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[waldron] 14/3/2005 08:29

MILAN (AFX) - Siemens AG is interested in acquiring the civilian transport
and energy equipment businesses of Finmeccanica SpA, the daily Il Corriere della
Sera said without citing a source.
The daily added that Siemens has officially informed Finmeccanica of its
interest in writing.
But because of political interference, Finmeccanica could find it difficult
to sell outright the businesses and could seek to set up joint ventures with the
German group, it added.
The French group Alstom is also interested in creating a Franco-Italian
group that would include Finmeccanica's civilian activities and the Italian
government owned ship builder Fincantieri, it said.
The French government, which has a stake in Alstom, could promote the idea
by also offering a link up between Finmeccanica and the French defence group
Thales, the newspaper said.
Finmeccanica is seeking to focus on aerospace and defence and has been in
protracted talks to spin off its civilian business to Fincantieri.
pw/ra

[ariane] 06/3/2005 17:35

PARIS (AFX) - Defence Minister Michele Alliot-Marie said talks on the merger
of France's Direction des Constructions Navales (DCN) shipyards with the
shipbuilding business of Thales SA are back on track.
In an interview with US weekly newspaper Defense News, Alliot-Marie said:
"At one point, there were problems because some Thales' shareholders were not
interested in the move because it didn't fit in with their main activities."
"But things are moving again. We're not looking at a matter of weeks, but
we're moving in the right direction," she said.
Alliot-Marie said a DCN/Thales naval merger was important because it would
create a supplier of integrated systems and be a step towards European
industrial consolidation.
"The link-up could also be the basis for a European alliance, which for the
naval industry could be the equivalent of what EADS has been for the aeronautics
industry," she said.
Alliot-Marie also said she was not opposed in principle to a possible
alliance between Thales and Italy's Finmeccanica SpA, but said no merger plan is
on the agenda.
Thales and Finmeccanica last month declined to comment on a report that they
have started talks on the possibility of an alliance in the defence sector to
create the largest global player in the sector with 9.6 bln eur in annual sales.
[e-mail]
lwl/ra

[grupo] 22/2/2005 08:05

TODAY'S PRESS
-Alstom, Siemens, Bombardier candidates for 3 bln eur SNCF train order (Les
Echos)

[maywillow] 15/2/2005 19:08

PARIS (AFX) - The Finance Ministry said it will accelerate the application
of several EU directives, promised by France as part of the EU Commission's
approval for last year's financial rescue of Alstom SA.
The announcement came after a meeting today of Finance Minister Herve
Gaymard and EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes, and confirms a report in
French daily Les Echos this morning.
The government will use an executive order to open the public procurement
markets in the water, energy, transportation and postal service sectors,
allowing it to avoid delays that would occur if the measures were passed in
Parliament.
Gaymard also said that rail freight operators will no longer need to obtain
safety certificates from the state-owned railway operator SNCF, but instead from
an independent agency that will soon be created.
In the meantime, the Transport Ministry will provide the safety
certification service, the ministry said.
[e-mail]
js/lam

[ariane] 15/2/2005 09:57

PARIS (AFX) - France will propose two urgent measures this evening designed
to head off EU threats of legal action linked to the government's rescue package
for troubled engineering group Alstom, financial daily les Echos reported.
It said French finance minister Herve Gaymard tonight will propose to EU
commissioner Neelie Kroes the use of a government order to liberalise
procurement in public markets "in the next few weeks." Gaymard also will propose
to Kroes a transfer of responsibility for issuing safety certificates for new
rolling stock from the state-owned rail operator SNCF to an interim agency.
The proposal to use a government order will avoid further lengthy
parliamentary delays.
Earlier this month, Kroes had threatened to take France to the European
Court of Justice over its failure to abide by the terms of the 2 bln eur rescue
package for Alstom - which included changes on procurement in public markets.
France had been supposed to meet its commitments by November last year.
In return for bailing out Alstom, France had agreed to apply a European
directive on procurement in sectors such as water, energy, transport and postal
services by last November. It had also agreed to open up the market for railway
rolling stock.
[e-mail]
jad

[maywillow] 15/2/2005 06:53

France tries to avert EU action over aid to Alstom
By Peggy Hollinger in Paris and Tobias Buck and Karl de Meyer in,Brussels
Published: February 15 2005 02:00 | Last updated: February 15 2005 02:00

France is proposing to use a government order to liberalise procurement in public markets, in an attempt to avert the threat of legal action by the European Commission over its €2bn aid package to Alstom.

