Europe Intelligence Wire articles from September 2004

Europe Intelligence Wire archives from September 2004

Financial directions - FDs unsure about whether to go offshore.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Obtaining better visibility of data will remain the primary concern of 69% of finance directors over the next 18 months, according to the findings of a white paper published by Burns e-Commerce, Outsourcing the...

Corporate governance - When Danger Looms.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Tom Berry. According to Ken McGee, a research fellow at IT analyst Gartner and author of Heads Up (Harvard Business School Press, $29.95), all businesses suffer from a disease he calls 'surprise'....

Editor's letter - If this doesn't cap it all.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) It's tempting for us to say that the best thing about the Office of Fair Trading's recent report on the competition implications of a cap on auditor liability is their source of data: large tracts of their report...

On the move - British Land gets the Abbey habit.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Rick Medlock has been appointed CFO and director of Inmarsat. Medlock joins from NDS Group, where he served as CFO and company secretary. He is currently a non-exec director of Mondiale Publishing. Lloyd's,...

Insight - The Private Angle.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Richard Willsher. Mergers and acquisitions used to be the almost exclusive preserve of the corporate sector. But recent data from JP Morgan reveals that private equity buyers accounted for 10% of such...

Insight interview - The Human Touch.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Tom Berry. When companies claim that 'people are our greatest asset' you can be forgiven for assuming that a certain amount of lip service is being paid. But softer skills such as internal...

Insight - What's the Formula.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Richard Willsher. In the quest for higher returns against the backdrop of flat equity markets, pension fund managers are turning to hedge funds in increasing numbers. Consultants Watson Wyatt and...

It's back to school time.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Peter Williams. The European Commission has named 1 January 2005 as the day that Europe's 7,000 stock exchange-listed companies will have to adopt international accounting standards (IASs) for their...

Ahead of risk or a head of risk?
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Robert Bruce. Do you have a chief risk officer in your organisation? That is precisely the question that institutional investors, analysts and stakeholders want answered. They want assurances that you...

Claim of shame.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Employers have historically been protected from claims by former employees for unfair dismissal on hard-to-define matters such as personal humiliation, injury to feelings or distress. However, a white paper has...

A letter from Canada.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Tom Berry. Press trips hosted by technology companies - especially American software companies - are usually formulaic affairs. Journalists are flown half-way around the world in business class, are...

Brown polishes his Golden Rule.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Dennis Turner. A general election must be in the offing. Both major political parties are trying to outbid each other with the savings they claim can be made from civil service job cuts and public...

Positive outlook.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) A Fortis bank survey of 1,500 business in 10 countries finds that the strongest economic optimism in the EU comes from Poland and the UK, with UK respondents particularly optimistic about the economic impact of...

The Financial Director interview - The Guv'nors.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Ken Lever (Tomkins): There are many, many issues if you look back over the past three or four years, in terms of the changing role of the finance director. The one I want to highlight is the increasing complexity...

Cover story - Sarboxing Clever.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Sarah Perrin. Could there be a silver lining hidden within the burden of Sarbanes-Oxley compliance? UK companies affected by it are looking hard to find an upside to the extra costs the US legislation...

AGMs - Stand and Deliver.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Malcolm Wheatley. Tesco's annual general meeting on 18 June should have been an occasion for celebration. Another record year had seen the group's profits reach GBP1.6bn, and the present financial...

Briefing - M&A - How post-merger disposals alleviate competition fears.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) The Competition Commission is proposing new guidelines for divestiture remedies in merger inquiries referred to by the Office of Fair Trading. A consultation document, Application of Divestiture Remedies in...

Briefing - Contracts - Legal tips on negotiating contracts for IT projects.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) IT projects often go wrong because of badly negotiated, poorly worded contracts and weak project management teams. The following briefing, based on the advice of Kiran Sandford, partner in the IT group of law firm...

