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Finmeccanica sees decision on rail assets sale by year-end

Reuters - UK Focus

* Binding offers for rail assets due on Nov. 17

* China's CNR and Hitachi (Other OTC: HTHIF - news) of Japan shortlisted in sale

* Finmeccanica (Other OTC: FINMF - news) to present new business plan in Jan (Recasts, adds details on rail disposal process, shares)

MILAN, Nov 6 (Reuters) - Italian industrial conglomerate Finmeccanica has given bidders for its non-core rail assets a Nov. 17 deadline to present offers and would decide on the sale by the end of the year, it said on Thursday.

The company's disposals are part of a plan to turn around the heavily indebted state-controlled company and could clear the way to refocus on its strategic aerospace and defence businesses.

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"We are expecting the binding offers (by Nov. 17) and immediately after we will decide. We'd like to conclude this year," Chief Executive Mauro Moretti told a conference call a day after the company lifted its full-year targets for orders, sales and profits.

Shares (Berlin: DI6.BE - news) in Finmeccanica rose as much as 5.1 percent to their highest level since Oct. 2 on Thursday in reaction to the company's outlook, which was announced after the market closed on Wednesday.

Since Moretti's appointment in June, the group has approved a plan to streamline its businesses and stepped up the long-delayed sale of its loss-making train making unit AnsaldoBreda and its stake in rail signalling firm Ansaldo STS (Milan: STS.MI - news) .

The group has shortlisted China's CNR Corporation and Japan's Hitachi in the sale process.

The group, whose credit ratings have been downgraded to "junk" status, reported on Wednesday that its nine-month net loss had narrowed to 24 million euros.

It will present to the market its new business plan at the end of January following approval by the board, Moretti said.

Eikon data show that Finmeccanica is undervalued compared with a group of peers that includes France's Thales and Britain's BAE Systems (LSE: BA.L - news) and some analysts expect the asset sales to further boost its share price.

Its shares have gained more than 20 percent since the start of the year after long underperforming the European index of aerospace and defence companies due to a series of corruption scandals and delays in its restructuring plan.

(Reporting by Danilo Masoni; editing by Susan thomas)