Bolzoni chief executive officer, Roberto Scotti, has questioned a reference to his company in last week's Forkliftaction.com News (Forkliftaction.com News #319). In a letter, Scotti says:

"With reference to Forkliftaction Newsletter #319, in an article entitled "UK Firms missing out on profits", we were rather surprised and puzzled to see mention of Bolzoni SpA with regards to the fact that Fidelity International Ltd has raised its stake in our company from 2% to 4%.

"Whilst confirming that the above information is correct, we feel that the context is unrelated and may give rise to confusion regarding our company's image and real situation. Fidelity's investment in Bolzoni is mentioned in an article dealing with 'an industry wasting GBP211 million worth of profit every year; companies making losses; money being thrown away; companies who would make more profits under new ownership...' etc.

"The fact that Bolzoni is associated with these statements is not very flattering and may even harm our image.

"For the record, we would like to clarify that Bolzoni is a public listed company with a floating capital of approximately 35% available to any investor on the market.

"Of course, we are very pleased that Fidelity has increased its stake in our company as we consider it a demonstration of their confidence but we would like to point out that, as can be clearly seen from our financial reports available on our website to all, our company has always produced profits, distinguishing itself for a steady and continuous growth and therefore has nothing in common with the scenario and the companies described in your article.

"We fear that, as a public company, this misleading article could have adverse effects on our customers, our investors (present and future), the market and consequently on our shares."

Editor's note: The reference to Bolzoni in the story about flagging profits in the UK market was not intended to imply any deficiency in the Italian company. On the contrary, it was included to demonstrate the investment community's appetite for the forklift industry. Fidelity's investment in Bolzoni was the most recent example at our disposal and I am confident that the majority of our readers will interpret the Bolzoni reference in that light.