Parmalat Crash: Italian Listed Companies Have Lost Credibility- Italian And European Market Operators And Financial Press: Relate Parmalat Crash With Low Quality Financial Communication - To Regain Lost Credibility Italian Listed Companies Must Improve I

Italian listed companies will pay for Parmalat crash with a decreased credibility by market operators and financial and economic press. It emerges from a survey carried out by B2 Comunicazione, Institutional PR agency, and Qualicenter, research institute, on the perception of the Parmalat crash and its impact on the credibility of the Italian listed companies. A questionnaire under the C.A.W.I. (Computer Aided WEB Interview) mode, with a single dispatch was sent to 530 people, including economic journalists, financial analysts, Italian and foreign institutional investors. The questionnaire was also sent to 220 companies listed on Borsa Italia. 102 interviews were completed for a redemption of 13,6% on the total panel.

Some significant figures:

52.6% of market operators and 46.5% of journalist (23.7% of the quoted companies) identify a significant relationship between financial communication quality and company credibility;
To the view of journalists (51.2%) and market operators (47.4%) the low quality of Parmalat communication played a key role in the crisis. Only 23.7% of listed companies agree with the market operators.
Parmalat was considered not very clear and transparent in financial communication by 57.9% of market operators and by 46.5% of journalists. Moreover 35% of market operators and 32% of journalists say that the management of the company was not willing to provide any further analysis on annual results.
Parmalat scandal will affect the credibility of Italian listed companies only in the short period for 47.4% of market operators versus 23.3% of economic journalists and 15.2% of listed companies; in the long period for 34.9% of economic journalists, 21.1% of market operators and 15.8% of listed companies as the impact of Parmalat crisis stresses the structural inefficiencies of Italian financial system;
44.2% of economic journalist, already before Parmalat scandal, thought that Italian listed companies had a worse communication compared to foreign listed companies.

"Considering these figures and that in the last month the interviewees have changed for worse their opinion on the Italian listed companies credibilità - says Pier Luigi Ratti, Partner of Qualicenter - the perception of Parmalat's weak points in financial communication, low clearness and transparency and inaccessibility to provide any further analysis on corporate results, risk to be passed over to all the Italian Listed companies".

"2004 is the zero year of financial communication and Investor Relations in Italy - states Riccardo Taverna, Partner of B2 Comunicazione - Parmalat scandal, Cirio crisis and the problems of some companies of the Nuovo Mercato provide the opportunity to improve all the standards about clearness and transparency in communication, on pain of loss of competitiveness, at a national and international level, in the challenge to find financial resources. The essential condition to be effective in the competition will be the greater knowledge of the interlocutors' expectations of the market and the analysis of perception they have of each company".

The complete research is available contacting B2 Comunicazione