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[waldron] 30/3/2004 13:56

Updated Mar.30,2004 18:37 KST



Bullet Train Set to Benefit Koreans on the Move

The chairman and CEO of Alstom Group Patrick Kron

The chairman and CEO of Alstom Group Patrick Kron, who is in Korea to watch the opening of the high-speed Gyeongbu line, said that since 80 percent of the South Korean population live near the line connecting Seoul and Busan and the bullet train is much more convenient and efficient to use than an airplane or an ordinary rail, the high speed express has a competitive edge.
"When the high-speed Korea Train Express (KTX) begins operations Thursday, it will become the most used railway in the world, with about 120 million users annually," said Kron, in an interview with The Chosun Ilbo.

He said that the KTX is just the beginning, mentioning that Alstom is thinking of setting up a collaborative project with Korea based on the cooperation the two have had for 10 years. When entering into the market of a third country, especially in Southeast Asia, it may be possible for Korea to oversee management of the project, while Alstom takes responsibility for vehicle supply. Kron pointed out that among the nine countries that use high-speed trains designed by Alstom, Korea is the only country where both exports of train equipment and transference of TGV technology were achieved. Over 1,000 Korean engineers were educated in France, and over 400 French engineers assisted in implementing the technology in Korea, explained Kron.

He added that the KTX will not only save time compared to air travel and connect cities, but it will be environmentally friendly since it uses electricity, and will operate regardless of weather conditions. He also said that it will be able to provide many positive affects immediately, such as decentralization of the population and increased economic well-being, and reduce traffic congestion.

The opening of the Southeast TGV line in France connecting Paris to Leon (430 km) resulted in over 50 percent of airplane passengers switching to bullet trains, and now over 90 percent of transportation is made by means of the high-speed French line, he said.

(Song Eui-dal, [e-mail]

[waldron] 30/3/2004 11:58

(updates with DCN comment that buyout would be 'stupid')
PARIS (AFX) - State-owned shipyard Direction des Constructions Navales said
it has no plans to buy out Thales SA's stake in the companies' military
shipbuilding venture, Armaris, even though it has the authority to do so.
"We could buy Thales' 50 percent stake in Armaris but it would be stupid to
do so because we are trying to develop a partnership with them," said a DCN
spokesman.
"We have no desire to provoke a crisis with Thales. We are in talks and it
is natural that there should be some disagreements."
The comment came after reports that the government had threatened a buyout
of Thales' stake. Les Echos said this morning that the government has cleared
DCN to exercise a call option on the stake amid a disagreement between the
partners, leaving the venture's fate in the balance.
Thales, meanwhile said it is continuing to hold discussions with its
"longstanding partner" DCN, but declined to comment on the talks.
"Thales' sole priority for making strategic decisions is the interest of all
its shareholders, notably regarding the evolution of this core sector of the
European defence industry," it added.
[e-mail]
jad/jms

[waldron] 30/3/2004 08:46

PARIS (AFX) - The government has cleared state-owned Direction des
Constructions Navales to buy Thales SA's 50 pct stake in the companies' military
shipbuilding venture Armaris, leaving the venture's future in the balance, Les
Echos reported.
The state authorised DCN CEO Jean-Marie Poimboeuf to exercise a call option
on the stake at a DCN board meeting last week, the financial daily reported
without naming sources.
Armaris was formed last year. The agreements upon which the venture is based
expire tomorrow - including the call option that the government had put in place
to protect its interests.
All parts of the agreement - including the option - were scheduled to be
extended tomorrow.
But according to the newspaper, Thales CEO Denis Ranque has refused to allow
the option to be extended, arguing that it slants the venture in DCN's favour.
As a result, the state has reportedly upped the stakes by authorising
Poimboeuf to exercise the option ahead of the agreement's expiry.
[e-mail]
jms/jad

