about singers – from the days of Lucio Battisti to the present – who have played in Italy’s other National football team, the “Nazionale cantanti”, (May 9 – L’autre équipe d’Italie). Motorcycle champion, Valentino Rossi, was the subject of an article in El País, which described the new web series in which he stars in a move designed to bring him even closer to his fans (May 8 – Rossi abre su casa y su vida a las cámaras).
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