Hervé Gaymard, French finance minister, is expected to make the proposal to Neelie Kroes when he meets the European Union competition commissioner this evening in Paris.

The proposal to use a government order will avoid further lengthy parliamentary delays, but it remains to be seen whether this will satisfy the Commission.

Less than two weeks ago, Ms Kroes threatened to take France to the European Court of Justice over its failure to abide by the terms of the rescue package for the engineering group - which included changes on procurement in public markets.

In a letter to Mr Gaymard, Ms Kroes threatened to ask the ECJ to declare the Alstom payment illegal, which would in turn trigger a repayment order.

In return for bailing out Alstom, France had agreed to apply a European directive on procurement in sectors such as water, energy, transport and postal services by last November. It also agreed to open up the market for railway rolling stock.

According to Les Echos, the French financial newspaper, Mr Gaymard will use the government order in the next few weeks to apply the directive.

He will also propose to transfer responsibility for issuing safety certificates for new rolling stock from the state-owned rail operator SNCF to an interim agency.

The dispute between France and Brussels is the latest episode in a long battle over the Alstom bail-out.

After a year of often tense negotiations over Alstom, the Commission gave the green light in July to a rescue package that saw the French state become the biggest shareholder in the group.

In total, the trains-to-turbines group received more than €2bn ($2.6bn, £1.4bn) in state support as part of its rescue package in 2003.

This was made up of a €1.3bn government guarantee on its bonds and more than €700m as part of a debt-for-equity swap and capital increase.

The French Finance Ministry refused to comment, but earlier this month it pledged to implement the measures as soon as possible.

[grupo] 13/2/2005 16:29

LONDON (AFX) - Defence manufacturer BAE Systems PLC is set for a fresh
dispute over cost overruns on contracts to build battleships for the Royal Navy,
the Observer newspaper reported.
The Observer cited government sources as saying that cost increases of up to
500 mln stg have emerged on a contract to build six Type 45 destroyers,
originally budgeted at about 6 bln stg.
Relations between the government and BAE, its main defence supplier, came
under strain two years ago when cost overruns emerged on separate projects to
build aircraft and submarines.
A spokesman for BAE said there there had been no cost increases on the three
ships that it is currently building, and that negotiations over the contracts to
build the remaining three will not be finalised until the summer.
"There have been no cost overruns (on the current contracts)," he said. "BAE
Systems has not asked for a single penny more."
[e-mail]
mn/jlw

[ariane] 10/2/2005 10:32

PARIS (AFX) - French engineering group Alstom denied a German newspaper
report that it has lodged a complaint with the European Commission against
Siemens AG's takeover of VA Technologie AG.
"We deny (the Handelsblatt report) that we have lodged a complaint with the
commission. We have no conflict with Siemens," an Alstom spokesman told Agence
France-Presse.
"We have simply responded to a questionnaire from the commission, at its
request, in the framework of the commission's usual consultation procedure for
proposed mergers or acquisitions," he said.
Siemens faces an in-depth probe into its acquisition from the commission
which is likely to demand "a big divestment package" that could put the deal in
jeopardy, sources close to the case told AFX News yesterday.
According to the sources, the commission is planning to open an
in-depth probe into the deal because it could give the combined group too strong
a position in the markets for hydroelectric power equipment, electricity
transmission equipment, railways and metallurgy.
Dt/jlb/rhl/vm/wf

