Ferrari rises 9% in Milan on results, Hamilton rumours

(ANSA) - ROME, FEB 1 - Ferrari shares rose over 9% on the Milan bourse Thursday after the sports car maker posted record profits and amid rumors that seven-time F1 world champ Lewis Hamliton is set to join its racing team.
    Ferrari on Thursday posted record net profit of 1. 257 billion euros, up 34%, in 2023 compared to 2022. It was above the €1 billion mark for the first time.
    The annual EBITDA margin rose to 38.2%, again a record for the Maranello marque. Net revenues amounted to $5.97 billion, 17.2% more than the previous year, with total deliveries of 13,663 units, up 3.3% compared to 2022.
    As Ferrari gained over 4% on the Milan stock exchange, Managing Director Benedetto Vigna said the glamour sports car maker was looking "confidently" at the high end of its targets up to 2026.
    He hailed the "unprecedented financial results". Ferrari's 5,000 employees in Italy this year will receive a competitiveness award of up to 13,500 euros. Next year, the maximum value may reach about 17,000 euros.
    Record-tying seven time world champion Hamilton is to join Ferrari from next season, the BBC reported Thursday, saying well-informed sources had informed them that recent insistent rumours were "very likely true" and that Mercedes boss Toto Wolff had called a meeting to inform staff of the British sporting great's departure later Thursday.
    Hamilton, 39, who holds the world title record with retired and ailing Ferrari icon Michael Schumacher, last year signed a two-year extension with Mercedes but the rumours say he will be able to get out of it this year to start from 2025 with the Formula One glamour team, replacing Spain's Carlos Sainz.
    The other driver, Charles Leclerc, last month signed a multi-year renewal with Ferrari, which has struggled in Max Verstappen's slipstream in the last three years.
    Hamilton, who has a knighthood, has most other F1 records on his own. (ANSA).