Ing C Olivetti & Co SpA finally emerged from its shell-shocked purdah yesterday, when its new chief executive, Francesco Caio, gave testimony on the company to the upper house of the Italian parliament yesterday. He told the Senate Industrial Committee that the company’s future did indeed lie in telecommunications and services, and that it was looking for a partner for the loss-making personal computer company. He also confirmed that personal computers would lose money again this year, on sales of about $1.3bn. He said the Lexikon office equipment company is profitable but it is exposed to risks which need action if we want to guarantee its development. It has sales of some $1.35bn and is in a traditionally strong position, but which has to take into account increasingly fierce competition. The Ivrean also needs a simpler group structure and must rethink the role of the holding company – only put in place last year – Caio said. He confirmed that group economic and financial performance was still strongly negative but said Omnitel was ahead of plan.