[ariane] 10/2/2005 08:56

MUNICH (AFX) - Siemens AG's takeover of VA Technologie AG faces opposition
from rivals Alstom SA and the SMS GmbH, Handelsblatt reported, citing industry
sources.
Both Alstom and and a unit of SMS have filed complaints with the European
Commission's anti-monopoly investigators, these sources told the newspaper.
Alstom is concerned Siemens will achieve a dominant position in
hydroelectric power production, an area in which the French concern is also
active.
In its complaint, Alstom claimed Siemens will control 60 pct of the European
hyrdoelectric power market following a merger.
The SMS Demag AG metallurgy unit is the world's largest builder of steel
making and other smelting plants.
It feels its business will be threatened if Siemens keeps VA Tech's
metallurgy unit following a merger, sources said.
An SMS spokesman confirmed it responded to the Commission's official inquiry
on the merger, but declined to comment further on its position to Handelsblatt.
Alstom declined to comment on the matter.
Siemens faces an in-depth probe into its acquisition from EU regulators
who are likely to demand "a big divestment package" that could put the deal in
jeopardy, sources close to the case told AFX News yesterday.
According to the sources, the European Commission is planning to open an
in-depth probe into the deal because it could give the combined group too strong
a position in the markets for hydroelectric power equipment, electricity
transmission equipment, railways and metallurgy.
[e-mail]
amk/wf

[grupo guitarlumber] 07/2/2005 18:14

FRANKFURT (AFX) - Alstom SA CEO Patrick Kron has not ruled any cooperation
with Siemens AG, according to a prerelease of an interview Tuesday with
Handelsblatt newspaper.
"There is no reason to rule out cooperation with Siemens if this makes sense
for both companies," he was quoted as saying.
Kron also said Alstom "is on track", with its restructuring plan now taking
hold, adding that this will not change despite EU criticisms of Alstom.
Brussels last week criticised France for inadequate implementation of
Alstom's restructuring plans.
Kron said the EU criticisms "have no direct bearing to our activities" and
that "commitments we have made will be fulfilled".
[e-mail]
mog/hjp

[maywillow] 01/2/2005 17:18

Update 2: EU Head Office Warns France on Alstom
02.01.2005, 11:23 AM

The European Union head office threatened Tuesday to take France to court and demand the return of subsidies to troubled energy and train giant Alstom SA, alleging that the government did not respect EU conditions for the company's bailout.

Later Tuesday, officials from EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes's office and French government authorities had a "constructive meeting," raising hopes a bruising court fight could still be avoided, an EU statement said.

The European Commission specifically insisted France had to do more to open up the market for railway equipment, one of Alstom's strongest sectors.

"The meeting today agreed that close contacts between Ms. Kroes' services and the French authorities would continue with a view to ensuring rapid implementation of the concrete measures to open up the French railway rolling stock market," the statement said.

European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said France had already missed two deadlines on compliance with the rescue program agreed to last July, and Kroes told French Economics Minister Herve Gaymard she would wait "at most a few weeks" before opening court proceedings, Todd said.

In July, EU regulators gave approval to a rescue package for Alstom that requires the French engineering group to shrink by 10 percent and enter into partnerships in key areas of transport and energy.

The rescue plan included a euro2.5 billion (US$3.25 billion) state-orchestrated bailout designed to steer the train and power plant builder, which employs 77,000 people, away from the brink of bankruptcy.

If it comes to a court case, the Commission would insist on the return of subsidies. "If we go to court, then yes, the aid would be illegal and illegal aid had to be repaid," Todd said.

Kroes's threat highlighted her commitment to open up markets to more competition and keep state aid in rein as much as possible.

Kroes wrote to Gaymard last week that too many promises on Alstom had not been kept and demanded urgent action. "None of these measures has been taken, not one," said Todd of the French undertakings.

Key for the Commission is to open up the French rail market, which it sees as being protected to favor Alstom. The EU head office also wants an independent body to assess rail safety certificates in France which would no longer force companies to go to the state SNCF for approval.

Such measures were essential to have the EU head office approve the bailout plan.

[maywillow] 01/2/2005 17:16

Update 2: EU Head Office Warns France on Alstom
02.01.2005, 11:23 AM

The European Union head office threatened Tuesday to take France to court and demand the return of subsidies to troubled energy and train giant Alstom SA, alleging that the government did not respect EU conditions for the company's bailout.

Later Tuesday, officials from EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes's office and French government authorities had a "constructive meeting," raising hopes a bruising court fight could still be avoided, an EU statement said.

The European Commission specifically insisted France had to do more to open up the market for railway equipment, one of Alstom's strongest sectors.

"The meeting today agreed that close contacts between Ms. Kroes' services and the French authorities would continue with a view to ensuring rapid implementation of the concrete measures to open up the French railway rolling stock market," the statement said.

