CORPORATE NEWS
ALSTOM has signed with Dutch utility Essent a series of contracts worth up to € 1bn for the repowering of Claus B and the construction of Claus C, resulting in a 1,280 MW GT26-based combined-cycle power plant. The Claus power plant is located in Maasbracht, south east of the Netherlands and these contracts include in addition a long-term operation support and maintenance agreement. These orders should be booked in the second half of fiscal year 2008/09
TOTAL announced the discovery of a new gas and condensate field in the Alwyn Area of the Northern North Sea, close to the Jura field that recently came on stream. The field, to be known as Islay, lies in block 3/15 of the UK sector of the North Sea, some 440 kilometres (275 miles) north-east of Aberdeen, in a water depth of 120 metres. The discovery well was drilled to a depth of more than 4,000 metres into the Brent reservoir and during testing it has produced 1.22 million cubic metres of gas per day or 8,800 barrels of oil equivalent per day including condensates.
AREVA was awarded six contracts totaling € 45mn by Brazilian utility Electronuclear to carry out extensive service works on the Angra 1 and 2 nuclear power plants. The group will carry out, in a three to five year contract which comprises key service needs for a nuclear reactor in operation, examination and maintenance operations on Angra 2 mechanical and electrical main components. AREVA already provides services to both Angra plants and together with Electonuclear, has been performing the yearly outages for Angra 2 since its connection to the grid in 2001.
RENAULT Group celebrated 1 million Logan sold worldwide
AIR FRANCE-KLM was fined USD 350mn by the US Department of Justice for price-fixing charges on fret activities between 2001 and 2006
On his first official visit to Israel, President Nicolas SARKOZY reaffirmed France’s friendship with Israel and declared at a speech at Knesset, Israel’s Parliament, the necessity for a Palestinian state with Jerusalem as shared capital.
Following concerns brought about by inflationary pressure and record oil prices, the European Central Bank is expected to announce in July rates up to 4.25% from the currrent 4%
Government announced the modernisation of the French Army with an estimated 54 000 staff cut expected to start next year. Intelligence activities will be developed and reinforced along with new military equipment. Concerns arose nationwide in several cities where army staff and their families account for up to 1/5 of the population. Government plans to set up subsidies for cities that would be affected the most by the departure of entire garrisons were met with skepticism.
FRANCE ranked first INVESTOR inside the EU 27 in 2007 with €125bn followed by Germany €71bn and Italy € 64bn according to Eurostat figures. On the same period, the main recipients of investments from other Member States were France €86 bn, the Netherlands €67 bn and the United Kingdom €49 bn.
The US Government Accountability Office (GAO) announced that it has sustained the Boeing Company’s protest of the Department of the Air Force’s award of a contract to EADS Northrop Grumman Systems Corporation for KC-X aerial refueling tankers worth USD 40bn in March. In a 69 page decision, the Agency recommends that the Air Force reopens the bid process following Boeing challenge regarding the Air Force’s technical and cost evaluations, conduct of discussions, and source selection décision. GAO’s managing associate general counsel for procurent law stated that the "Air Force had made a number of significant errors that could have affected the outcome of what was a close competition between Boeing and Northrop Grumman".
EU 27 FOREIGN DIRECT INVESTMENT increased + 53% in 2007 from € 275bn in 2006 to € 420bn. FDI into the EU27 from the rest of the world rose +89%, from €169bn to €319bn. Intra-EU27 FDI flows rose + 13% compared with 2006. In 2007, the EU27 invested €113bn in the USA and € 58bn in Canada, (€79bn and €30bn respectively in 2006). EU27 investments in Offshore financial centres rose from € 50bn to €84bn. Investments grew also in Switzerland (from €23 bn to €34 bn), Russia (from €11 bn to €17 bn) and India (from €3 bn to €11 bn). The USA invested €145bn in the EU27 in 2007, compared with €74bn in 2006. Investments in the EU27 from Offshore financial centres (from € 30bn to €98 bn), Switzerland (from €18 bn to €29 bn), Japan (from €14 bn to €18 bn) and India (from €1 bn to €10 bn) also increased, while Canadian investment remained stable at €9 bn. EU27 FDI flows with China (excluding Hong Kong) remained modest in 2007, with EU27 investment of € 2bn in China and Chinese investment of € 1 bn in the EU27
Property developers announced up to 15% rebates on new apartments put up for sale on the Internet as the real estate sector recorded another slow down triggered by the credit crunch affecting potential buyers. Other buyer incentives included pre-installed kitchen with modern appliances. Stocks beat the 1992 record high of 105 000 unsold apartments on the market. Vente-privée.com, logisneuf.com or bouygues-immo.com were among developers offering incentives
Household SAVINGS rate in the Euro area fell to 13.8% in Q3/07 compared with 14% in Q2/07 according to Eurostat figures. In 1999 and 2002,similar declines occurred
FRANCE's GDP was revised down for Q1/08 to +0.5% from +0.6% by Insee as a direct result of household consumption stagnation to nil compared with +0.7% in Q4/07 and a slown down in capital formation +0.8% (+1% the previous quarter)
London BRENT CRUDE OIL prices per barrel reached a new record high at USD 140.38 on June 27
EURO area food prices jumped +7.1% in April in one year compared with 3.3% overall inflation according to Eurostat. Milk, cheese and eggs recorded the highest increases +14.9% on the same yearly period along with oil and fats +13.2% fruit, bread and cereals prices each gained +10.7% The months of March and April recorded the steepest increases. Fish and seafood prices soared +7.2% in June 2008, and increased the fastest +47% between 1996 and 2008. Vegetables prices reached a record high in January 2002 +17.5% and jumped +34.4% on the same 1996-2008 period.
GDP grew + 0.8% in Q1/08 compared with the previous quarter, in each the Euro area and the EU 27 according to a Eurostat first estimate (+0.3% in the euro area and +0.5% in the EU27. ) Compared with the first quarter of 2007, seasonally adjusted GDP rose + 2.2% in the Euro area and + 2.5% in the EU27, (+2.1% and +2.5% respectively for the previous quarter). In the US, GDP increased + 0.2% in Q1/08 (+0.1% in the fourth quarter of 2007.) In Japan GDP grew +0.8% in the first quarter, after +0.6% in the previous quarter.