Briefing - Business model - Virgin Mobile IPO and Branson 'risk'.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) The Virgin Mobile listing particulars shed light on the operation of a 'virtual' network operator and its relationship with the parent Virgin Group, which owns 75% of the phone operator following its flotation on...

Financial directions - Ignoring risks is a risky business.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Some 21% of investment professionals believe that property-related hazards are a "top business risk" to the companies they analyse or invest in, compared with non property-related hazards. However, the reverse...

Financial directions - A little bit of IT knowledge can be a very costly thing.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Failure to fall The number of private companies that failed during Q2 2004 fell by more than 12% compared with the previous year, according to Experian. A total of 4,118 companies failed during the last...

Financial directions - Financial bites.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) "Clearly it was the elephant in the room for our customers." PeopleSoft president and CEO Craig Conway in a statement to shareholders about the impact of Oracle's proposed takeover of the company, 28 July...

Financial directions - Europe on road to economic recovery.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Graeme Johnston. Economic background Some leading economic indicators have started to turn down, but they suggest nothing more than a cooling in the pace of the global recovery. There is a modest...

Financial directions - Interest rates.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) A second successive monthly rise in UK interest rates at the start of June was a sideshow as far as global securities markets were concerned. The main event was the decision on US interest rates from the Federal...

Extraordinary Items.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Last month we ran this pic of South Staffordshire Water FD Adrian Page and chairman David Sankey doing something very PR-ish at the company's recent results meeting and we asked you for some caption ideas. Here...

Extraordinary Items - Job doesn't suit FD at Lastminute.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Rackspace, an IT company whose services are far too boring to detail here, recently advertised for a qualified management accountant. The ad says the successful candidate will "fit in" and "add character to an...

Extraordinary Items - A penny off 10 trillion.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) We love the way Whitehall departments prepare for every eventuality - except the possible outbreak of common sense. The Office of Government Commerce (OGC) is trying to get its CASS project off the ground. CASS...

Extraordinary Items - Gimme, gimme, gimme.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Great things AGMs - and over the years we've been to a few crackers. Back in the 1980s, one of our team attended a Fisons AGM, at which one private shareholder praised the management for the Gro-Bag but lamented...

Extraordinary Items - I'm right, we're wrong.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) According to work conducted by Capgemini, one in four business decisions made by senior executives is wrong. The consultancy has analysed the work of 270 top decision-makers and found that they make 20...

Decisions - Accounting standards - Opt to Adopt.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) The switch from reporting under UK GAAP to international accounting standards after 1 January 2005 has several implications for the accounts of listed companies and the financial software packages they use to...

Decisions - Business intelligence - Made to Measure.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Peter Bartram. Some companies are so caught up in the thrill of making accurate measurements of corporate minutiae that they're losing sight of the big picture. That's the message from a new report by...

Decisions - Deals - Dawn of the New Data.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Today's generation of business intelligence software applications claim to turn data into useful information. But can BI tools really reflect essential work-a-day truths about the organisation, what it has done...

Decisions - Case study: Sarbanes-Oxley - The Dotted Line.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Public companies across Europe and the US are devoting a substantial amount of energy and resources to comply with Sarbanes-Oxley, a ruling which forces CEOs and FDs to sign off accounts personally and makes them...

Procurement - Fits the Bill.
September 1, 2004... (From Financial Director) Byline: Ben King. According to a recent survey of more than 1,000 companies by the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales, 12% of companies have experienced a 'business critical failure' of...

Salvors jostle for Hyundai No105 job.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Marcus Hand in Singapore THE world's top salvors are lining up for up the massive wreck removal of the car carrier Hyundai No105 from the Singapore Strait. The 12,899 dwt Hyundai No105, operated by Eukor,...

Rotterdam boss Scholten quits in loan scandal.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: €100m guarantees row may force port shake-up, writes Helen Hill WILLEM Scholten, chief executive of the Port of Rotterdam for the last 12 years, has been forced to resign and an investigation has been...