[waldron] 30/3/2004 08:28

SEOUL (AFX) - French Industry Minister Nicole Fontaine said she is confident
Alstom SA will win a contract to provide a high-speed train line between Beijing
and Shanghai "by the end of the year."
Fontaine was speaking after the inauguration of South Korea's high-speed
network yesterday, and after a meeting with Chinese transport ministry
officials.
"We will have a response by the end of the year... The French candidate is
viewed with the utmost respect and has a great chance ofbeing chosen," she
said.
Fontaine added that she has timetabled a trip to China in May to discuss
cooperation projects in nuclear energy.
The tender for offers for the rail project has yet to be launched, but will
likely also attract bids from Japan's Shinkansen train and Siemens AG's ICE.
Speaking here yesterday Alstom chief executive officer Patrick Kron said he
felt the company was "well placed" to win the contract.
He also confirmed it will renegotiate two lending covenants with banks "in
the coming weeks", indicating that it will fail to hit the financial ratios upon
which the loans are based in its year to March results.
This morning, La Tribune reported that Alstom's creditor banks are likely to
grant the company a waiver of several months over the non-compliance with the
covenants, amid expectations of new orders or even a possible bid from rival
Siemens AG.
Meanwhile, Les Echos quoted Kron as indicating he is confident of securing a
waiver.
"The banks are not going to pull the rug from under a company that is in a
recovery phase," he was quoted as saying.
"Either they agree to negotiate or they default us (on the loans)... I am
not prepared to go further" in granting the banks more favourable lending terms,
he added.
[e-mail]
paj/bh/jad/jms

[waldron] 30/3/2004 08:11

LONDON, March 29 (New Ratings) – Analyst Ben Uglow of Morgan Stanley reiterates his "overweight" rating on Alstom (ALSO). The target price is set to €2.60.

[waldron] 28/3/2004 12:55

BEIJING (AFX-ASIA) - China today announced the signing of purchase contracts
for 547 mln usd worth of generating equipment for the controversial Three Gorges
Dam, state press reported.
Four of the 12 hydroelectric generators are to be supplied by French company
Alstom SA, the People's Daily said.
Dongfang Electrical Machinery Co Ltd will also supply four generating units,
while the Harbin Electric Machinery Factory was awarded contracts for the
remaining four units, the People'sDaily said.
With a designed capacity of 18,200 megawatts, the 22 bln usd Three Gorges
will be the world's largest power project when all of its 26, 700,000-kilowatt
generators go on line by 2009.
So far only six of the 14 units on the northside of the dam are up and
running, with four more set to begin operation this year.
Alstom and General Electric of Canada are supplying all the units on the
north side of the dam.
The Three Gorges reservoir will displace between 1.2-1.9 mln people, and
submerge 19 cities and 326 towns.
sai/sdm/swp

[waldron] 26/3/2004 08:29

26.03.2004 06:33:00 GMT 
French Alstom negotiating with Poland's Belchatow power plant to build energy block 
Debe. (Interfax-Europe) - French engineering company Alstom is in talks with Poland's Belchatow power plant to build a USD 880 mln power block, Belchatow General Director Edward Najgebauer said at a Treasury Ministry conference in Debe, northeast of Warsaw.

The construction is slotted for completion by 2008.

"We are negotiating a contract with Alstom, and in the near future we intend to begin organizational financing of this project," Najgebauer said.

In November, Belchatow said that it had received bids on the project from Alstom and a Japanese consortium formed by Hitachi and Mitsui. The European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD) is to co-finance the investment. The company previously said that it plans to sign a construction contract in May, and finish collecting funds to finance it by mid-2004.

The project is to be financed as follows: 30% in equity (EUR 255 mln) and 70% in credit (EUR 595 mln), out of which EUR 100 mln will come from the EBRD.

The Belchatow plant, one of Poland's biggest generators, is to be the cornerstone of the BOT group, which in April is to become one of two energy-generating powerhouses planned by the Polish government. A tie-up of Belchatow with plants in Opole and Turow, as well as a link-up with connected coal mines, was to occur in 2003, though the timeframe has been delayed.

