The following factors could affect Italian markets on Friday.
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 .
GENERAL
Italy reported 887 coronavirus-related deaths on Thursday, a steep rise from 499 the day before, the health ministry said. The daily tally of new infections increased to 16,999 from 12,756. releases October industrial output data (0900 GMT).
COMPANIES
FERRARI RACE.MI
Chief Executive Officer Louis Camilleri has retired citing personal reasons after being in the role for nearly two and a half years and Chairman John Elkann will lead the company on an interim basis, the luxury automaker said on Thursday. ITALIA (TIM) TLIT.MI
Moody's Investors Service downgraded Italy's biggest phone group ratings on Thursday to Ba2, with a negative outlook, citing a challenging operating environment and "aggressive" financial policy decisions. BPM BAMI.MI - BPER BANCA EMII.MI
The two banks are considering a possible merger with a view to reaching a deal in the first half of 2021, three sources familiar with the matter said. CRDI.MI
The board of Italy's no.2 bank held its last scheduled meeting of 2020 on Thursday, formally approving criteria put forward by the nomination committee to select the new CEO, as well as new directors, and officially hiring executive recruiter Spencer Stuart for the task. The selection process is expected to conclude in January but the bank does not want to rush the decision.
Criteria include high international standing, strong knowledge of the banking system, inclusive leadership and strategic vision, Chairman-elect Pier Carlo Padoan had said.
(*) UniCredit's nomination committee is due to meet again in the second week of January, Il Sole 24 Ore reported.
The bank said on Thursday it had appointed Marco Bressan, a data scientist with a long-standing experience of data driven transformation, as group data and analytics Officer.
ATLANTIA ATL.MI
Despite pressure from the treasury, Italian state lender CDP and investment funds Macquarie MQG.AX and Blackstone (NYSE:BX) BX.MI are dragging their feet about presenting a binding offer for Atlantia 's motorway unit Autostrade per l'Italia by Dec. 14, two sources told Reuters. The CDP-led consortium, which could join forces with F2i and Poste PST.MI , would prefer to complete a 10-week due diligence before filing its bid, the sources said.
(*) Atlantia's board on Monday is likely to grant an extension to January of the deadline for the bid, while also pushing ahead with a plan to spin off Autostrade and calling a shareholder meeting to approve the separation for Jan. 15, Il Sole 24 Ore said. If an offer arrives by that date, Atlantia will discuss it with shareholders at the meeting, it added.
(*) MEDIASET MS.MI
Phoenix Tower International is close to clinching a deal to buy the telecoms mast unit of Italy's EI Towers for some 500 million euros ($606 million) by the end of the year, a source with knowledge of the matter said on Thursday. INTERMOBILIARE (BIM) BIM.MI
The bank was granted an exclusive period to negotiate a potential acquisition of financial consulting bank Banca Consulia. has adopted tougher rules for appointing directors in the banking and financial sectors after taking seven years to comply with European Union regulation, two government sources told Reuters on Thursday.