European Commission spokesman Jonathan Todd said France had already missed two deadlines on compliance with the rescue program agreed to last July, and Kroes told French Economics Minister Herve Gaymard she would wait "at most a few weeks" before opening court proceedings, Todd said.

In July, EU regulators gave approval to a rescue package for Alstom that requires the French engineering group to shrink by 10 percent and enter into partnerships in key areas of transport and energy.

The rescue plan included a euro2.5 billion (US$3.25 billion) state-orchestrated bailout designed to steer the train and power plant builder, which employs 77,000 people, away from the brink of bankruptcy.

If it comes to a court case, the Commission would insist on the return of subsidies. "If we go to court, then yes, the aid would be illegal and illegal aid had to be repaid," Todd said.

Kroes's threat highlighted her commitment to open up markets to more competition and keep state aid in rein as much as possible.

Kroes wrote to Gaymard last week that too many promises on Alstom had not been kept and demanded urgent action. "None of these measures has been taken, not one," said Todd of the French undertakings.

Key for the Commission is to open up the French rail market, which it sees as being protected to favor Alstom. The EU head office also wants an independent body to assess rail safety certificates in France which would no longer force companies to go to the state SNCF for approval.

Such measures were essential to have the EU head office approve the bailout plan.

[maywillow] 01/2/2005 17:01

PARIS (AFX) - The French finance ministry confirmed it will respect
commitments laid down by the European Commission in July 2004 when it approved
state aid plans for troubled French engineering company Alstom SA.
Earlier, a spokesman for EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes said
today's talks between Kroes and French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard concerning
state aid granted to Alstom were "constructive".
"The meeting today agreed that close contacts between Kroes' services and
the French authorities would continue with a view to ensuring rapid
implementation of the concrete measures to open up the French railway rolling
stock market," the commission said in a statement after the meeting.
[e-mail]
od/sr/jsa

[maywillow] 01/2/2005 09:37

EU Commission says France not respecting Alstom aid agreement terms - reportPARIS (AFX) - EU Competition Commissioner Neelie Kroes has sent a letter to French Finance Minister Herve Gaymard, accusing the government of not respecting the terms for the EU's approval of state aid to Alstom SA, French daily Les Echos reported.
In July 2004, Alstom (Paris: FR0000120198 - news) and the government won approval for a financial rescue package that included fresh investments in the company by the French state, which took a 31.5 pct stake in the troubled engineering group.
In order to secure EU approval, Alstom was required to divest certain business units, and the French government was told to further open its rail markets and to apply EU directives on the granting of public contracts.
But in a letter sent last week, Kroes told Gaymard that France has not respected these commitments, and warned that formal legal actions could be launched soon, either by the EU Commission or by Alstom's competitors.

[waldron] 31/1/2005 11:19

IBEROJET acquires the cruise-ship Mistral

January 21, 2005


Iberojet Cruceros, cruising branch of the major Spanish tour-operator IBEROJET has just acquired the cruise-ship Mistral, which was purchased by ALSTOM in early 2004 following the default of the cruise operator Festival. Mistral will be delivered to Iberojet Cruceros in March 2005 and may recommence cruising in the spring.

The sale of Mistral is an important step for ALSTOM in reducing the risks linked with the previous vendor financing of certain ships. The agreement with Iberojet is in line with the market price assumptions used by ALSTOM in the estimation of its exposure.

[waldron] 23/1/2005 08:59

UAE: Urban rail contract to be awarded on May 5



Related Content in zawya



UAE Companies


Dubai Municipality
info: news - profile - officers







Dubai Sunday, January 23, 2005
The contract for Dubai's prestigious urban rail system project is to be awarded on May 5, a top official confirmed.

The network will extend 68.9 kilometres and will have 44 stations, including elevated and underground stations, said Engineer Nasser Ahmad Saeed, general coordinator for Dubai Rail Project and director of roads department at Dubai Municipality.

"The busiest metro section will carry 16,792 passengers per hour per direction at peak hours. Total metro boardings will be 124,605 during peak hours, with 1.80 million per day and 570 million per year," he said.

The total cost of the project will be Dh14 billion, of which 45 per cent will be earmarked for civil works and stations, and 51.5 per cent for system fixed equipment and rolling stock.

Consultancy services that include project management and construction supervision will cost 3 per cent.

