Ferrari shares slip in early trading on Milan bourse debut

Ferrari shares fell in early trading in their Milan bourse debut on Monday as the luxury sportscar maker completed its spin off from parent Fiat Chrysler Automobiles (FCA), establishing the Agnelli family as its biggest investor.

Shares in the sportscar maker opened at €43 but were trading at €42.45 at 8.54am, around 2.3 per cent lower than the reference price provided by the Italian bourse.

FCA’s own shares slumped 33 per cent to trade at €8.65 after the world’s seventh largest carmaker parted ways with its most attractive asset, turning investor focus to its own high debt pile, product delays and a five-year growth plan many analysts have said was over-ambitious.

FCA sold only 10 per cent of the maker of cars, such as the €1 million LaFerrari hybrid, in an initial public offering in the United States in October, keeping investors hungry for a piece of the prancing horse. Ferrari shares listed in New York closed at $48 on Thursday.

The free float increased to around 67 per cent on Monday after the parent distributed its remaining 80 per cent stake to FCA shareholders. The remaining 10 per cent is held by Piero Ferrari, the son of the company's founder, who will keep his stake.

FCA's shares have leapt 70 per cent since October 2014 when chief executive Sergio Marchionne promised to hand out a big chunk of the sports carmaker's shares to FCA investors. FCA is also pocketing more than $4 billion from Ferrari's offering and spin-off.

Reuters