Italy - Factors to watch on August 11
11/08/2014 07:50
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 (*).
POLITICS
Italy's Senate passed a first reading of a hotly contested
constitutional reform bill on Friday, drawing a line under a
parliamentary battle that has absorbed government attention as
pressure grows for faster action on the economic
crisis. ID:nL6N0QE20P
COMPANIES
BANCO POPOLARE BAPO.MI
Italy's fourth biggest bank beat expectations by posting a
net profit of 24.9 million euros ($33 million) in the second
quarter but said charges for losses on bad debts had risen in
the period from a year earlier. ID:nI6N0Q501D
The lender is looking to sell chunks of soured loans after
pulling the sale of a majority stake in its bad debt unit
earlier this year and is in talks over the disposal of a 300-400
million euro pool, its CEO said on Friday. ID:nL6N0QE4V8
The bank expects to borrow between 3.5 billion euros and 4
billion euros ($4.7-$5.4 billion) from the European Central Bank
when it next offers lenders cheap longer-term funds, a slide on
its website showed on Friday. ID:nL6N0QE4RU
The bank's CEO is confident the lender will pass the asset
quality review and the stress tests and excludes the need for
any other capital increase, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday.
TELECOM ITALIA TLIT.MI
As part of a potential deal between Telecom Italia and
Vivendi over the French group's broadband unit GVT, Tim Brasil
could launch a capital increase that would see Telecom Italia
diluting its 67 percent stake in the Brazilian group to a 50
percent share in the new company that would be born from the
combination of Tim Brasil and GVT, Il Sole 24 Ore said in an
unsourced report on Saturday. This would be followed by a
capital increase at Telecom Italia reserved to Vivendi to favour
the French group's entry into the Italian group.
Apart from Mediobanca, Citigroup and Banco Bradesco, various
papers said Telecom Italia was also speaking to BNP Paribas and
Credit Suisse to assist in the Vivendi deal.
The Argentinian authorities should on Monday give their
green light to Telecom Italia's sale of its stake in Telecom
Argentina to Mexican billionaire David Martinez's Fintech
investment company, La Repubblica said in an unsourced report on
Sunday. Should this not happen, Telecom and the Mexican
financier have agreed an extension to their agreement on same
terms, the paper added.
EDISON EDNn.MI , ACEA ACE.MI , ERG ERG.MI
Several Italian utilities and private equity groups are
expected to hand in tentative offers worth about 2 billion euros
for E.ON's EONGn.DE Italian unit early next week, people
familiar with the matter told Reuters. ID:nL6N0QE2XA
LUCCHINI
A company run by India's billionaire Jindal family is close
to finalising a deal to buy insolvent Italian steelmaker
Lucchini, Italy's prime minister Matteo Renzi said on
Sunday. ID:nL6N0QG0JW
SNAM SRG.MI , TERNA TRN.MI
The European Commission has long wanted the continent's
power grids to work in unison for reasons of efficiency and
supply security, so far to little avail, but a regional power
network could soon be a reality, courtesy of State Grid
Corporation of China. ID:nL6N0QB5NF
EDISON EDNn.MI
Consolidation in the European electricity sector is
inevitable, the CEO of the utility told Corriere della Sera in
an interview published on Sunday, adding that the group would
remain "a reference player" in in the Italian market.
ALITALIA
Abu Dhabi-based Etihad Airways will buy almost half of
Alitalia and invest 560 million euros into the lossmaking
Italian airline in a turnaround effort that will involve heavy
job losses under a long-delayed deal signed on
Friday. ID:nL6N0QE400
Alitalia's Chief Executive Gabriele Del Torchio is ready to
leave the airline after striking the Etihad deal, the CEO told
daily Corriere della Sera in an interview published on Saturday.
Alitalia confirmed the interview. ID:nL6N0QF0EA
Various papers said on Saturday that Ferrari Chairman Luca
Cordero Montezemolo could become the airline's new chairman, but
only if the role does not include operational responsibilities.
Montezemolo has previously denied he was interested in the role.
Silvano Cassano could become the chief executive of the new
Alitalia, Il Messaggero said in an unsourced report on Saturday.
