Rome, 03 December 2015
Local public transport, goods sector and growth. These are the next targets of the Italian State Railways Group discussed today during a press conference held by the newly appointed CEO and General Manager, Renato Mazzoncini.
In his meeting with journalists, held at the FS Italiane headquarters in Villa Patrizi (a large complex of buildings located in Rome), the top manager has now expressed the need to export the Freccia culture, in particular, paying attention to the customer, into new areas that accompany the FS Italiane toward the goal of "going public" on the Stock Market, which is seen as a means to make the Group more robust.
"For some time now I've heard about privatization - said Mazzoncini - as if the government's aim was to increase the cash flow. Well, that's exactly the topic of discussion that I would like to demolish today ", said the CEO and General Manager. “Whichever industrial group is able to handle the pressure of "going public", they must be very strong, because while the stock market is an important stimulus, it is not very forgiving. If, once quoted, we were to cause considerable inconveniences, we would not only have the government riding our backs, but also the citizens who would lose their money.
For this - he said - solidity is needed to face a challenge like this, and we are working on that. Time is of the essence, I'm studying the dossier.
The appointment with the Milan Stock Exchange will take place only when the FS Italiane Group is ready, but for that we are already well under way. The work done to date has been very important, and in the future, we are committed to looking at a growing business with increasingly cross-border interaction. For the planned flotation of 40% of FS Italiane - continued Mazzoncini - there is, therefore, no deadline for the end of 2016, because we do not want to give ourselves any deadlines. The shareholder wants a successful operation, and asks us to do it when we're ready.
This is the target agreed to with the Ministry of the Treasury. Certainly we do not exclude "going public" in 2016, it is a possible challenge - said Mazzoncini - but going public - he reiterated - is not the goal of our efforts, but a means. On the other hand - he said - the Prime Minister's Decree does not establish the quotation for 2016, and regarding the Def, I'm not aware of any revenue linked to the Group going public.
The measure - he added - absolutely does not give us any deadlines to keep, nor the deadlines we have agreed upon with the ministers".
"My goal is to develop the Italian FS Group. Each joint-stock company (S.p.A.) has the task of successfully carrying out its mission, whatever that might be, and to obtain good as well as cost-effective results for the shareholders. A considerable share of the Group's turnover comes from so-called "universal services", therefore we are part of a regulated market.
This is absolutely necessary, in order to proceed with the establishment of a credible and suitable business plan for the coming years, in order to stabilize a regulatory framework basically consisting of a law to reform local public transport systems".
"Local public transport and goods are the two areas in which we will invest more. Most citizens travel by TPL (local public transport systems), therefore, it is clear that to the citizens this is the most important element on which we must concentrate our efforts. Le Frecce (high speed trains) - recalled Mazzoncini - have undoubtedly changed the Country's history in recent years, however, to change the lives of those who travel by public transport, we need to rethink this important sector, transferring the same sensitivity to it that we had for high speed railway transport.
In this context, the metropolitan public transport plays a vital role in the relationship between iron and rubber. In the business plan we are predicting the growth of local road transport systems, since it is a huge market in which we have a very small share.
The goal will be to compete with services like Uber or Bla Bla Car. Other important challenges are those of freight transport, where we lost significant market share in favour of the rubber tyres, and growth, where we have many chances if we are able to invest in the increasingly international market. We will have to make sure that Trenitalia convoys pass throughout the European continent".
The Number One of the FS Italiane has expressed his satisfaction for the expression of interest for Grandi Stazioni, which "is going way beyond our expectations", and he pointed out that "the operator must remain absolutely integrated into Group".
Regarding the appointments of the other subsidiaries, ultimately, the CEO and General Manager concluded by saying that "the leaders will be appointed very soon. These are important companies that cannot remain without a board of directors.
At a time when we have broken the speed record, with 390 kilometres per hour, we cannot afford to waste time ".