The End

After each memeber had posted 10 posts, we've decided to quit!
So this is the end of our blog, this was the last week we’ve posted!
Thanks for reading!
The EU-team!

British Gas warns of big price rises in the pipeline

Centrica, the owner of British Gas, positioned itself to take the lead in an anticipated wave of gas and electricity rate rises from energy suppliers after warn-ing yesterday of "challenging conditions" in the wholesale gas markets.

As the UK's leading energy supplier – Centrica has 10 million gas customers and 6 million electricity users – the company is typically the first to increase its rates, providing cover for its smaller rivals which then usually follow suit. Karen Darby, of the price comparison service SimplySwitch, said: "Historically, when one of the big suppliers increases prices, the others are quick to follow." She said that a 15 per cent increase would mean an extra £131 to annual energy bills.

Last winter, wholesale gas was trading at about an average of 37p per therm. That compares with 53p per therm now. The rising price is due to myriad factors, including the highly illiquid European market for natural gas, which has kept prices artificially high. The high oil price, against which many gas prices are indexed, and a cold weather snap are further factors.

Centrica said it had managed to end the year with about 16 million customers despite losing more than 250,000 early in the year after it raised its prices. Analysts expect the company to report a profit of between £1.8bn and £1.9bn when it reveals its annual results in February.

source

(Tom Van thienen)

Airbus may move production to US as euro soars

Airbus, the European plane maker, is considering plans to relocate production to a new plant in Alabama and other parts in the dollar zone because of the effects of the soaring euro.

As the euro rose marginally against the dollar to $1.46 - three cents off its all-time peak - Gallois called for a new G7 meeting devoted to the euro-dollar exchange rate because "there is a deep crisis in a number of industries solely due to the fact that the Americans are carrying out a policy that translates as the endless fall of the dollar."

Tom Enders, Airbus chief executive, said last month on a French radio that the dollar's weakness was "life-threatening" for the plane maker. EADS says that each 10 cent rise in the value of the dollar costs the group €1bn (£712m) in earnings.

EADS sources confirmed that Airbus could set up a new plant in low-cost Mobile, Alabama, in the southern US for the final assembly of civil aircraft - alongside the A330-based air-to-air refuelling plane for the US air force. "But a precondition would be that we win the tanker contract," they said.

EU finance chiefs, meanwhile, confirmed that the bloc faced economic slowdown because of financial turmoil caused by the US sub-prime crisis.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

Big loss for English economy by fail to qualify for Euro 2008

Because England doesn’t succeed to qualify for the Euro 2008 football tournament, the English businesses could miss out 2 billion pound experts said.

Especially sport stores, bookmakers and pub groups are the big losers to feel the financial chill after the defeat by Croatia.

When England participate in a major summer tournament such as the World Cup or the European Championships the economic boosts with 650 million pound according to analysts.

A sport consultant predicted that the total sales of replica shirts could be 100 million pound lower next year.

Bookmakers said that the absence from Euro 2008 would cost at least 250 million pound. They said that a major football tournament without England will be like Christmas without turkey. There simply won’t be the interest levels.

The profit of Umbro, the England Football team’s official kit maker, is expected 15 million pound less. Because they need to give discounts to the England shirts. Last year Umbro sold 4 million shirts, but the poor performances of England under the lead of Steve Mclaren meant that only 1 million shirts have been sold by September.

Profit at Sports Direct, a retailer, is contracted to buy 65% of all England shirts made by Umbro, but has struggled to sell them. They will loose 10 million pound as a results of England’s nonqualification.

TV advertisements revenues could fall by 10 million pound because of the likely lower audience.

source

(Tom Van thienen)

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EU to impose tariffs on China’s products

Europe is to reinforce its tougher line against China by following the US in slapping tariffs on Chinese products that benefit from alleged subsidies.

The EU governments and some industries are supporting the slapping tariffs because the growing trade deficit with China is increasing 20 million $ an hour.

Some ways to achieve that are to ex-officio initiation of investigations.
Another way can be more anti-subsidy actions, for example: let the goods that are coming from China pay more taxes so that they have the same price or even more expensive than our own goods. The EU has avoided so-called “countervailing duties” in the past because by designating China a “non-market economy” it accepts that prices there are not set by free competition, making it hard to put a value on soft loans or benefits given to state-controlled enterprises.

However, Mr Mandelson proposes to use the measure against companies that have received “market” status in previous anti-dumping actions, for which more information is available.

The most sensitive anti-dumping cases have split national governments, often between the
liberal north, dominated by retailers, and the south, which has a strong industrial base.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

Bank holds rates despite further signs that housing boom is over

For the first time in 2.5 years house prices drops 2 months in a row.

This month house prices tumbled by 0.5% after it tumbled 0.6% in the previous month.

However the Bank of England kept rates on hold at 5.75%

A report of Halifax showed that the annual rate of house price inflation dropping back into single figures, to 8.9% from 10.7% the previous month.

If the trend continuous, prices would fall in real terms over the coming year. The growth will be 1.2% per year and that is below the inflation.

The interest from new buyers in purchasing a house fell by 6%.

The recent oil prices, that peaked this weak for the first time over 98 dollar a barrel, highlights the nagging risk of a renewed burst of inflation.

Also the increases of other goods, such as food are reinforcing inflationary worries.

A majority of economist still believe that lower interest rates are coming for next year as an effect off a weakening US economy

Although Britain’s economy grew at a buoyant 3.3 % in the third quarter, inflation in September on the consumer prices index stood at only 1.8%.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

Microsoft caves in to European commission

Microsoft goes agreed with a fine off 497 million euro after 3 year.

