Giorgia Meloni, Alessandro Profumo, Starace, Descalzi, Antonio Donnarumma, Gian Vittorio Armani
The appointments: Giorgia Meloni must choose what to do with Enel
Now Giorgia Meloni has no more excuses: must manage the nomination file and must do it in exactly 42 days. Few or many, by 31 March the Mef will have to deliver the names for the renewal of the top management. What does the purse say? That the only one sure to stay at the helm is Claudio Descalzi, a 68-year-old manager who would have confided to his friends “if they want me, I’ll stay, otherwise I’ll dedicate myself to my dogs”. For the rest, one lives on whispers and images that the premier’s magic circle occasionally projects outside.
Stock analysts could bring out some surprises in the match Enel. The CEO Francesco Starace is believed to be outgoing. Will it really be like this? It is in fact very probable, because even in this case the numbers to which its detractors can attach themselves exist: gross debt during his management increased by 45 billion in nine years. Yet, even in this case, reality can be read differently: the increase in the amount of debt was necessary to finance the acquisitions of Endesa and Erg Hydrobut also to carry on the Green transition and the digitization of networks.
In presenting the 2022 budget, Starace himself placed the emphasis on debt reduction, which had already started with a cut of 9 billion in the fourth quarter of the year and with a plan to improve the position that has convinced analysts. An expert contacted by Affaritaliani.it also joked about the story: “It’s as if right now Starace was made to feel that his mortgage payment was too high, but we forget that Enel has earned a lot of money and that this payment is therefore more than sustainable“. Actually, there are two more events that did not like the manager: the first is the management of Open Fiber.
In that case he accused himself Starace that he was too late for the sale of 50% held by Enel, delaying the possible single network (which, however, is still a long way off), forgetting that he allowed the State to obtain an interesting capital gain. And then there’s the Russia dossier: Starace’s brother, Giorgio, is ambassador in Moscow and many did not appreciate his too soft positions at the beginning of the conflict. Given that the premier has the urgency to show herself “more Atlanticist than the USA” it’s easy to think that this too could be an argument against the manager.
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