Shares in Italian refinery Saras slide after Trafigura cuts stake (updated)
05/01/2024 11:07
(Adds details on stock performance, background on Saras in
paragraphs 3, 5-8)
By Francesca Landini and Gianluca Semeraro
MILAN, Jan 5 (Reuters) - Shares in Italian refinery
Saras SRS.MI fell more than 5% on the Milan stock exchange on
Friday on news that commodity trader Trafigura had trimmed its
stake in the company.
Geneva-based Trafigura sold shares in Saras last month,
cutting its stake in the Italian group to just above 13% from
nearly 15%, a regulatory filing late Thursday showed.
Saras, controlled by the Moratti family, operates the
300,000 barrel per day Sarroch refinery in Sardinia, one of the
biggest plants in the Mediterranean region.
"We believe that the slight reduction in Trafigura's stake
lessens the speculative appeal of the stock," Italian broker
Equita said in a report to clients.
The Moratti family controls the refinery through three
holding companies owning a total of around 40% in the group.
Shares in Saras were exchanging hands at 1.53 euros, down
5.3% at 1035 GMT, after a partial recovery from an intra-day low
of 1.5175 euros.
Urion Holdings, which is indirectly controlled by the parent
company of Trafigura, sold 16.7 million Saras shares between
Dec. 11 and 29 in several transactions at prices between 1.6193
euros and 1.6279 euros apiece, according to the filing.
In late December the stock touched a peak of 1.6480 euros,
not far from its 2023 high of 1.6745 recorded on Jan. 2 last
year.
(Reporting by Francesca Landini and Gianluca Semeraro
Editing by Giselda Vagnoni and Mark Potter)
((francesca.landini@thomsonreuters.com; +39 02 66129437;
Reuters Messaging: reutersitaly.thomsonreuters@reuters.net))