SHARE BUY-BACK AND CANCELLATION

The buy-back programme ended, on 31 October 2017, after the company acquired 14,593,242 of its own shares (which therefore did not exceed the limit of EUR275mn or 19 million shares).

The share capital was subsequently reduced by EUR3,400,038.40 by means of the cancellation of 17,000,192 company shares held in the company’s own portfolio, including 2,406,950 shares held prior to the Board of Directors’ proposal, approved at the General Shareholders’ Meeting, to reduce the company’s capital.

The share capital comprises 732,265,472 ordinary shares of one single class, each with a par value of twenty euro cents, (the share capital as of 31 December 2017 was EUR146,453,094.40).