Italy - Factors to watch on Jan 14

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 (*).

ITALY ELECTIONS

Silvio Berlusconi's centre-right coalition is gaining ground ahead of next month's elections, which could make it harder for Italy's left to form a stable parliamentary majority, polls showed on Sunday.

The nightclub dancer who is the main witness in the sex trial of Italy's former prime minister Silvio Berlusconi will testify at a hearing in Milan on Monday, her lawyer said on Saturday.

* GENERALI

The insurer's head Mario Greco vowed on Monday to deliver operating results of above 5 billion euros and to improve solvency margins beyond 160 percent under a new strategy that will hike investments in high-growth markets and rein in costs.

* UNICREDIT

The biggest Italian bank by assets will focus on cost cutting during 2013 to counterweight a rise in bad loans expected for the whole Italian banking sector, UniCredit Chief Executive Federico Ghizzoni told La Repubblica on Monday.

The CEO of the Italian lender said the bank is well positioned to face the challenges of 2013 as it has the necessary capital, a positive liquidity and the right geographic diversification.

FIAT

Fiat and its U.S. unit Chrysler are set to sign a new agreement with Guangzhou Automobile Group Co to produce the Jeep vehicle for the Chinese market, Il Corriere della Sera said on Sunday.

This year's Detroit auto show kicks off on Monday with a decidedly green theme. Green as in the color of money, that is.

TELECOM ITALIA

The European Union will set out reforms for a pan-European telecommunications market this year to support competition and investment in the sector, the bloc's telecoms chief, Neelie Kroes, said in an interview with the Financial Times.

ENI

Libya plans to create a special force to protect diplomats, government sources said, after a gun attack on an Italian consul once again exposed the precarious security situation in the North African state. Eni is the biggest foreign oil and gas player in the country.

PIRELLI, CAMFIN

The board of Camfin, which controls around 26 percent of Pirelli, renewed the shareholder pact of the tyremaker for just one year, several newspapers said on Saturday.

ATLANTIA, GEMINA

The two groups are close to appointing advisers for their merger, Il Sole 24 Ore said on Saturday. In pole position are Goldman Sachs, Banca IMI and Deutsche Bank for Atlantia and UniCredit, BNP Paribas and Barclays for Gemina.

ALITALIA, IMMSI, AIR FRANCE

There are no talks under way at the moment about changing the ownership structure at Alitalia, shareholder Maurizio Traglio told La Stampa on Sunday.

The CEO of Qatar Airways said on Sunday the carrier was not studying any plans to take a stake in Alitalia and had not been approached.

* Alitalia executive board meeting on Jan. 22 may offer a first chance for a discussion among the Italian carrier and its shareholders over the options for the future of the company, several Italian newspapers reported during the week-end.

* BUZZI UNICEM

The Italian group will post revenues around 2.9 billion euros for the whole 2012, La Repubblica reported on Monday.

For Italian market data and news, click on codes in brackets:

20 biggest gainers (in percentage)............

20 biggest losers (in percentage).............

FTSE IT allshare index

FTSE Mib index........

FTSE Allstars index...

FTSE Mid Cap index....

Block trades..........

Stories on Italy...... IT-LEN

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