[maywillow] 25/3/2004 13:43

VILLENEUVE SAINT-GEORGES, Val de Marne (AFX) - Ste Nationale des Chemins de
Fer Francais chairman Louis Gallois said the company's contract for 400 diesel
freight locomotives from a consortium of Alstom SA and Siemens AG is worth about
850 mln eur.
Speaking at a signing ceremony here, Alstom chairman Patrick Kron said
Alstom's share of the contract is "close to 500 mln eur."
SNCF announced an order for 500 locomotives in February, 400 of which
constituted a firm order. The maximum price for the total potential order was
put at 1.065 bln eur.
Delivery of the 400 locomotives will begin from June 2006 at a rate of four
per month.
[e-mail]
dd/ea/jad/cmr

[grupo guitarlumber] 22/3/2004 19:05

Alstom wins Chinese hydro plant orders


22 March 2004 - Alstom has recently won two orders for the supply of hydropower equipment in China. The combined order value is in excess of €30m ($36.8m).

The first of these orders was awarded by the Guizhou Wujiang Hydropower Development Corporation Ltd. for the supply of three generators to the Goupitan Hydropower station, which has a total installed capacity of 3000 MW.

The second order was awarded by the Guizhou Tengyuan Power Development Co., Ltd., for the supply of a 125 MW turbine for the extension of the Dongfeng Hydropower Station.

Both power stations are located on the upstream of the Wujiang River, the river that borders Qingzhen City and Qianxi County in China's Southwest Guizhou Province.

Tianjin Alstom Hydro Co., Ltd., a unit of Alstom in China, is responsible for both projects. The delivery of equipment for Goupitan is scheduled for 2009 and 2010, and Dongfeng for 2005

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/3/2004 21:36

BAE, Thales Roles in U.K. Brief Under Review (Update1)
March 20 (Bloomberg) -- The U.K. Ministry of Defence said it has yet to decide whether BAE Systems Plc, Europe's biggest weapons maker, and Thales SA, the region's second-biggest defense company, will have the lead contractor role in its 2.8 billion- pound ($5.1 billion) aircraft carrier project.

The Ministry has made ``good progress on the design of the carriers with BAE and Thales,'' said a spokeswoman for the ministry who declined to be named. The composition of the contracting team remains to be determined, she said. ``We have some important decisions to make,'' she said.

BAE and France's Thales, which teamed up for the project to build two carriers, last year were named ``preferred prime contractor,'' the Financial Times reported today. Next week, neither will be confirmed in the lead role in what is the biggest contract ever awarded by the Royal Navy, the paper said.

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/3/2004 12:26

BAE set to be rebuffed over carriers
By Peter Spiegel and Mark Odell in London
Published: March 19 2004 21:59 | Last Updated: March 19 2004 21:59


The UK's Ministry of Defence is expected to finalise the make-up of the industry team that will build the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers next week - a structure that will leave BAE Systems out of the role of prime contractor, people familiar with the decision said on Friday.


When the ministry announced the winner of the carrier competition last year, BAE was named as the "preferred prime contractor" in a partnership with the UK arm of French defence contractor Thales. But in a decision expected to be published in a letter to the industrial partners next week, neither Thales nor BAE will be named as prime.

The exact structure of the team is still being ironed out, and, according to people close to the industry, it is the subject of internal disagreement within the MoD. Some senior officials within the MoD's defence procurement agency (DPA) are pushing for the prime contracting role to be taken in-house, with the government managing the project on its own, industry sources said.

Alternatively, a third company with expertise in large project management could be brought in to take over the lead role. Under such a scenario, the contract could be broken up into pieces, with one company taking the lead on shipbuilding and another taking on the ship's internal systems.

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/3/2004 12:23

BAE set to be rebuffed over carriers
By Peter Spiegel and Mark Odell in London
Published: March 19 2004 21:59 | Last Updated: March 19 2004 21:59


The UK's Ministry of Defence is expected to finalise the make-up of the industry team that will build the Royal Navy's two new aircraft carriers next week - a structure that will leave BAE Systems out of the role of prime contractor, people familiar with the decision said on Friday.


When the ministry announced the winner of the carrier competition last year, BAE was named as the "preferred prime contractor" in a partnership with the UK arm of French defence contractor Thales. But in a decision expected to be published in a letter to the industrial partners next week, neither Thales nor BAE will be named as prime.

The exact structure of the team is still being ironed out, and, according to people close to the industry, it is the subject of internal disagreement within the MoD. Some senior officials within the MoD's defence procurement agency (DPA) are pushing for the prime contracting role to be taken in-house, with the government managing the project on its own, industry sources said.

