Italian lawmakers press ahead with plans for cap on meal vouchers
Adds details and background
ROME, Oct 24 (Reuters) -Italian lawmakers are pressing ahead with plans to cap the fee meal voucher issuers can charge to merchants at 5% of their face value, a parliamentary document released on Thursday showed, dragging down shares of French group Edenred EDEN.PA.
The document, dated Oct. 23, followed a separate draft document saying the proposal promoted by Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni's Brothers of Italy party had been declared inadmissible by two parliamentary committees.
The proposal was put forward as an amendment to a bill aimed at boosting competition.
Fabio Pietrella, the Brothers of Italy party lawmaker in charge of shepherding the competition bill through parliament, confirmed that the amendment was still under discussion.
Shares in vouchers and benefit cards provider Edenred fell more than 10% in Thursday mid-morning trade.
Edenred said in a statement the proposed cap would run counter to the principle of freedom to set prices set out in Italian and European commercial law, adding it was ready to challenge the measure at the Italian administrative court.
Should the amendment be adopted as it stands, it said, the impact on the group's EBITDA would be around 60 million euros ($64.8 million) in 2025 and 120 million euros on an annual basis.
Meal vouchers are commonly provided by employers as part of staff remuneration.
($1 = 0.9260 euros)
Reporting by Giuseppe Fonte, editing by Alvise Armellini
Related Assets
Latest News
Disclaimer: The XM Group entities provide execution-only service and access to our Online Trading Facility, permitting a person to view and/or use the content available on or via the website, is not intended to change or expand on this, nor does it change or expand on this. Such access and use are always subject to: (i) Terms and Conditions; (ii) Risk Warnings; and (iii) Full Disclaimer. Such content is therefore provided as no more than general information. Particularly, please be aware that the contents of our Online Trading Facility are neither a solicitation, nor an offer to enter any transactions on the financial markets. Trading on any financial market involves a significant level of risk to your capital.
All material published on our Online Trading Facility is intended for educational/informational purposes only, and does not contain – nor should it be considered as containing – financial, investment tax or trading advice and recommendations; or a record of our trading prices; or an offer of, or solicitation for, a transaction in any financial instruments; or unsolicited financial promotions to you.
Any third-party content, as well as content prepared by XM, such as: opinions, news, research, analyses, prices and other information or links to third-party sites contained on this website are provided on an “as-is” basis, as general market commentary, and do not constitute investment advice. To the extent that any content is construed as investment research, you must note and accept that the content was not intended to and has not been prepared in accordance with legal requirements designed to promote the independence of investment research and as such, it would be considered as marketing communication under the relevant laws and regulations. Please ensure that you have read and understood our Notification on Non-Independent Investment. Research and Risk Warning concerning the foregoing information, which can be accessed here.
