Italy's Monte dei Paschi postpones capital plan to Tuesday - sources

By Paola Arosio and Giancarlo Navach

MILAN (Reuters) - Italy's Monte dei Paschi di Siena has postponed the release of a statement on a capital-boosting strategic plan and third-quarter results to Tuesday, sources close to the matter said, without giving a reason for the delay.

A board meeting which started at 0800 GMT on Monday to give the plan the go-ahead, was still underway 10 hours later.

The board approved the turnaround plan, meant to help the bank raise 5 billion euros (4.45 billion pounds) from investors, earlier in the day, one board member said, adding there was unanimous backing from all board directors.

"It's a very good plan, we are confident," he said as he left the meeting, while it was still going. He added a shareholder meeting to approve the capital measures would be held by the end of November.

A union representative said separately that the new plan envisages 1,600 layoffs, on top of another 1,400 previously announced by the lender, and would also include 300 new hires.

A meeting between chief executive Marco Morelli and union representatives which had been due to take place on Monday evening was also delayed, a labour official said.

Morelli, the former Italy head of Bank of America Merrill Lynch, took over as CEO of the country's third-largest bank in mid-September, charged with winning investor support for the fundraising plan.

Drawn up with the help of adviser JPMorgan, the plan also envisages the sale of 28 billion euros in bad loans to keep the bank afloat after it emerged as the weakest lender in Europe in the latest round of industry stress tests over the summer.

Shares in the troubled Tuscan lender rose more than 30 percent on Monday and closed up 28.3 percent.

The jump added to a week-long rally buoyed by the prospect of an alternative rescue scheme brokered by veteran Italian banker and former industry minister Corrado Passera, although the stock remains down more than 70 percent so far this year.

Some investors are sceptical over the Tuscan bank's ability to carry out a third share issue in as many years at a time when banking stocks trade at a fraction of their book value as negative interest rates eat into profits.

A source familiar with the matter said various Gulf-based sovereign wealth funds were looking at Monte dei Paschi, but have yet to make a commitment

"There needs to be a business plan before these funds are in a position to make up their mind on Monte dei Paschi," the person said. "After (the plan's) presentation it will become clearer whether they want to come onboard."

(Additional reporting by Pamela Barbaglia in London; Writing by Agnieszka Flak; Editing by Alexander Smith)