Italian Stocks - Factors to watch on May 26
ju4 wa4i dia4n zo1ng he2 ba4o da4o :\n  MILAN, May 26 (Reuters) - The following factors could affect\nItalian markets on Monday.\nReuters has not verified the newspaper reports, and cannot\nvouch for their accuracy. New items are marked with (*).\nENI <ENI.MI>, SUEZ <LYOE.PA>, DISTRIGAS <DISTy.BR>\nItaly's oil and gas group Eni and French utility Suez SA,\nlooking to sell its Belgian natural gas trading arm Distrigas,\nare in exclusive talks for a sale by Thursday, Suez said on\nSaturday.\nFor a story, double click on [nL24424043].\nIn exchange for a 57 percent stake in Distrigas, Eni would\noffer Suez a virtual power plant production equal to output of\ntwo combined-cycle power stations for 15 years, several\nnewspapers quoted Eni Chief Executive Officer Paolo Scaroni as\nsaying on Sunday.\nIt would also offer options of gas supplies to Italy,\nGermany and Spain for 15 years and stakes in gas deposits in the\nGulf of Mexico and Britain, on top of a gas distribution network\nin Rome.\nThe likely deal would strengthen Eni's role as the leading\ngas sales operator in Europe, boosting its share of the European\ngas sales market to 26-27 percent from 19 percent, Scaroni said.\nENIA <EN.MI>, HERA <HRA.MI>, IRIDE <IRD.MI>\nThe boards of regional utilities Enia, Hera and Iride are\nexpected to sign a letter of intent for a three-way merger, a\nsource has told Reuters.\nThe new entity is likely to become Italy's second-biggest\nregional utility after A2A <A2.MI> with a market capitalisation\nof about 5.3 billion euros and a net debt of about 3.3 billion\neuros, Il Sole 24 Ore reported on Sunday.\nThe cities that control the utilities would hold a 48.5\npercent stake in the merged group.\n* FIAT <FIA.MI>, CHRYSLER [CBS.UL]\nThe Italian car maker has held talks with U.S. rival\nChrysler in recent weeks over various forms of cooperation, Alfa\nRomeo brand chief Luca De Meo told German magazine\nWirtschaftsWoche in a story published on Saturday.\nSuch a move would save money for Fiat, as European exporters\nsuffer from the strong euro, and mark a return of the Alfa Romeo\nbrand to the U.S. market after withdrawing it in 1995.\nFor a story, double click on [nL24346852].\nFINMECCANICA <SIFI.MI>\nFinmeccanica and U.S. aircraft maker Boeing Co. <BA.N> are\nclose to an agreement on joint marketing, sales, training and\nsupport of military training planes Alenia Aermacchi M-346 made\nby a Finmeccanica unit. The deal would focus on Singapore and is\nlikely to involve Singapore Technologies Engineering Ltd.\n<STEG.SI>, Il Sole 24 Ore and Il Giornale reported on Sunday.\nThe government has confirmed Pier Francesco Guarguaglini in\nhis current post as chairman of the aerospace and defence\ncompany.\nFor a story, double click on [ID:nRAT003828].\nENEL <ENEI.MI>\nItaly's Ministry of Economic Development has awarded Enel\nthe rights to convert the depleted Romanengo natural gas field\nto a gas storage site, a source familiar with the matter said on\nFriday.\nFor a story, double click on [nL2311150].\nItaly would be able to cut costly imports of oil and gas by\n20 percent and households' and companies' power bills would drop\nby 20-30 percent if the country relaunched nuclear energy banned\n20 years ago, Enel Chief Executive Officer Fulvio Conti said in\nan interview with Il Messaggero newspaper published on Saturday.\n* Dutch power utility Essent is talking to foreign peers,\nincluding Enel, in a bid to find a buyer to boost its value,\ndaily Het Financieele Dagblad reported on Monday.\nFor a story, double click on [nL2651366].\nENI, SNAM RETE GAS <SRG.MI>\nThe head of Italy's antitrust regulator, Antonio Catricala,\nsaid on Friday he favoured oil and gas group Eni selling its gas\nnetwork Snam Rete Gas, but only if Snam becomes a part of a\nunified Europe-wide network.\n* TELECOM ITALIA <TLIT.MI>\nThe head of Italy's communications regulator, Corrado\nCalabro, told La Repubblica on Monday he hoped to reach an\nagreement on the separation of the operator's fixed-line phone\nnetwork by July.\nHe also says 95 percent of the obstacles to laying down\nfibre optic cables is bureaucractic.\nIMPREGILO <IPGI.MI>\nItaly's biggest listed construction group is expected to see\nrevenues rising 4 percent to 2.75 billion euros in 2008 and post\noperating profit of 220 million euros, Il Sole 24 Ore said in\nits "Letter to the Investor" on Sunday.\nAS ROMA <ASR.MI>\nAS Roma's Italian Cup final victory may be the Sensi\nfamily's last triumph as owners amid renewed speculation that\nbillionaire U.S. financier George Soros is close to buying the\nItalian club.\nFor a story, double click on [nL25607551].\nUBI BANCA <UBI.MI>, BANCO POPOLARE <BAPO.MI>\nUBI Banca said on Friday the idea it could merge with rival\nBanco Popolare was groundless, in response to a report in\nItalian weekly newsmagazine Il Mondo.\nFor a story, double click on [nMAT008226].\nALITALIA <AZPIa.MI>\nThe carrier's board meets.\n((Milan newsroom, 39 02 6612 9507, fax 39 02 801149,\nmilan.newsroom@news.reuters.com))\nFor Italian market data and news, click on codes in\nbrackets:\n20 biggest gainers (in percentage)PG.MI>\n20 biggest losers (in percentage)PL.MI>\nMibtel index.MIBTEL>\nS&P/Mib index.SPMIB>\nIndice Mib-30.MIB30>\nMidex index.MIDEX>\nAllstars index.ALLST>\nBlock trades.BLK.MI>\nStories on Italy...... <IT-LEN>\nFor pan-European market data and news, click on codes in\nbrackets:\nEuropean Equities speed guide.EUR/EQUITY>\nFTSEurofirst 300 index.FTEU3>\nDJ STOXX index.STOXX>\nTop 10 STOXX sectors.PGL.STOXXS>\nTop 10 EUROSTOXX sectors.PGL.STOXXES>\nTop 10 Eurofirst 300 sectors.PGL.FTEU3S>\nTop 25 European pct gainers.PG.PEUR>\nTop 25 European pct losers.PL.PEUR>\nMain stock markets:\nDow Jones.DJI>Wall Street report .....[.N]\nNikkei 225.N225>Tokyo report.T]\nFTSE 100.FTSE>London report.L]\nXetra DAX.GDAXI>Frankfurt market stories[.F]\nCAC-40.FCHI>Paris market stories...[.PA]\nWorld Indices.0#.INDEX>\nReuters survey of world bourse outlook.EQUITYPOLL1>\nWestern European IPO diary.WEUIPO>\nEuropean Asset Allocation.EUR/ASSET]\nReuters News at a Glance: Equities.TOP/EQE]\nMain currency report:FRX/]\nKeywords: ITALY MARKETS/FACTORS\nKeywords: ITALY MARKETS/FACTORS