Keppel enjoys bulker boost as China's berths overflow.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Marcus Hand in Singapore KEPPEL Shipyard in Singapore says it has seen a boost in bulk carrier repairs this year as owners cannot afford to wait for docking space at already full Chinese yards. ...

Neptune Orient board urges backers to reject Temasek bid.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Adviser HSBC says shareholders confident of NOL's long-term prospects should sit tight, writes Marcus Hand in Singapore THE directors of Neptune Orient Lines have recommended that shareholders should remain...

Wartsila sells high-speed licences.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Hugh O'Mahony MARINE engine major Wartsila Corporation has offloaded production rights for two of its high-speed products, in a sale the company said would allow it to cut costs further and benefit from a...

Anek posts first-half loss despite efforts to restructure debt.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Nigel Lowry in Athens GREEK ferry company Anek Lines has stumbled to a first-half loss despite lifting revenues and the positive effects of a recent debt restructuring. The Crete-based operator reported...

Lund brings in new blood in major Statoil shake-up.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Martyn Wingrove STATOIL'S new chief executive Helge Lund has immediately got down to business, putting in place one of the company's largest ever management shake-ups. Mr Lund, who was poached from Aker...

Fleet growth drives strong TOP Tankers performance.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Tony Gray SHARES in recently listed TOP Tankers were hoisted to new highs after strong second quarter and first-half results. And TOP Tankers has also taken delivery of the seventh of 10 tankers the...

Panama Canal seeks to change its charging method for deck boxes.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Fully-laden transit fees 'could rise 100%', writes Rainbow Nelson in Panama City THE Panama Canal Authority (ACP) has opened talks with container lines to change the way it charges for boxes stored on deck....

Hamburg S'd forecasts 30% growth in liner division.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Increase in addition to 2003 growth, writes Herbert Fromme HAMBURG S'd, the German shipping company controlled by the food-to-transport conglomerate Oetker, expects its liner operations to grow by 30% in...

Poland's PZM board rejects Brzezicki dismissal.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE powerful workers' board of Europe's largest bulk operator, Polish Steamship Company or Polska Zegluga Morska, has refused to accept the government's dismissal of PZM's chief executive, Pawel Brzezicki, writes Herbert...

Supply deal puts Tangguh closer to start line.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Tony Gray THE $3bn BP Tangguh liquefied natural gas project in Indonesia has moved closer to lift off with the finalisation of a second deal to supply South Korea. But problems are pushing back first...

Silver Pearl falls foul of French authorities.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE 1973-built, 5,370 gt freighter Silver Pearl has become the latest ship to fall foul of France's anti-marine pollution campaign, writes Andrew Spurrier in Paris. The owners of the St Vincent and...

Converium review sparks reserves cash call.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Herbert Fromme in Cologne SWISS reinsurer Converium will have to increase its US reserves by a further $50m to $100m following a review conducted by independent actuaries and consultants Tillinghast. The...

Rhenus buys 80% stake in Polta.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) GERMAN logistics and shipping group Rhenus has expanded its activities in eastern Europe, writes Ilse Schlingensiepen in Cologne. The company has acquired an 80% stake in Polish logistics company Polta in Warsaw from...

Panamax fixtures keep hopes alive.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Dry Trade GREEK brokers seem more melancholy than usual at this late stage of the summer as they contemplate not only the end of their holidays but the blowing out of the country's Olympic Games flame at the...

Dry Bulk Fixtures.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) COAL Richards Bay to Rotterdam Heythrop , 150,000t, $$19.35 per tonne, fio scale'25,000t sc, Oct 1-15. (Coeclerici) ORE Ubu to Iskenderen Occam's Razor, 130,000t, $$23.00 per tonne, fio 50,000t sc'25,000t...

Med aframax rates follow Caribbean.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Nigel Lowry in Athens Tankers VOLATILITY is a condition that is most expected of the Caribbean among all of the main aframax tanker trades. Good enough reason, then, for brokers to be heard muttering...

