Tufton Oceanic Assets Share Discussion Threads

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 08:37

FRANKFURT (AFX) - ThyssenKrupp AG and One Equity Partners (OEP) are in talks
about combining their respective German naval shipyard operations under one
roof, Handelsblatt reported citing company sources.
OEP owns shipyard Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) and is the private
equity unit of Bank One, which in turn is being bought by JP Morgan Chase Co.
Such a move could be a prelude to the creation of a European shipyard giant
along the lines of European defence giant EADS, Handelsblatt said, particularly
as France's Thales SA and state-owned DCN are also in tie-up talks.
Thales said again yesterday that it wants to play an active role in European
consolidation of the industry. It looked into buying HDW from OEP itself at the
end of last year but was deterred by the price.
scs/jfr

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 08:37

FRANKFURT (AFX) - ThyssenKrupp AG and One Equity Partners (OEP) are in talks
about combining their respective German naval shipyard operations under one
roof, Handelsblatt reported citing company sources.
OEP owns shipyard Howaldtswerke Deutsche Werft (HDW) and is the private
equity unit of Bank One, which in turn is being bought by JP Morgan Chase Co.
Such a move could be a prelude to the creation of a European shipyard giant
along the lines of European defence giant EADS, Handelsblatt said, particularly
as France's Thales SA and state-owned DCN are also in tie-up talks.
Thales said again yesterday that it wants to play an active role in European
consolidation of the industry. It looked into buying HDW from OEP itself at the
end of last year but was deterred by the price.
scs/jfr

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 07:00

all fine

bright and sunny here. Tee shirt weather this afternoon.


will look out for the story.



enjoy your day

[kbass] 16/3/2004 06:49

Fine thanks - and you? I have not tracked down the online link for the article yet, but it will surely be in the Eurpoean press too.

[grupo guitarlumber] 16/3/2004 06:26

cheers kbass. trust you are well.

[kbass] 16/3/2004 02:23

Tiny help may be on the way: the Eurotrain consortium for the core system - that is, rolling stock, power supply, train control system and communications - of the Taiwan High Speed Rail project has been awarded 73 million USD following international arbitration under New York law as a result of THSRC's cancellation of the contract originally signed with Eurotrain and subsequently awarded to the Japanese consortium.

THSRC (the owner) are seemingly debating whether to go to law in Taiwan to seek to have the "foreign" award rendered invalid.

This was in the Taipei Times this morning, I will post the link as soon as the on-line version is published.

[grupo guitarlumber] 15/3/2004 07:22

(Repeating to clarify defence operating income figure in last paragraph)
(Updating with further details on outlook, restructuring charges, divisional
performance, net debt)
PARIS (AFX) - Thales SA said it forecasts a 'significant rise' in results
for 2005 and 2006 after reporting lower-than-expected full year operating profit
after restructuring charges (EBIT) and net profit.
For 2004, Thales said it expects further improvement in operating income,
spurred by a recovery in IT & Services, a favourable trend in defence and a
"solid" performance in Aerospace.
Thales said full year 2003 EBIT rose 11.2 pct to 497 mln eur from 447 mln
eur a year earlier, but was below analysts' forecasts for EBIT of 514-554 mln
eur.
Restructuring costs were higher than expected at 197 mln eur. Analysts had
forecast between 130-150 mln eur.
The company said this was due to accounting in 2003 for "nearly all"
remaining early retirement measures implemented in France as part of its CASA
programme.
Net debt over the year was reduced sharply, to 906 mln eur from 1.320 bln
eur at end-2002.
Net profit totalled 112 mln eur in 2003, up slightly from 111 mln eur a year
earlier, but below a consensus for net profit of 129 mln eur, according to the
JCF Group in Paris.
Net income before amortisation of goodwill, tax and minority interests fell
to 329 mln eur from 391 mln a year earlier.
Operating profit totalled 698 mln eur in 2003, up 16.9 pct from 597 mln eur
a year earlier. Thales also restated the year earlier figure at 662 mln eur, to
exclude one-off provisions for Euromissile.
The company said it plans to pay a dividend of 0.75 eur per share on 2003
results, up 7.1 pct from a year earlier.
For 2004, Thales said it forecasts a modest rise in full year sales at
constant exchange rates.
Thales in February reported full year 2003 sales of 10.588 bln eur, down 4.7
pct from 11.105 bln eur a year earlier, pressured by negative foreign exchange
impacts and the divestment of several businesses.
In its 2003 results statement, Thales highlighted a 16 pct rise in defence
order intake compared to 2002. The overall group order intake was only 2 pct,
negatively impacted by disposals made in the Aerospace and IT & Services
divisions.
The defence division book-to-bill ratio climbed to 1.05 from 0.9 in 2002.
Defence operating income rose to 545 mln eur in 2003 from 482 mln a year
earlier; Aerospace operating income rose to140 mln eur from 126 mln; and IT&S
showed a fall to 37 mln eur from 54 mln.
[e-mail]
dd/lwl/bam/jad/jlw

[grupo guitarlumber] 12/3/2004 14:48

Credit Suisse has just given Alstom, a outperform buy rating with a target of 2.50 euros apparently.

perhaps that the reason for todays rise.

