The two companies could not be more different. One – Ferrari – a worldwide symbol of made in Italy luxury and a brand that fills the dreams of car lovers everywhere, and the other – Poste Italiane – a public group, offering a broad range of services based purely in Italy, which, on the face of it, holds little or no appeal. Formula 1 speed against the snail-like pace of post office lines, beautifully encapsulated in a photo featured in Bloomberg Business. That said, independently of the rate at with which they have ventured onto the Stock Exchange, both have successfully made it across the threshold, and with share prices in the upper end of the range. Demand for Poste stock, in fact, has been almost three times that which is on offer, and in monetary terms, both the supercar and the network of post offices have achieved much the same valuation, somewhere in the region of 10 billion dollars.
The foreign press has not skimped at all on articles, analysis and comments about the two launches. Whilst Ferrari has featured in many pieces that went beyond mere financial details, providing interesting background and trivia about the company, some articles on Poste Italiane created parallels with a few of its foreign counterparts, including the Royal Mail and Japan Post whilst others chose to analyze the group’s business plans, revealing, in the process, that these days, actual postal services account for only 14% of turnover.
“Poste Italiane is a bet on Italy and its success is closely linked to the company’s “challenging” business plan and the economy’s recovery from a deep recession”, wrote Bloomberg, quoting Swiss-based fund manager, Stefano Girola. The demand for shares, so much higher than those on offer, implies that for now, at least, it is a winning bet, but it remains to be seen if it can stand the test of time on the market, where in the meantime, Ferrari has already started to race ahead. On the first day that it was listed on Wall Street, shares in the Prancing Horse “ jumped” 17%, a “leap” that Wall Street puts down to the auspicious “RACE” ticker symbol under which the company’s shares are traded on New York’s “Big Board”.