Italy - Factors to watch on March 18

Interpump SpA

18/03/2024 05:00

The following factors could affect Italian markets on Monday.
    Reuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot
vouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).
    
    For a complete list of diary events in Italy please click on
 IT/DIA .
    
    POLITICS
    Europe should avoid "grand statements" and contradictions
but rather have a clear and unified strategy against Russia with
regards to its war in Ukraine, Italy's defence minister said,
adding that Rome would never send troops to the conflict zone.
    The European Union announced a 7.4 billion euro ($8.1
billion) funding package and an upgraded relationship with Egypt
on Sunday, part of a push to stem migrant flows to Europe
criticised by rights groups.
    
    ECONOMY
    The average rate on new house mortgages was down to 3.9% in
February with respect to 3.98% in January, banking association
ABI said on Saturday. Banks charged on average a 5.37% rate on
new corporate loans compared with 5.48% the month before, the
group added. Overall, the average rate on loans to households
and businesses was stable at 4.78%. 
    
    Italy's gross domestic product in the first quarter of the
year is expected to come in weak, the CSC research unit of the
country's business lobby Confindustria wrote on Saturday.
Despite low inflation, increasing consumer confidence and a
services sector that is growing, the economy is bogged down by a
protracted slowdown in trade due to the Suez Canal crisis, high
oil prices and interest rate cuts being postponed. 
    
      
    COMPANIES
    AMPLIFON  AMPF.MI  
    The hearing aid retailer said on Friday it plans to boost
voting rights, becoming one of the first Italian listed
companies to take advantage of a recently approved capital
markets bill.
    
    TELECOM ITALIA (TIM)  TLIT.MI  
    Chief Executive Pietro Labriola has warned investors the
company could need to raise billions in capital if the planned
sale of its network to U.S. fund KKR  KKR.N  collapsed, two
sources briefed on the matter said on Friday.
    French hedge fund Qube increased its net short position to 
0.64% of the company's capital as of March 14, a filing by
Italy's market watchdog CONSOB showed on Friday.
    Labriola tells Corriere della Sera on Sunday this his firm
could receive almost 3 billion euros in earn-outs in the coming
years, adding that the sale of Sparkle will "help speed up
shareholder remuneration considerations." He says he hopes
Vivendi will remain a shareholder and be represented on the
board.
    
    BANCA POPOLARE DI SONDRIO  BPSI.MI , BANCA GENERALI  BGN.MI 
    FTSE share indices revision effective as of Monday, Banca
Popolare di Sondrio joins Italy's blue-chip index replacing
Banca Generali.
    
    FINECOBANK  FBK.MI  
    The Italian bank on Friday passed the European Central
Bank's asset quality review, as no capital shortfalls were
identified. 
    
    STMicroelectronics  STMMI.MI ,  STMPA.PA  
    The Italian government has told Paris it is against a new
three-year mandate for Chief Executive Jean-Marc Chery, seen as
responsible for shifting the chipmaker's main interests away
from Italy and pushing away Italian managers, la Repubblica
reported on Saturday.
    
    IPO, 2I RETE GAS
    Italy's second-largest gas distributor 2i Rete Gas has
picked five banks as global coordinators to manage its initial
public offer (IPO), two sources close to the matter said on
Friday.  
        
    ENERGY 
    The Italian branch of Kuwait Petroleum International (KPI),
Q8, said on Saturday that it would buy a 50% stake in Italian
biodiesel producer, EcoFox, as part of efforts to reduce its
fossil-fuel emissions.
    
    M&A
    Private Equity Advent, buyout fund CVC, Eqt, U.S. fund KKR,
HIG and Apollo are all expected to file separate offers for a
stake of about 40% in Gruppo San Donato, Italy's largest private
healthcare group, in a deal that could give the group a total
value of 5 billion euros, Corriere della Sera reported on
Saturday, citing sources close to the dossier.  
    
    INTERPUMP GROUP  ITPG.MI 
    Board meeting on FY results (Q4 results released on Feb.
14).
    
    INDUSTRIE DE NORA  DNR.MI 
    Board meeting on FY results, followed by conference call.
    
    DIARY
    Rome, ceremony for the issue of a stamp dedicated to the
Association of Italian Historical Trademarks and presentation of
the report "Italy of historical brands" (1000 GMT); expected
attendees include Industry Minister Adolfo Urso, Association of
Italian Historical Trademarks President Massimo Caputi.
    Milan, 'NEXT Forum' "Empowering Future Leaders" starts (1330
GMT); ends on March 19. Expected attendees include Formula 1 CEO
Stefano Domenicali, EU Economy Commissioner Paolo Gentiloni,
Deutsche Bundesbank board member Sabine Mauderer, International
Atomic Energy Agency (AIEA) Director General Rafael Grossi, EU
Innovation, Research, Culture, Education and Youth Commissioner
Iliana Ivanova, U.N. High Commissioner for Refugees Filippo
Grandi, World Food Programme (WFP) Executive Director Cindy
McCain.
    Milan, Intesa Sanpaolo  ISP.MI  holds event "Caregivers,
demographic changes and new protection needs in a changing
society. The Intesa Sanpaolo Group's solutions" (1330 GMT).
    
    ((Milan newsroom, e-mail: reutersitaly@thomsonreuters.com))
    
    For Italian market data and news, click on codes in 
brackets:

    20 biggest gainers (in percentage)............ .PG.MI 
    20 biggest losers (in percentage)............. .PL.MI 
    FTSE IT allshare index  .FTITLMS 
    FTSE Mib index........  .FTMIB 
    FTSE Allstars index...  .FTSTAR 
    FTSE Mid Cap index....  .FTITMC 
    Block trades..........  .BLK.MI 
    Stories on Italy......  IT-LEN 
    
    For pan-European market data and news, click on codes in 
 brackets:
  European Equities speed guide................... EUR/EQUITY 
  FTSEurofirst 300 index.............................. .FTEU3 
  DJ STOXX index...................................... .STOXX 
  Top 10 STOXX sectors........................... .PGL.STOXXS 
  Top 10 EUROSTOXX sectors...................... .PGL.STOXXES 
  Top 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors................... .PGL.FTEU3S 
  Top 25 European pct gainers....................... .PG.PEUR 
  Top 25 European pct losers........................ .PL.PEUR 
 
  Main stock markets:
  Dow Jones............... .DJI   Wall Street report ..... .N 
  Nikkei 225............. .N225   Tokyo report............ .T 
  FTSE 100............... .FTSE   London report........... .L 
  Xetra DAX............. .GDAXI   Frankfurt market stories .F 
  CAC-40................. .FCHI   Paris market stories... .PA 
  World Indices..................................... 0#.INDEX 
  Reuters survey of world bourse outlook......... EQUITYPOLL1 
  Western European IPO diary.......................... WEUIPO 
  European Asset Allocation........................ EUR/ASSET 
  Reuters News at a Glance: Equities............... TOP/EQE 
  Main currency report:............................... FRX/