Another key candiate to become the new CEO is Giancarlo
Schisano, currently a deputy general manager at Alitalia, Il
Messaggero said in an unsourced report on Sunday.
Air France-KLM AIRF.PA could see its 7 percent stake in
the airline diluted to less than 1 percent after the deal with
Etihad, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday.
Various papers on Saturday repeated the idea of Abu
Dhabi-based sovereign funds entering into the capital of Rome
airport operator Aeroporti di Roma (Adr) via a reserved capital
increase, without naming sources.
Workers who choose to leave voluntarily, need to tell
Alitalia by Sept. 10 that they plan to do so and will receive a
10,000 euros bonus in exchange, various papers said on Sunday.
From Sept. 15, letters of dismissal will be sent out as part of
an overall plan to cut up to 2,171 jobs, the papers added.
* Highway operator Atlantia ATL.MI is looking for a
financial partner for airport operator AdR, CEO Giovanni
Castellucci told Il Messaggero in an interview. He added that
several big international funds were interested in the project,
adding that the Abu Dhabi fund Adia would be a good possible
partner. Talks on the matter will kick off in September.
* AS ROMA ASR.MI
U.S. investor Pallotta and his allies have reached a deal to
buy from UniCredit a further 31 pct in the Neep holding that
controls AS Roma for about 55 million euros, reinforcing his
control over the Italian soccer club, according to Il
Messaggero.
GENERALI GASI.MI
Investment group Palladio Finanziaria, which holds a stake
in Generali via its Ferak unit, has launched a reorganisation,
which could impact the shareholder base of the insurer, Il Sole
24 Ore said on Sunday in an unsourced report. One of the options
discussed is the split-up of Ferak and the pro rata distribution
of its stake in Generali among Ferak shareholders.
BANCA POPOLARE DI VICENZA
Unlisted Italian lender Banca Popolare di Vicenza has
successfully completed a 608 million euro ($816 million) share
sale, beefing up its capital base ahead of the outcome of a
pan-European banking asset review. ID:nL6N0QE4KA
BANCA POPOLARE DI MILANO PMII.MI
The lender expects to present a new governance structure to
shareholders in April next year, Il Sole 24 Ore said, citing the
bank's chief executive Giuseppe Castagna.
INTESA SANPAOLO ISP.MI
Talks are under way between Intesa and Italfondiario - a
company owned by Fortress in which Intesa has a 12 percent stake
- to let Intesa manage the new flows of non-performing loans,
leaving those accumulated between 2006 and now in
Italfondiario's custody, MF said on Saturday.
SARAS SRS.MI
Russia's Rosneft is confident it will be able to continue
its expansion in western Europe, the general manager of Italian
refiner Saras said on Friday. ID:nL6N0QE45V
FIAT FIA.MI
Volkswagen AG is more than doubling a three-year-old recall
of its Chrysler-built Routan minivans that have ignition
switches that can be knocked into the accessory position and
shut off the engine, according to documents filed with U.S.
safety regulators. ID:nL2N0QE0TT
There is renewed talk of a listing for Ferrari, possibly on
the bourse of Shanghai, La Stampa said on Saturday in an
unsourced report.
BANCA CARIGE CRGI.MI
The Bank of Italy has fined Banca Carige's former chairman
Giovanni Berneschi and some other ex-managers for poor
management of the lender, il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday.
UBI BANCA UBI.MI
The bank could consider offering a higher dividend than in
2013, the lender's CEO Victor Massiah told Il Sole 24 Ore in an
interview published on Saturday. In a new phase of M&A, the bank
will only look at deals that create value, Massiah said, adding
the company would also consider acquisitions abroad.
RISANAMENTO RN.MI
The real estate it had concluded the sale of a property in
Paris to Chelsfield/The Olayan Group for 133.4 million euros, it
said in a statement on Saturday.
Bourse After Hours market closed.
Board meetings on H1 results: BANCA POPOLARE DELL'ETRURIA E
DEL LAZIO PEL.MI , GRUPPO MUTUIONLINE MOL.MI , SERVIZI ITALIA
SERIT.MI .
((Milan newsroom, +39 02 6612 9507, fax +39 02 801149,
milan.newsroom@news.reuters.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/
Keywords: ITALY FACTORS/AUGUST 11