Economy

by Gilles Guillaume and Giulio Piovaccari

PARIS/MILAN (Archyde.com) – Stellantis reported a 14% rise in first-quarter net revenue on Wednesday on higher volume sales driven by improved semiconductor supplies, but also from an increase in its inventories.

The turnover of the car manufacturer born from the merger between PSA and FCA stood at 47.2 billion euros, higher than expected since according to a consensus carried out by Archyde.com, analysts expected 45.53 billion.

“Better fulfillment of semiconductor orders is slowly but surely improving our ability to produce vehicles,” Chief Financial Officer Richard Palmer said during a press conference call for his final earnings presentation as he steps down. Stellantis at the end of June, following twenty years in the group, to be replaced by Natalie Knight.

Stellantis stock opened 1% lower.

Philippe Houchois, analyst at Jefferies, underlines that the turnover is better than expected, but that the level of stocks remains to be “monitored”.

The group with 14 brands – including Peugeot, Fiat and Jeep – reported a 7% increase in its consolidated vehicle deliveries to 1.476 million units in the first quarter. But persistent problems in transport logistics helped to swell total inventories by around 200,000 units to 1.3 million vehicles.

“I think it’s more a question of making sales than a subject of stocks,” said Richard Palmer, for whom the production and delivery of the group’s large order book remains a challenge. “I think our stock level (…), given the level of sales where we are, is reasonably located.”

The group, which aims to double its net turnover by 2030, also announced a 22% growth in its worldwide sales of electric vehicles over the first three months of the year, supported in particular by the Peugeot 208 and Fiat 500.

In the United States, while waiting for the purely electric offensive to materialize with the Ram 1500 REV and Jeep Avenger, the manufacturer is claiming first place among plug-in hybrids for its Jeep Wrangler.

One of the three most profitable automakers in the industry, Stellantis has no plans to engage in a price war in the wake of California rival Tesla and is still targeting double-digit adjusted operating margin in 2023 and by 2030.

“It is difficult to make forecasts on price/volume trade-offs”, added Richard Palmer. “In the short term, prices should be relatively stable, but it will clearly depend on order intake.”

(Report Gilles Guillaume and Giulio Piovaccari, with Federico Maccini in Milan, edited by Jean-Stéphane Brosse)

Digital: savior of medical deserts?

Medical deserts are geographical areas where it is particularly difficult to have access to medical care, in that the number of doctors and health professionals is abnormally low per 100,000 inhabitants. According to Public Health France, nearly 1 in 10 French people live in an under-dense area. These are more than 9,000 municipalities, or 5.3 million inhabitants, which do not have access to the care of a general practitioner. Indeed, France suffers from a lack of inequality between territories and citizens in terms of medicine. Faced with difficulties in accessing care, many French people give up care or postpone their consultation, which worsens their situation in the event of late treatment.

Connected health: a flawless opportunity?

At the same time, digital technology has given rise to many solutions in an attempt to abolish distance, such as telemedicine, that is to say medicine practiced at a distance using information and communication (definition Le Robert). Telemedicine then allows millions of French people deprived of access to a specialized doctor to have access to teleconsultations. Indeed, telemedicine allows, beyond teleconsultation, to bring a real improvement with regard to the course of the care of the patients. Thus, connected health appears to be a real boon for patients, by bringing together teleconsultation, teleassistance, etc.

The use of connected tools also makes it possible to ensure remote monitoring, which would spare patients living in medical deserts from having to travel or lack medical care. Indeed, the connected methods of remote care make it possible to reduce the travel time to be able to consult a doctor.

Nevertheless, these practices come up once morest a limit, which is that of the need to physically auscultate a patient to make a more precise diagnosis, to carry out physical examinations or medical interventions. Indeed, traditional medicine remains necessary for practicing the profession of doctor, although telemedicine is a real support for traditional medicine.

The digital divide, a barrier to connected health

The health divide can come up once morest other ills, particularly in so-called “white” areas, and thus render connected health solutions ineffective. Indeed, sometimes, the fracture of the medical desert is superimposed on the digital fracture, which makes the solutions related to connected health totally ineffective in these places. Geographical areas where Internet access is restricted or non-existent still exist in France, and are called “white zones” (non-existent Internet access) or “grey zones” (limited Internet access). Thus, in rural or remote areas, access to the Internet and to adapted equipment is severely restricted, which does not make it possible to solve the problem linked to the health divide. The gap between people with access to a stable network and suitable equipment and those who find themselves excluded or limited from these uses continues to widen. Similarly, connected health will not be able to save the health divide, in that there are still people with low digital literacy, and therefore do not have the chance to access the connected tools that would allow them to save medical deserts.

Thus, access to health care is highly unequal in France. Although this gap is reduced thanks to new technologies and telemedicine, this use does not take into account the issues related to the digital divide, and therefore does not guarantee equitable access to care.

MILAN (Archyde.com) – UniCredit raised its full-year forecast on Wednesday following reporting quarterly results that beat expectations.

The Italian bank raised its profit forecast for 2023, aiming for more than 6.5 billion euros, following guiding in February to a profit of more than 5.2 billion euros.

On the Milan Stock Exchange, the UniCredit title took 6% to 18.67 euros at 07:34 GMT.

Net profit for the first three months was 2.06 billion euros, well above analysts’ average forecast of 1.3 billion euros according to a consensus provided by the bank, thanks to an annual increase in income by 18%.

With eurozone interest rates at a 15-year high, UniCredit said it expects to pocket more than 12.6 billion euros in 2023 thanks to the spread between the rates charged to borrowers and those paid to raise money.

The bank said it would return 5.75 billion euros or more to shareholders through dividends and share buybacks on 2023 results. In February, UniCredit embarked on one of the plans most ambitious capital distribution schemes in Europe.

The strong results of the Italian bank prove the resilience of a sector where a series of bankruptcies this year has shaken investor confidence. Regulators consider UniCredit as a financial player of global systemic importance.

Net interest income for the quarter also beat analysts’ expectations, rising 43.6% year-on-year to 3.3 billion euros.

(Report by Valentina Za, French version Dina Kartit, edited by Kate Entringer)