Microsoft received the fine after the European commission had discovered that Microsoft accepted swingeing price cuts for interoperability information that would enable rival servers to work smoothly with its Windows operating system.

In the past three years Microsoft received a total of 777.5 million euro plus interest of fines.

Microsoft now hopes that Ms Kroes will not levy further fines for its failure to comply with the 2004 ruling from December 2005 until today. Last week it said in an SEC filing in New York that it was potentially liable to penalties of $1.6bn up to the end of June alone.

Neelie Kroes, EU competition commissioner, said that she hopes that the nine year during battle against the European commission and Microsoft can become to an end and that they can go on in an absolutely close and constructive way.

Agreements that Microsoft strikes with rival developers will be enforceable in London's high court, seen as the premier European court for handling high-profile IPR and international contract cases.

The commission, meanwhile, extended its deadline for its inquiry into Google's $1.5bn purchase of internet advertising broker DoubleClick.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

S&N plotting Russia sale to derail bid

Scottish & Newcastle, Britain’s biggest brewer is planning to thwart Dutch and Danish rivals by refusing a takeover bid from £7,5 billon off Hartwall. Hartwall is the Finnish holding company behind its most valuable asset.

Heineken and Carlsberg who makes the following beers: Foster’s, John Smith’s and Kronenbourg, surprised last week S&N when they announced that they would takeover S&N and split the British brewer between them.

S&N’s board want to defeat the plan by selling 50% of the shares from BBH, its Russian beer business. With the selling of those shares S&N will receive £2,5 billion .

The other 50% shares of BBH are in hands of Carlsberg and they are keen to buy the other half. There will be a complex arrangement with Carlsberg.

According to the analysts a way to unlock the value in BBH is the key to S&N’s survival.

There are also other brewers who are interested such as Anheuser Busch, SAB Miller, the Spanish drinks giant Mahou San Miguel, which has a distribution deal with S&N in Brittain.

However, nobody will make a move until the Carlsberg-led bid is tabled. This is expected within 10 days.

Analysts put the value of BBH at £4.8 billion.

S&N would receive above 800 pound per share for BBH to have any chance of success.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

Turkey fears send oil to record high

The crude oil prices are peaking after concerns that Turkey may soon launch an invasion against northern Iraq in an attempt to hit Turkish militants it accuses of attacking Turkish targets.

Such an attack could destabilize the Kurdistan region, the only relatively peaceful area in Iraq.

Rapidly declining oil inventories in developed countries ahead of the northern hemisphere winter also helped push the price higher.

The previous record for a barrel oil was $83.90 and yesterday the price peaked to $84.05 a barrel. It closed at $83.71 a barrel, up 63 cents on the day.

Iraq pumped about 2.18m barrels a day of crude oil in September, up 190,000 b/d from August.

Turkey is a key route for a crude oil pipeline from the Caspian sea that is forecast to carry about 500,000 b/d of oil by the end of 2007.

The watchdog has asked the Organisation of the Petroleum Exporting Countries (Opec) to boost its supplies to build up inventories. Crude oil and products inventories usually increase in the third quarter, ahead of the winter, but so far they have fallen by 360,000 barrels a day.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

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We present you:

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For people who are not that technological-minded:

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Scroll down and click on "free"
and then you must show that you are valid user!

Insider dealing scandal threatens Airbus

There is a suspect that twenty-one senior executives from Airbus and two large corporate shareholders sold their shares with inside information.

The transactions were reported as “strange, massive and simultaneous”. The shares were sold last year just before the plane-maker announced a huge delay for the A380 and that are the super-jumbo’s.

A preliminary report has been forwarded to a judge by the French financial markets. That judge is investigating possible charges of “insider trading” against those who unloaded their shares.

The Largardère company and DaimlerChrysler each sold 7,5 percent. M. Lagardère is one of France's wealthiest men and a close friend of President Nicolas Sarkozy. DaimlerChrysler is one of the largest shareholders of Airbus.

The previous December the French government was tipped off about the problems.

A day after Airbus announced that their were technical problems with the A380, the share price fell 26,8 percent. There is a report that says that 1200 individuals could have inside knowledge of the problems at Airbus. And they dumped 10 million shares before the official announcement. The profit from this inside information is estimated at 90 million euro.

Everybody who is involved with the situation denied that they used illegal inside knowledge.

A video showing the takeoff and landing of this new master peice by Airbus. The largest airliner the world has ever seen. Source

Source

(Tom Van thienen)

Eurozone growth past peak.

The economic growth in the eurozone is past his peak said the European Commission. Due to financial market turmoil and a weak French performance.

The European Commission estimated a 2,6 percent grow in the eurozone, but at the end it was a growth of 2,5 percent. The growth in the European Union is 2,9 percent.

These results are a bit disappointed because last year the Eurozone had got the fastest growth since the turn of the decade with 2,8 percent and the European Union had 3,0 percent.

The biggest reason for the disappointed results is France. France is the second biggest eurozone economy. The European Commission estimated a growth from 2,4 percent for France, but at the end it was only 1,9 percent.

They warned that chaos on financial market could spill over to the real economy if a slowdown in the United States proves to be worse than expected or if credit conditions for business and consumers worsen sharply.

They expected that the European economy can remain strong thanks to the confident of the consumers, with unemployment falling to levels not seen in Europe since the early 1980s.

Source

(Tom Van thienen)