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Wednesday, 24 April 2024
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European Business News (96-06-13)European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The European Business News Server at <http://www.ebn.co.uk/>Page last updated June 13 11:00 CETCONTENTS
[01] UK annual inflation reaches record lowBritain's retail price index rose 0.2% in May from April and was up 2.2% on the year, the lowest annual rate since September 1994, the Office for National Statistics (ONS) said Thursday.The underlying index, which excludes mortgage interest payments, rose 0.3% on the month and was up 2.8% from a year earlier. The result is below economists' median forecast for year-on-year retail price inflation of 2.3%, while underlying inflation matches expectations of a 2.8% rise. The government has committed itself to holding underlying inflation below 2.5% from the spring of 1997. [02] Circuits and ceramics boost Johnson Matthey's profitJohnson Matthey PLC, a specialty engineering manufacturer, said pretax profit for the year to March 31 rose 7% to 102.2 million pounds on strong performances in its electronic materials division and the Cookson Matthey Ceramics joint venture.The electronics materials division raised operating profit 36% to 25.5 million pounds despite incurring development losses of 2.2 million pounds in the Semiconductor Packages business, Johnson Matthey said. It added that the Semiconductor Packages business isn't expected to become profitable until the second half of 1996/97 when the manufacturing operations acquired from Cray Research Inc. become fully operational. [03] Daewoo casts a glance in Thomson Multimedia's directionDaewoo Electronics Co. of South Korea, which is opening a television-tube plant in Eastern France today, said it would like a chance to take over Thomson Multimedia, the state-controlled French company that is a global leader in television sales.Such an acquisition, while only in the talking stages, could propel Daewoo Electronics, a listed subsidiary of Daewoo Group, into global leadership in consumer electronics. Daewoo already has television factories in France, Poland and Mexico, in addition to Korea. It has been investing heavily in recent years to expand its consumer-electronics business world-wide, initiating ventures in markets such as India and Egypt. Thomson dominates the U.S. television market, and is one of the largest television makers in Europe. Daewoo, the third-largest electronics firm in Korea, already supplies components to Thomson. [04] Belgium BBL to increase stake in MC SecuritiesBanque Bruxelles Lambert will increase its stake in its MC Securities affiliate by taking 51% of its Eastern European operations and 100% of its Western European capital-market and advisory operations, the two companies said, according to Thursday's Wall Street Journal Europe.In a complex series of maneuvers aimed at strengthening BBL's investment- banking capabilities across Europe, BBL will take 51% in a new holding company, MC-BBL Eastern Holdings, set up to control MC Securities's operations in Russia, Poland and the Czech Republic. Details of BBL's investment weren't revealed, but the two companies said MC- BBL Eastern Holdings will, in turn, own 49% of Czech brokerage Patria Finance, 60% of a group of Russian operations including Moscow-based United City Bank, and 52% of Warsaw-based investment banking company MC Concordia. [05] Spanish inflation up 0.3% in MaySpain's May consumer price index (CPI) was up 3.8% in the year to May compared to a 3.5% rise in the year to April, the National Statistics Institute said Thursday.On a monthly basis, it said the CPI was up 0.3% in May from April compared to a 0.6% gain in April from March. [06] Swedish inflation hits record lowSweden's consumer price index dropped 0.1% in May from April, according to figures released Thursday by national statistics agency SCB.The monthly drop was in line with forecasts, and it brought the Swedish annual inflation rate down to 1.0% in the month, the lowest level recorded in Sweden since 1959. At 1.0%, inflation in Sweden is now at the lower end of the Riksbank, or central bank, monetary policy range, which targets inflation at 2.0% with a one percentage point variation allowed on either side. [07] Elf targets Russian oil field with joint ventureFrance's Elf Aquitaine SA, Finland's Neste and Komitek, a state-owned Russian oil company set up a joint company to develop and produce oil in the Shapkino fields, Elf said Thursday.Financial terms of the deal weren't disclosed. Elf will hold 30%, Komitek 50% and Neste 20%. The company will be based in Usinsk in the Komi Republic. The Shapkino fields are 2,000 kilometers northeast of Moscow near the Barents Sea. [08] Stork set to take over Fokker AviationDutch industrial machinery group Stork NV is expected to take over Fokker Aviation BV, the surviving part of the Dutch aircraft manufacturer that went bankrupt in March, the Dutch newspaper Algemeen Dagblad reported.In March, Stork said it was interested in participating in a possible bailout scenario for ailing Dutch aircraft maker Fokker NV. Speaking at Stork's annual press conference, Stork Chairman Jan Hovers said Fokker's aircraft building activities were ''interesting'' because its aerospace technology can be used in other industries as well. From the European Business News (EBN) Server at http://www.ebn.co.uk/European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next Article |
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