Alternatively, a third company with expertise in large project management could be brought in to take over the lead role. Under such a scenario, the contract could be broken up into pieces, with one company taking the lead on shipbuilding and another taking on the ship's internal systems.

[grupo guitarlumber] 20/3/2004 09:54

ALSTOM wins air pollution control systems orders for a combined order value of over 85 million Euro

March 18, 2004 -- ALSTOM has recently won a series of orders to supply, deliver and install air pollution control systems in various industry applications and countries around the world:

In Malaysia, ALSTOM won a contract to install three Seawater Flue Gas Desulfurization (SWFGD) units and three Electrostatic Precipitator (ESP) units for SKS Power's 3 x 700 MW Tanjung Bin power plant in Johor, Malaysia. The order was placed by Ishikawajima Harima Heavy Industries Co., Ltd. (IHI) of Japan, part of a consortium led by Sumitomo.

In China, ALSTOM will supply an ESP unit, including flue gas conditioning system to the Zhanjian Power Station, an orimulsion fired power plant and in addition, a further contract for a SWFGD solution for the 2 x 300 MW Qingdao power plant.

In Spain, ALSTOM will implement the enlargement and modification of the As Pontes T.P.P. Precipitators in Galicia. The contract includes engineering, manufacture and supply, quality control, transport, and erection of new equipment, as well testing and commissioning using 100% imported coal. The order was placed by Endesa Generación S.A.

In India, ALSTOM will supply Technopromexport an ESP unit for the 5 x 50 MW Obra power station. Work will begin in January 2004 and scheduled for completion by September 2004.

[grupo guitarlumber] 19/3/2004 16:02

PARIS (AFX) - Alstom SA confirmed its total order for 26 Pendolino trains is worth 544 mln eur.

The total sum comprises an order for 12 trains from Trenitalia, the passenger and freight division of the Italian railway group Ferrovie dello Stato, for 240 mln eur.

The other part of the order is for 14 trains from Italo-Swiss group Cisalpino for 304 mln eur, which was announced earlier this month as around 300 mln eur.

[e-mail]

sr/jkm/

[grupo guitarlumber] 18/3/2004 18:38

March 18, 2004

Gaz de France exercises option for second Alstom LNG carrier

Gaz de France and Alstom signed a letter of intent on July 3,2003 for the construction of a 153,000 m3 LNG carrier, with an option for a second identical LNG carrier.

The order for the first LNG carrier was signed on September 29, 2003, for delivery at the end of October 2005.

Gaz de France has just confirmed the option for the second LNG carrier, in partnership with Japanese shipowner NYK Line.

The construction contract should be signed before the end of June 2004 with delivery of the carrier scheduled for the end of October 2006.

[grupo guitarlumber] 18/3/2004 14:58

LONDON, March 18 (New Ratings) - Analyst Andrew Carter of Deutsche Bank upgrades Alstom (ALSO.PA) from "hold" to "buy," while reducing his estimates for the company. The target price has been raised from €2.00 to €2.50.

[grupo guitarlumber] 17/3/2004 20:53

Areva chairman is ready for IPO go-ahead
By Martin Arnold in Paris
Published: March 17 2004 18:21 | Last Updated: March 17 2004 18:21


Anne Lauvergeon, chairman of Areva, said on Wednesday the state-owned French nuclear energy group was ready for flotation if the government decided to go ahead with a public offering in the first half of this year.


Mrs Lauvergeon, a former senior assistant to the late President François Mitterrand, also dismissed market speculation that Areva was considering buying all or part of Alstom, the struggling former champion of French engineering.

"The chairman of Alstom has replied to this [question] last weekend by saying that Alstom is today a stand-alone company and there are no more big businesses due for disposal," she said.

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 21:58

Alstom chosen for cruise ship contract
Alstom announced today that it has been chosen to build two 1,275 cabin cruise-ships, with an option for a third sister-ship, for Mediterranean Shipping Company (MSC).

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 11:08

thanks kbass.

Will post on the SIER and RAIL threads as well.

[kbass] 16/3/2004 10:06

Here's the link to the article I mentioned above .....