[grupo guitarlumber] 12/3/2004 08:26

BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission will decide by June 21 whether the
French government's bailout package for Alstom complies with EU state aid rules,
EU sources said.
afp/vm/

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/3/2004 14:49

BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission only has an "incidental interest"
in Alstom's renegotiation of its lending covenants with banks, said a
highly-placed source.
Earlier, reports said the commission will "review" the negotiations after
Alstom announced yesterday that the covenants must be renegotiated if lowered
full-year earnings forecasts are confirmed in May.
However, a source said the negotiations are between the banks and Alstom.
"These are of crucial importance for the viability of the company, but they are
between Alstom and the banks."
The source added: "The commission will only review the restructuring plan,
the state intervention and the necessary countermeasures which will have to be
taken to mitigate the effect on competition."
"These might have an impact on the viability because it can affect the cash
flow but they are of incidental interest," added the source.
[e-mail]
ed/cmr

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/3/2004 12:28

Alstom wins Melbourne rail contract
Alstom has won a contract worth 330 million Euros to maintain the infrastructure and fleet of the newly expanded Connex rail network in Melbourne, Australia.

[grupo guitarlumber] 11/3/2004 11:59

LONDON, March 11 (New Ratings) - Analysts at JP Morgan reiterate their "underweight" rating on Alstom (ALSO.PA), while reducing their estimates for the company.

[maywillow] 10/3/2004 20:04

Alstom issues warning over €1.5bn loans
By Martin Arnold in Paris
Published: March 10 2004 10:12 | Last Updated: March 10 2004 18:56


Alstom, the French engineering group, warned on Wednesday it may need to renegotiate €1.5bn ($1.85bn) of bank loans it took out only six months ago because of disappointing annual results, increasing pressure on Philippe Jaffré, chief financial officer, to resign before his contract expires next year.

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/3/2004 17:05

LONDON (AFX) - An Environment Agency (EA) decision to refuse dredging of a
river near Airbus' Broughton factory in north Wales threatens delivery of wings
for the company's A380 'super jumbo', according to a Labour Member of
Parliament.
The first shipment of the wings is scheduled to be transported down the
River Dee in late spring to the Airbus headquarters in Tolouse, France.
However, the EA has refused to allow dredging of a channel at the Port of
Mostyn -- which would allow the cargo ship to load the wings -- because of a
threat to local wildlife.
Local Labour MP Mark Tami called on Prime Minister Tony Blair to throw his
weight behind the campaign to reverse the EA's decision, claiming it would
"effectively stop the exporting of the A380 wings".
"Can he assure me that this... project will not be endangered and that this
decision will be reversed in the public interest," he said.
Speaking during Prime Minister's questions, Blair said the project is "vital
to the local economy and for thousands of highly skilled jobs".
"I hope very much we can resolve this matter satisfactorily over the coming
period of time because obviously it is important for the workforce and of course
for the future of a very important industry," Blair said.
A spokesman for Tami said the project could create up to 6,000 jobs at
Broughton.
He said a decision could be overturned only jointly by the UK government and
Welsh Assembly if both decide it is in the national economic interest.
Deputy Prime Minister John Prescott visited the factory last week and told
the company that the dredging would take place, Tami's spokesman added.
The problem has been exacerbated by Peninsular & Oriental Steam Navigation
Co's decision to close its loss-making Mostyn-to-Dublin service because of
dredging problems.
It was unable to keep a scheduled service as the port could not carry out
maintenance dredging of the navigation channel, Tami's spokesman said.
He said P&O's ferries cut a natural channel out of the port, but once the
service stops a new one would have to be created artificially to take the Airbus
cargo ship.
That vessel will be carrying fuselage sections built at the Airbus plant in
Hamburg.
Airbus is owned 80 pct by the European Aeronautic Defence and Space Co NV
(EADS) and 20 pct by BAE Systems PLC.
fp/ak

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/3/2004 10:35

Alstom May Renegotiate Loans as Profitability Slides (Update2)
March 10 (Bloomberg) -- Alstom SA, the French engineering company rescued from near bankruptcy last year, said it may have to renegotiate its loan agreements because profitability will probably be lower than expected. The stock plunged 18 percent.