WHO calls for renewed surveillance of pigs as bird flu virus returns.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: John Zarocostas in Geneva THE return of the highly pathogenic avian flu in Asia, and findings of strains of the potentially lethal virus in pigs in parts of China, could spell trouble ahead for the...

Russia to benefit from Iraq turmoil.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THOSE concerned that there will be little respite to disrupted Iraqi oil offers may increasingly turn to Russian oil exports, which could increase by half by 2012, writes Namrata Nadkarni. President Vladimir Putin...

Why you need a weatherman to know which way the wind blows.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Applied Weather Technology, a ship routeing specialist based in California, was recently in the news for opening its first European office in Aberdeen – headed up by top executives recruited from its chief...

Start-up breezes in on Oceanroutes' monopoly.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) APPLIED Weather Technology was founded in California's San Francisco Bay area in 1994 by a core team headed up by its chief executive and senior route analyst, Jung Soo Kang, writes Rajesh Joshi. Mr Kang, a South...

Returning to a place in the maritime sun.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) APPLIED Weather Technology turned to the best possible source to start up the company's first European office in Aberdeen earlier this month – its principal rival. Allen Webb, the newly installed managing...

Tanker Fixtures.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) CLEAN Tallinn to US Atlantic coast Northsea Anvil, 63,000t, W160, Sep 10. (Clearlake Shpg) Baltic to West Africa Dzons Rids, 29,500t, W210, Sep 10. (Trafigura) Black Sea to Greece Siren, 28,000t, W180, Sep...

Opportunity knocks for ships.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) NOW here is a challenge for those who move passengers around by sea! An authoritative poll, strategically undertaken in the wake of the Bank Holiday in the UK, and British Airways' lamentable performance last week,...

Norway signs up to oil spill protocol.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Aware that its northern coast in particular is vulnerable to oil casualties, the country has committed to a supplementary tier of compensation, writes Sandra Speares NORWAY'S signing of the new protocol for a...

Dutch law upheld in liability case.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE NETHERLANDS' attractiveness as a jurisdiction to hear liability cases appears to be confirmed by a recent judgment in Groningen following from a collision between a German and a Dutch fishing vessel in June. The...

Electronic age challenges tradition of disclosure.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Sandra Speares WITH the massive growth of the use of electronic documents lawyers are presented with a 'real challenge' as far as disclosure is concerned, according to Sarah Phillip of Richards Butler. ...

US district court finds admiralty law takes precedence over state statute.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: DeRossi loses claim relating to marine insurance contract, writes Sandra Speares IF a conflict occurs between a state statute and judicially established admiralty law the admiralty law takes precedence, a US...

UN issues warning on Barents Sea risk.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) RUSSIAN legislation relating to oil spills is 'discrepant and does not provide strict control over the responsibility for oil pollution or effective measures to prevent and respond to oil spills' a new report from the...

IMO scheme bolsters fight against substandard shipping.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) INTERNATIONAL Maritime Organization secretary-general Efthimios Mitropoulos says he is encouraged by the enthusiastic response to the development of the IMO's Voluntary Member State Audit Scheme. The IMO is...

Cyprus is proud to fly flag of European Union.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) ACCESSION to the European Union is expected to give the Cyprus shipping industry and the island's register a major boost. 'Cyprus has the third largest fleet within the European Union with 17% of the combined fleet...

Quality remains the top priority for Barbados.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) SINCE restructuring two years ago under the new quality standard ISO 9001:2000, the Barbados Maritime Ship Register's focus has been fixed on the quality of the ships on the register and the manner in which the ships are...

Marshall Islands triples fleet size in four years.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE Marshall Islands Registry, which exceeded the 20m gt mark earlier this year, has tripled the size of its fleet in the space of four years. Latest figures show that more than 720 vessels totalling 22m gt flying...

