Cloudcall Share Discussion Threads

[maywillow] 19/9/2003 09:07

The Italian Job

[maywillow] 19/9/2003 07:23

High Noon a la Francais

[maywillow] 18/9/2003 18:33

BERLIN (AFX) - French President Jacques Chirac said he is "relatively
optimistic" that the government and the EU Commission will find a solution for
saving Alstom from financial crisis.
"The talks going on now, notably between the French government and the
Commission, talks that at the same time are both positive and promising for the
days to come, leave me, in any case I hope so, relatively optimistic about the
outcome of these discussions," Chirac said after a joint meeting of French and
German officials.
Yesterday, the EU Commission blocked the French government's plan to
participate in a capital increase for the ailing engineering group, effectively
suspending the launch of a 2.8 bln eur rescue package.
[e-mail]
js/jlw

[maywillow] 18/9/2003 09:21

MILAN (AFX) - A ruling expected today by the European Court of Justice
regarding a tax imposed by the Italian government on fixed line operators could
free up about 1.9 bln eur in resources at Telecom Italia SpA, according to the
daily MF.
In 1999, the Italian government imposed a tax representing 3 pct of the
operator's revenues.
Telecom Italia paid 546 mln eur to the government in 1999 but stopped paying
from 2000 after having legally challenged the tax.
Nevertheless, the company has made 1.6 bln in provisions towards the tax and
another 300 mln in provisions are earmarked for 2004, the daily said.
The freed resources could be used to reduce Telecom Italia's debt, MF said.
The European court's decision will not be applicable immediately because it
will have to be validated by a Rome-based administrative court, it added.
Even if the ruling favours Telecom Italia, it is uncertain the company will
automatically recoup the money already paid to the government, it said.
pw/jsa

[grupo guitarlumber] 15/9/2003 10:39

PARIS (AFX) - European Commission president Romano Prodi said the Commission
would not allow the French government to side-step European rules governing
state aid payments to troubled businesses Alstom and Bull.
In an interview with Les Echos business daily, Prodi said: "The cases of
Bull and Alstom are very similar. For France Telecom the situation is
different."
"In the case of Alstom the situation is simple in that European rules forbid
state aid. It is a tangible principle. There is no reason to treat companies
differently depending on which country they come from," he said.
He said the rules have been applied dozens of times and the Commission had
been firm in its treatment of German regional banks, adding that it would be
harder to change rules relating to state aid than to alter the Stability and
Growth Pact.
"I completely understand the social and political problems faced by (French
finance minister) Francis Mer. But it is important to remember the aims of the
competition rules. To help one company in difficulty would be to give it an
advantage versus its competitors."
Prodi said the single European market could only function if the rules are
applied by all EU states.
[e-mail]
dl/cmr

[grupo guitarlumber] 15/9/2003 09:50

RNS Number:7488P
Orange S.A.
15 September 2003

A copy of the joint information memorandum of Orange SA and France Telecom
relating to France Telecom's simplified Public Exchange Offer for Orange SA, has
been submitted to the UKLA for publication through the Document Viewing Facility

The offer is made in France and the United Kingdom and is not extended in the
United States or other jurisdictions where it would be illegal to do so.


This information is provided by RNS
The company news service from the London Stock Exchange
END

DOCIIFVAADIELIV

[grupo guitarlumber] 15/9/2003 09:29

Could this be classed as indirect aid?

ie aid through the back door

Extract from Advfn News Bulletin

Over the weekend, The Observer reported that Britain's mobile phone
operators launched legal actions against HM Customs & Excise at the
beginning of September in an attempt to recover 3.9 bln stg in VAT rebates.
T-Mobile, mmO2 , Orange and Hutchison 3G have all lodged separate claims
with the VAT & Duties Tribunal based on the belief they are owed a 17.5 pct
rebate on the 3G mobile phone licenses they bought for 22.5 bln stg in 2000, the
paper said without naming sources.


The companies are arguing that under European law, the price of the 3G
licence included the tax. But Customs & Excise has insisted that the price they
paid for the 3G licences, conducted by auction, did not include the tax, the
newspaper reported.

[grupo guitarlumber] 17/8/2003 07:04

Alstom: The first of Many.

What goes around comes around.

[maywillow] 30/1/2003 07:18

When is a unfair credit line not a Unfair Credit Line?

[ariane] 10/12/2002 06:44

It seems that the Telecoms Industries Financing woes have hit bottom and apparently should start to improve with a slight increase in Sales growth.

Also EU Governments have ruled out general assistance to the Telecoms Industry.

[maywillow] 08/12/2002 13:12

Its getter bigger by the day

[ariane] 04/12/2002 14:25

i see things clearly now!

[ariane] 04/12/2002 11:05

Waldron, thanks for all the articles, don`t seem to have the time these days to scan for information.
merci

[waldron] 02/12/2002 23:07

of course the State can secure France Telecoms future, whats it there for.

This isn`t Railtrack or some run of the mill energy company.

[ariane] 01/12/2002 00:54

thanks waldron

[ariane] 28/11/2002 22:26

France Telecom nicely up today

[waldron] 28/11/2002 18:55

So it looks like things are moving forward.But who will really benefit at the end of the day.

See that France Telecom rose today. Wonder when it will return to its float price of 25 euros.