Made in Italy luxury goods – “A solid performance.” While there are signs of a slowdown in sales of luxury goods, made in Italy brands seem to be holding their own. According to the Wall Street Journal, that is true for Prada, which saw income grow by 14% in the first quarter, making it one of the groups with the highest growth (June11 – Prada Sales Show Double-Digit Growth). Another center of excellence in Italian industry, Ferrari, is also in good health. Rachel Sanderson in Maranello reported in the Financial Times that the carmaker is not only growing but also plans to cut back on production to increase the flame-red sports car;s exclusivity (June 11 – Ferrari repositions for a one-horse race in ultra-luxury stakes).
Italian business in the world – The foreign press also turned its attention to the domestic and international affairs of the large Italian groups. The Financial Times and Les Echos reported on Generali, which is continuing its divestiture plans to strengthen liquidity and capital position and – with its latest sale in Mexico – with a capital gain of 500 million euro (June 11 – Generali sells stake in Mexico’s Banorte *; Generali vend ses participations au Msvm1000@hotmail.comexique pour 649 millions d’euros). The Times of India, on the other hand, concentrated on Fiat and its search for a new Chinese partner to help it produce its Jeep on the Chinese market (June 8 – Fiat could look for new China partner for Jeep: CEO). Findally, the Financial Times wrote about Enel’s new 3 billion euro bond launch euro (June 9 – Enel in €3bn hybrid bond launch *) and – for its “Women in Business” series – interviewed Paola Dubini, professor at SDA Bocconi, one of the founders of the Interuniversity Centre for Gender Cultures (June 9 – Women at Business School – Paola Dubini).
Italian travels – Summer is here and there was a surge of articles in the foreign press on destinations in the Bel Paese. Gulf News picke up a Guardian article on the increase number of British tourists in Sicily. The reason is apparently the success of the Italian TV series on Police Commission Montalbano now being broadcast by BBC (June – An inspector calls: British tourists go on trail of Montalbano). The New York Times gave advice for a weekend in Verona (June 8 – 36 Hours in Verona, Italy), but one of the most frequently mentioned cities was Rimini. The American paper followed in the footsteps of Federico Fellini (June 9 – In Rimini, Looking for Fellini’s World), and El Mundo visited the city in Emilia Romagna to describe the new design hotel DuOmo (14 giugno – DuOmo: un hotel con curvas imposibles en Rímini).
The New York Times also ran an article in its architecture supplement on the glass house on Lake Garda (June 14- Lake-View Living at the House of Glass). Finally, the China Daily was also interested in travels, but this time, a return to China for the exhibit of the works of Aligi Sassu, the Italian painter who depicted the enormous changes that took place in the Asian country during the 1950s (June 14 – Italian painter’s brush with New China came five decades ago).
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