Quality open registers are usually cost-effective, says head of LSC.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) OPPONENTS of open registers fail to recognise that quality open registers are cost-effective, not inexpensive, says Joseph Ludwiczak, general secretary of the Liberian Shipowners' Council. 'Quality open registers are...

Genuine link call may end owners' right to choose.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Liberia warns that the open register shipping system is threatened by the ITF's campaign against FoCs, writes Felicity Landon THREATS to the open register shipping system are escalating, despite the fact...

Belgian flag back from the brink as owners welcome changes.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) A YEAR ago, the total deadweight tonnage of vessels under the Belgian flag was 'almost nil'. But since the relaunch of the Belgian register under a new fiscal regime approved by the European Union, the fleet now stands...

ITF campaign against FoCs reaps improved standards.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE International Transport Workers' Federation campaign against flags of convenience was launched in 1948. While the political campaign has not so far succeeded in preventing a constant growth in ships using open...

'Our goal is to benefit all flags' says Bahamas.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE move towards goal-based standards for ship construction, championed by the Bahamas Maritime Authority, will benefit all ship registers, according to the authority's deputy director, Doug Bell. 'What tends to...

Cost of shipping fails to nip forest products sector growth in the bud.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: John Zarocostas in Geneva BUOYED by record housing starts in the US and strong import demand by China and Japan, the forest products markets rose to new records in 2003 and is projected to continue on a...

Hong Kong has eye for figures but client satisfaction is just as vital.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) THE Hong Kong Shipping Register has seen significant growth this year, but says that numbers are not the most important thing. 'The figure target is not essential for HKSR. We want the clients to enjoy our services....

World Briefing.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Bombs hit Israel BOMB blasts ripped through two buses in the southern Israeli city of Beersheba, killing at least 12 people, in attacks claimed by Hamas. The bombings broke a five-month lull in such violence in...

Last Word.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Where there's Muck... SCOTTISH transport minister Nicol Stephen was on hand yesterday for the opening of new terminals at Muck, Rum and Eigg, which are expected to boost transport services to the Hebridean islands....

Volgotanker wins $120m Austrian river-sea lifeline.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Byline: Bank financing will help tanker operator reduce its dependence on former parent and renew fleet, writes Hugh O'Mahony VOLGOTANKER has secured the largest amount of financing ever to be obtained by a Russian...

COCKETT BUNKER MARKET REPORT.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) Compiled for Lloyd's List by Cockett Marine Oil Ltd August 25, 2004 PRICES are current and based on live, average sized, bunker deals. The Cockett Bunker Price Index is based on 1000 as of January 1 1986....

BUNKER QUALITY REPORT - August 19, 2004.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) BUNKER QUALITY REPORT - August 19, 2004 U'F = unfilterable This Bunker Quality Report is based on samples analysed by DNV Petroleum Services and is an abstract from their more detailed fuel quality statistics...

Gas Market Report.
September 1, 2004... (From Lloyds List) NORTHWEST EUROPE: The large propane market appears to have stalled with weakening crude and imminent monthly pricing along with a lack of buying interest after recent deals. A buyer for 9-10 kts was taken out at $440 at...

FinMin to Place BGN 52m State Securities Oct.
September 1, 2004... (From PARI Daily) Byline: Todor TODOROV BULGARIA'S finance ministry will place BGN 52 million worth of state securities on the internal market in October, according to its agenda for the month. The sum will be divided into three...

Registration of Farmers' Organisations Facilitated.
September 1, 2004... (From PARI Daily) Byline: Valentin GEORGIEV THE REGISTRATION of farmers' organisations in Bulgaria will be relieved after the ministry of agriculture changes the statutory regulations related to the criteria for recognition of...

Teleprocessing Systems AD Gets Delisted.
September 1, 2004... (From PARI Daily) TELEPROCESSING Systems of Veliko Tarnovo, northern Bulgaria, will vote the decision of the Commission for Financial Supervision on the company's delisting from the Public Register at its general shareholders' meeting on...