By Giulia Segreti
ROME (Reuters) – Italy’s state-owned railway Ferrovie dello Stato (FS) will spin off its high-speed network into a dedicated company, the group’s chief executive said, paving the way for a later stake sale to outside investors.
The plan is part of Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni’s efforts to sell state assets to cut Italy’s mammoth public debt, which the Treasury expects to peak at almost 138% of gross domestic product in 2026.
Speaking at the presentation of the company’s 2025-2029 strategy, FS Chief Executive Stefano Donnarumma said he would discuss with the government options to attract investors into the planned spin-off company, over which FS would retain full control.
“Privatising or chopping up the FS group is not my plan,” he said, even if investors were to decide to help finance the newly created division.
The high-speed business is worth 8 billion euros ($8.40 billion), the company said.
Meloni last year announced her intention to raise 20 billion euros over three years through asset sales, though Rome’s latest multi-year budget framework appeared to scale back those plans.
Since last November, Rome has earned roughly 4 billion euros by selling 52.5% of bailed-out lender Monte dei Paschi di Siena (MPS) and a 2.8% stake in energy group Eni.
The sale of up to 14% in postal service Poste Italiane, which was originally expected by early December, has been postponed to next year.
For FS, the government needs to take regulatory and legislative steps to fully disclose group assets and allow investor assessment before selling off parts of the company.
Donnarumma said FS would adopt a financing model for the high-speed network company based on the regulated asset base (RAB), which is usually used to offer steady returns to woo private investors ahead of a listing or sell-off.
Over the five years of its new plan, FS expects to increase annual revenue to 20 billion euros in 2029 from the 14.8 billion euros in 2023, and raise core profit from last year’s 2.2 billion euros to more than 3.5 billion euros at the end of 2029.
Owned by Italy’s finance ministry, FS has pledged to invest more than 100 billion euros over the next five years, mainly in the country’s rail network.
The group is the single largest beneficiary in Italy of European post-pandemic funds, with a total of 25 billion euros, of which 10 billion euros have already been spent.
($1 = 0.9527 euros)
(Reporting by Giulia Segreti; Editing by David Goodman and Gavin Jones)