[maywillow] 19/1/2005 20:49

LONDON, January 19 (newratings.com) - Analyst Andreas Willi of JP Morgan maintains her "underweight" rating on Alstom (AOM.FSE), while reducing her estimates for the company. The 12-month target price is set to €0.50.

In a research note published this morning, the analyst mentions that the company's FY2005 earnings are likely to be adversely affected by delivery delays at its Marine segment. Alstom reported its F3Q05 order intake short of the expectations, the analyst adds. The EPS estimates for FY2005, FY2006 and FY2007 have been reduced from €0.074 to -€0.082, from €0.038 to €0.036 and from €0.042 to €0.041, respectively.

[ariane] 16/1/2005 17:43

Three companies in running for train servicing

17 January 2005

French heavy engineering firm Alstom is on the verge of selecting a preferred bidder for Australian and New Zealand transport assets including the company that services and maintains Toll NZ's trains.


An investment banker said Alstom was believed to be choosing from a shortlist of three.

Alstom Transport NZ chief executive Mike Yeoman has previously said the company expected to have a preferred bidder by the end of this week and a deal by the end of March.

Investment bank Rothschild in Sydney is handling the sale. The bidders have not been named.

The Age in Melbourne last year reported estimates of a $A200 million ($NZ220 million) to $A300 million sale price.

Sources said the business was bigger than trans-Tasman engineering services business Areva - another former part of the Alstom empire - which sold in December for $A193 million.

The bulk of the business is in Australia where Alstom's activities include making and maintaining trains.

The company's New Zealand website says it maintains, services and overhauls Toll's fleet of mainline diesel-electric, electric and shunt locomotives and diesel multiple units.

It also inspects and maintains about 4200 flat-container, box and specialist freight wagons for Toll and provides an asset management service.

Alstom last year said it employed more than 2000 people across both countries.

Mr Yeoman said the business in New Zealand was looking at expanding into other areas within the transport sector.

Alstom, a maker of high-speed trains, cruise ships and gas turbines, put assets on the block after hitting near-bankruptcy in 2003.

In January 2004 it sold its worldwide transmission and distribution activities to nuclear power and generation and electricity distribution company Areva of France.

In December, Areva flicked on the New Zealand and Australian sections of those assets - electrical and telecommunication servicing businesses - to the Australian-listed Transfield.

That deal was largely overlooked - coming just before Christmas and in the same week that Tenon sold its structural timber mills to Carter Holt Harvey for $165 million.

Transfield says the Auckland headquartered business has 1900 employees, more than 600 sub-contractors and annual turnover of $300 million, with 56 per cent of that coming from New Zealand.

The company's services include network maintenance and faults response for the telecommunications industry and power station maintenance.

[maywillow] 13/1/2005 10:25

Alstom 9-Mos Revenue EUR9.71 Bln Vs Reported EUR12.9 Bln




01-13-05 03:33 AM EST
PARIS (Dow Jones)--Alstom SA (12019.FR) said Thursday that divestments made to rescue the heavy engineering firm, combined with slow sales at the start of the year, caused a 24% drop in sales in the nine months to end-December.

Alstom's revenue in the April to December period was EUR9.71 billion, down from a reported 12.85 billion a year earlier.

On a pro-forma basis, excluding the sale of its energy transmission and distribution unit, as well as its industrial turbines business, its revenue fell 8% in the nine months.

Orders for Alstom's ships, trains and power generation equipment were nearly stable at EUR12.21 billion, compared with EUR12.09 billion, or up compared with EUR9.49 billion on a pro-forma basis.

Revenue in the October to December period, Alstom's third quarter, rose 3.1% to EUR3.3 billion from EUR3.2 billion on a comparable basis a year earlier as transport sales remained strong, offsetting low sales of power generation equipment, Alstom said.

Orders in the third quarter fell 3% to EUR3.85 billion from EUR3.97 billion on a comparable basis, as a drop in power orders offset an increase in transport orders, Alstom said.

Alstom confirmed it expects to take in between EUR15 billion and EUR16 billion in orders in the year to end-March, which it said would be higher than the pro- forma figure for a year earlier.

Alstom also said it expects revenue to decline by about 5% in the year to end- March on a pro-forma basis.

Company Web site: