Eni shares fall for fifth day amid Italy windfall tax debate
Eni shares fall for fifth day amid Italy windfall tax debate MILAN, Aug 27 (Reuters) - Shares in Italian oil and gas group Eni ENI.MI were down for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday amid speculation that the government could impose a windfall tax on energy companies to help finance fuel-price cuts in response to the U.S.-Iran war.
The stock was down 0.7% at 1000 GMT in Milan morning trading, bringing losses since the Aug. 20 closure to more than 6%.
Eni's shares were underperforming a 0.4% loss recorded by the Milan blue-chip index .FTMIB, while the STOXX Europe 600 index for oil and gas group .SXEP was slightly positive.
Other Italian energy groups were also falling on Thursday, with gas distributor Italgas IG.MI shedding 1.4% and the country's biggest utility Enel ENEI.MI losing 0.8%.
Italy's ruling coalition is split on whether to impose a windfall tax on energy companies, with the far-right League supporting the proposal and the more moderate Forza Italia seen as opposing it.
Italy and five other European Union countries this week called for the 27-nation bloc discuss in September a mechanism to tax profits booked by energy companies amid the disruption in the Strait of Hormuz.
Italy's cabinet on Wednesday extended until the beginning of September a cut in excise duties on diesel, with the funding partly coming from advance payments of taxes due from large energy companies.
When these cuts expire, the government may introduce more targeted measures to ease fuel costs only for lower-income households, Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's office said earlier this week.
(Reporting by Francesca Landini, editing by Gavin Jones)
((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437; Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))