Italy's Atlantia takes fresh hit to share price

ROME, Aug 20 (AFP): Italian infrastructure group Atlantia took a fresh hit on the Milan stock market on Monday, with its share price falling by more than nine per cent.

At 08:15 GMT the shares had lost 9.33 per cent of their value, erasing a minor rally it had staged at the end of last week.

Atlantia's prime asset is Autostrade per l'Italia, which operates the A10 highway where a segment of the overpass collapsed on Tuesday in the northern city of Genoa, killing 43 people.

Trading in Atlantia's shares was initially suspended on Monday because of a report on the financial news site Milano Finanza that Autostrade per l'Italia-which operates half of Italy's motorways-could be nationalised.

Nationalisation of the operator would be "worthwhile" despite the initial cost, Transport Minister Danilo Toninelli told the Corriere della Sera newspaper on Monday, given the toll revenue that the state would receive from its concessions.