[grupo guitarlumber] 10/3/2004 09:01

(Updating with details of restructuring charges)
PARIS (AFX) - Alstom warned it will have to renegotiate its lending
covenants with banks if lowered full-year earnings forecasts it announced this
morning are confirmed in May.
The company said it now expects the operating margin for the full year to
March 31 to be "slightly below" the 2-2.5 pct forecast it made in November.
Cash flow for the year is now expected to be between a negative 1.0 bln eur
and a negative 1.2 bln eur,also "slightly below" the previous forecast, Alstom
added.
Alstom will report full year results on May 26.
It said that the adjustment in forecasts, if confirmed, would make it
necessary to renegotiate lending covenants with banks based on EBITDA and
consolidated net worth.
The cut in the operating margin forecast is due largely to additional
charges related to the execution of a boiler plant contract in the US.
The cash flow revision reflects both the expected lower operatingmargin and
increased restructuring charges for the year, Alstom said.
Restructuring charges will be about 650 mln eur, compared to an original
forecast of 450-500 mln, and charges of 300 mln eur are now expected for
2004/2005.
The company said the increased forecast for restructuring costs this year
reflected charges being recorded earlier than expected.
Alstom also said it won two new orders worth a total of over 1 bln eur and
said it may now exceed its forecast for the full yearof new orders of 15 bln
eur.
The company said it won an order worth 675 mln eur to extend a steam power
plant in Saudi Arabia and a 330 mln eur train maintenance contract in Melbourne
Australia.
[e-mail]
jad/jms

[grupo guitarlumber] 08/3/2004 17:12

BRUSSELS (AFX) - The European Commission is taking an even tougher line in
its state aid reforms in a move which could hinder the French government's
restructuring efforts in the cases of France Telecom SA and Alstom, but will
enter into force too late to be applied to Bull, EU sources said.
According to the latest version of the commission's restructuring and rescue
aid guidelines, obtained by AFX News, the commission wants to make companies
facing difficulties contribute a higher amount towards restructuring efforts.
An EU source said the commission is "tightening the screws" on governments
which try to bail out inefficient companies by offering endless subsidies. "The
subsidy culture has to stop," said the source.
Previously, the commission had planned to make companies contribute at least
35 pct of the total restructuring cost. However, the latest version of the
guidelines shows that the commission wants a minimum contribution of 50 pct.
"Such contributionis a sign that the markets believe in the feasibility of
the return to viability...Generally, large undertakings would be expected to
contribute at least 50 pct," said the latest version.
Sources said the commission is increasingly concerned by the bailouts being
offered by governments to keep their national companies afloat. Its decision to
tighten the rules follows the cases with France Telecom, Bull, Alstom and
Germany's Bankgesellschaft.
The commission also plans to put an end to astring of bailouts to one
company after the French government gave Bull a restructuring package, a rescue
loan and now plans to offer a restructuring package to help the company pay back
the rescue loan.
At present, governments are not allowedto grant a second batch of
restructuring aid to a company for up to ten years. The French government was
thus allowed to give Bull a rescue loan during the ten year period.
The commission decided following the rescue loan to Bull last year that it
has to ban rescue loans too during the ten year embargo period. Commission
officials said there was a danger that other companies would keep coming back
for more financing.
Now, following this latest turn in the Bull case, the commission wants to
ban restructuring loans for up to 10 years after a rescue loan is given. It will
also ban the granting of more than one rescue loan within a ten year period.
Lawyers said the commission's current guidelines on rescue and restructuring
aid are general and allow governments a lot of leeway in their refinancing of
companies in difficulty.
Bertold Baer-Bouyssiere, partner at Coudert Brothers, said: "It will be more
difficult for companies to qualify for restructuring aid. The European
Commission may have had the impression, rightly or wrongly, that in the past
many companies did not return to viability despite restructuring aid."
The new guidelines will be adopted by the commission in October.
[e-mail]
ed/jkm/

[grupo guitarlumber] 04/3/2004 22:46

2.28 euros

[grupo guitarlumber] 04/3/2004 11:05

Spanish state rail firm Red Nacional de Ferrocariles Espanoles (Renfe) said yesterday it has awarded contracts worth 1.6-billion euros ($2.6-billion Canadian) to Bombardier Inc., Siemens AG and Spain's Patentes Talgo SA.