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Sunday, 22 December 2024
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European Business News (96-06-26)European Business News (EBN) Directory - Previous Article - Next ArticleFrom: The European Business News Server at <http://www.ebn.co.uk/>Page last updated June 26 14:20 CETCONTENTS
[01] EU aims to force BA and American Airlines to reveal plansSenior European Union Commission officials are meeting in Brussels to complete legislation that would force British Airways PLC and AMR Corp.'s American Airlines to formally present the details of their planned alliance for scrutiny, EU sources said.The sources said the unusual move was being taken because ''we believe the companies won't notify us otherwise.'' The move is likely to be approved by EU commissioners at their July 3 meeting, the sources said. [02] Clinton vows to punish terroristsPresident Clinton, vowing to make terrorists pay for attacks on Americans overseas, has dispatched an FBI team to help investigate the truck bombing of a U.S. military facility in Saudi Arabia.'The cowards who committed this murderous act must not go unpunished,' Clinton declared Tuesday. Twenty-three Americans were killed and more than 300 were injured in the blast at Khobar Towers, which houses U.S. servicemen based at Abdul Aziz Air Base near Dhahran. Several buildings in the housing complex were reported damaged when a fuel truck exploded outside a fence around the compound. [03] Air France's losses slip further....but record first operating profits in 7 yearsAir France said Wednesday its net loss was 2.873 billion francs for the fiscal year ending March 31, 1996, compared with a 467 million franc loss in the year-earlier period.The company said that its operating profit for 1995/1996 was 413 million francs compared with a loss of 902 million francs in the year ago period. Air France said this is the first operating profit since 1989. The net loss includes restructuring provisions of 1.995 billion francs, including 630 million france for a voluntary severance packages for cabin crews and 1.365 billion francs for labor measures related to ground staff. [04] VW suspends investment plansAs widely expected the European Union Commission said Wednesday that 240 million Deutsche marks of a 779.8 million mark aid package for Germany's Volkswagen AG was illegal.The Commission was due to take this decision at its meeting last Tuesday in Strasbourg but following intervention from the Commission's regional affairs commissioner, Monica Wulf-Mathies, agreed to postpone the decision for one week. The aid is meant to support investment at two Volkswagen plans in eastern Germany. The state subsidy package is designed to back up investment by Volkswagen totalling some 2.9 billion marks in the two plants. In a statement the Commission said it could only approve 539 million marks as the remainder 'is not strictly necessary' to boost regional development in eastern Germany. [05] British Energy valued at nearly $3 billion dollarsThe U.K. government has set the valuation of its soon-to-be-privatized British Energy nuclear-power company at 100 pence a share for U.K. investors and 105 pence for international investors.With an international indicative price range between 180 pence and 280 pence a share, the company is expected to have a market capitalization between 1.26 and 1.96 billion pounds. [06] Microsoft and Nintendo in joint internet ventureJapanese video game maker Nintendo Co., U.S. software company Microsoft Co. and Nomura Research Institute Ltd. said Wednesday their planned joint venture would provide information and entertainment services in Japan using existing satellite television tuners.The venture will be set up in the fourth quarter of 1996 and services will begin in mid-1997, the companies said in a statement released shortly before a news conference attended by top company executives. The companies will initially invest a total of 1.0 billion yen in the venture, they said. Nintendo will hold 40% and Microsoft and Nomura Research, a research arm of Nomura Securities Co., 30% each. [07] EU forces Deutsche Telekom to revise pricing planThe European Union (E.U.) Commission reached agreement with the German government on a corporate pricing policy for state telecommunications operator Deutsche Telekom AG.Having previously opposed the pricing policy, the commission said the fact that Deutsche Telekom agreed to substantially modify the arrangement led it to reverse its position. Under Deutsche Telekom's original plan, the discount pricing policy for big corporate clients was to apply retroactively to Jan. 1. The rate-cutting scheme received German regulatory approval in February. But the move sparked protests in Brussels from all the major competitors of Deutsche Telekom, including Germany's diversified utilities group Viag AG and diversified engineering and telecoms group Mannesmann AG. [08] Prudential set to list Mercantile and General on marketPrudential Corp. PLC said it intends to list reinsurance subsidiary Mercantile & General on the stock market.Prudential said Mercantile & General made a pretax profit of 196 million pounds in 1995, up 13% on the year, with capital and reserves of 1.12 billion pounds. Working with investment bank Goldmans Sachs International, Prudential plans to list the group later in the year, subject to market conditions. Mercantile & General is one of the world's ten largest reinsurers, predominantly focused on life and health reinsurance where it occupies leadership positions in a number of markets, Prudential said, adding that it has clients in more than 100 countries and a worldwide network of 27 offices. 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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