The Italian ecomony: recovery and the strategies of the large groups. – The foreign press continued to report on politics in Italy, but economic news was also highlighted. Not only was there the new trend seen in the GDP of the last quarter of 2013 (March 11 Expansion, – Italia confirma un leve aumento del PIB en último trimestre de 2013) and the new low record for public debt interest (March 12 Expansion, – Italia coloca 7.000 millones en deuda a doce meses al interés más bajo de su historia). The picture was complete with stories on the year end budget news of some large firms. Center of attention was Enel: major papers reported that the energy multinational saw a rise in revenues thanks to a cost reduction plan that also prompted a rise in dividends (March il 12 in the Wall Street Journal – Enel to Slice Debt Further; Plans Dividend Policy Boost *; Bloomberg – Enel Boosts Dividends After Profit Rises on Cost Cuts, Disposals; Valor Economico – Lucro da Enel dispara em 2013 e chega a 3,23 bilhões de euros ). The company’s holding, Enel Green Power, also performed well. According to the Spanish news agency Europapress, the eco-friendly firm had an increase in profits and reached its goals a year earlier than planned (March 7 – Enel Green Power eleva un 36% el beneficio anual y adelanta un año los objetivos de potencia).
Other news from internationally expanding Italian groups included an article in the French Les Echos on Campari’s purchase of the Canadian whisky producer Forty Creek (March 12 – Campari entre en force sur le marché du whisky canadien ) and the offensive on the part of Amplifon to conquer the French market (March 13 – Amplifon passe à l’offensive en France). Finally, there was some good news from the financial sector. According to the news agency Bloomberg, Generali is once again showing profits (March 13 – Generali Swings to Quarterly Profit After Year-Ago Writedowns) as is Ubi Banca (March 12 – UBI of Italy Fourth-Quarter Profit Beats Estimates; Shares Climb).
Culture, tourism, cooking – The culinary arts still proudly represent Italy in the foreign press. The Wall Street Journal wrote about the challenge of Accademia Barilla, the multinational pasta maker’s new restaurant in Manhattan (March 10 – Italian Pasta Makers Take Bite Out of Big Apple), and the il Financial Times discussed Italian cooking in a review of the rediscovered book of recipes published by Sophia Loren in the 1970s (March 7 – ‘Eat with Me’ by Sophia Loren)
Meanwhile, tourism was given space in the Spanish economic papers, which reported on the decision of the Iberian peninsula’s company Veuling to open its second airport hub in Rome (March 12 su Expansion – Vueling escoge Roma para su segundo ‘hub’ aeroportuario; El Economista – Vueling se vuelca en el mercado italiano). Finally, the New York Times dedicated an article on the last performance of tenor Vittorio Grigolo at the Metropolitan Opera, in what it described as a night of songs and passion (March 10 – Night of Song, Delivered With Passion and Heart *).
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