Volvo taken over by Geely

The die is cast, Volvo Cars is now in the hands of the Chinese company Geely. Earlier, Flemish prime minister Peeters had an appointment with the Swedish company’s CEO Stephen Odell to discuss the approaching contract of sale. Minister Peeters had to make sure the Flemish plants would sustain the overtake.

Previously, Volvo was in possession of the American company Ford. Due to the economic crisis Ford felt the pressure to sell a couple of luxury car makes such as Jaguar and Aston Martin in 2007.

The acquisition of Volvo has never occurred in China, it is the most elaborate overtake ever for a Chinese car constructor. China has one of the most extensive markets all over the world, their voluminous population provides a stable turnover. This gives them the opportunity to address to foreign, western markets as well.

The Belgian plants in Ghent and in Göteborg were pleased to perceive the news. Although Geely is planning on establishing a new plant in China, the ones in Belgium and Sweden will be preserved. Guarantees concerning continuity, productivity and the certainty of employment.

In my prospective this is a good evolvement for Volvo in its entirety but more specific for Ghent and Göteborg as well. If another company took over Volvo, both of the plants in Ghent and Göteborg could be closed. There are already many problems in Belgium concerning unemployment and in plants such as these, a big working environment could be brought to a close.

The Chinese company Geely could breathe life into western markets when it comes to technology. We all know the majority of new technologies are set in motion in Japan and China.

http://www.standaard.be/artikel/detail.aspx?artikelid=DMF20100328_063&subsection=215

A message for my fellow students, I know my blog describes the same object as annelies' but I will change it when I have the time to.

Volvo is turning into Chinese property

Because of its quality and its safe car image, a lot of Belgian families make use of a Volvo as their family car. In a little while, Volvo will be undergoing a change of ownership. The question in this occasion is whether the brand will stay unaffected.

After almost a year of discussion the present-day owner, the American car manufacturer Ford Motor, and the future proprietor, Geely Holding Group, will round off the sale contract at the end of this week. The long term of consultation with the Chinese concern is due to the complex situation of Volvo. The activities of the former owner Ford and Volvo are namely strong intertwined with each other. For instance, both companies make use of the same parts for the production of their vehicles. The split up of these industrial processes isn’t that easy. Another important item within the sale contract is the independence of Volvo. The Geely Group guarantees that they will respect the image of Volvo and their obtained market position.

Furthermore was announced that Geely counted down 1.8 billion dollar for the former Swedish car constructor. Half of this enormous amount would be financed by European banks. More specifically, the European Investment bank have put between 500 and 800 million US Dollars at their proposal. Given the fact that the Volvo-factories are located in Belgium and Sweden, these countries are responsible for the state warranty of these debts. Next to that, also Swedish banks would pay up about 500 million dollar. The rest of the amount will be assisted by the Chinese banks. It’s striking that Ford Motors sells its luxury brand for only one third of the price they paid ten years ago.

The sale of Volvo to a Chinese concern has really been the ABC of quite some thinking minds. This reaction is completely comprehensible as Volvo is the first luxury brand that becomes property of an Asian company. So far, only cheaper and less luxurious cars were produced in the Far East such as Toyota, Nissan, Honda, Hyundai and Mitsubishi. I think that – with the arrival of Volvo – a change is at hand. I’m sure that the Chinese and Japanese will use the acquired know how of Volvo to bring on an evolution in their own car-industry and a better adaption to our markets. This was also the reason for the long lasting talks about the Volvo takeover. Probably Ford Motor realized that splitting the intellectual rights would involve a lot of trouble. On the other hand the takeover of Volvo opens a lot of perspectives for the car company. China and its adjacent States have a lot of potential for the former American car brand, this will probably have been the decisive element in taking over Volvo.

Sources: De Tijd: 'Ford verkoopt zondag Volvo aan Geely'

Duvel continues to grow

The beer market goes to a difficult period, but in spite of that, Beer-maker Duvel Moortgat had made an excellent growth in 2009. The year results were approximately similar like the expectations. The company wants to increase further in 2010. Nowadays the share price rises of 1 up to 1.12 euro by share.

Duvel Moortgat’s figures were very good, certainly when you compare with the Belgium and the West-European beer market, they have to struggle to difficult times. Look at the largest brewer over the whole world ‘AB InBev’, they had some serious problems with restructuring in Belgium.
Duvel Moortgat’s success is due to different reasons. First of all they succeed to gain ground in foreign countries. In 2009, 45 per cent of the turnover was already obtained outside Belgium. The foreign turnover was for the first time more then 50 millions euro. Today, the group’s beers are exported to over 40 countries.

Secondly Duvel Moortgat had organized its cost very well, especially in terms of marketing. Because of the crises, Duvel Moortgat has decided to use only poster campaigns and no television campaigns. With the money, that they had saved because of this strategy, could they invest in different sections of the company.

A third reason why Duvel Moortgat has done such a good job is, in my opinion, the growing popularity of Duvel trough the youth. Duvel is the strongest brand within Duvel Moortgat and more and more youngsters like the beer. The youth nowadays like to drink such a special beer because of the good taste, but also because of the high percentage of alcohol. Nowadays, there are more and more ‘Duvel parties’ born.

The next few years Duvel Moortgat’s growth will increase further, I think. The company has a unique concept and the beer (especially the Belgium’s beer) becomes a more and more popular drink in foreign countries. The company also expect a price cut of the malt. Because of this reduction, the company will be able to increase their profit.

http://www.tijd.be/nieuws/ondernemingen_consumptie/Duvel_blijft_groeien.8894197-430.art

Pinguin Lutosa has to continue with saving on its costs

In the year 2009 Pinguin Lutosa, a company known for its frozen vegetables, has well fought against the crisis. Unfortunately the year 2010 didn’t start as well as 2009. The reason is a general price-cut. The company wants to compensate this by spending less money on the purchases of vegetables.

Consequently cost savings will be accentuated again in 2010. The price-cut which is already transited, will also partially relate on contract farmers. Most of the contracts for the harvest of 2010 for potatoes, peas and for other vegetables have already been compromised. The farmers realized that the price-cut was inevitable. I’m wondering which product will be the next victim of all these price-cuts. In the past pigs, the milk and potatoes have already been faced with enormously price-cuts. Farmers are always the biggest victims of all this.

Pinguin Lutosa is successful in potatoes and in frozen vegetables. Especially the division of potatoes, good for 48 percent of the sales, is running at full capacity since the spring of 2009. The company is expecting a bigger increase of the demands. Last year this company produced 700 000 ton potatoes. This is at least 70 kilos potatoes per Belgian.

The frozen vegetables, especially the peas, are good for 52 percent of the sales. The sold volumes have increased but lower prices and the weaker British Pound above all, have caused a sales decline of 3.1 percent. The company wants to realize more harmonizing between the stock and the production. In that way the work capital can be kept down.

I think Pinguin Lutosa has not to react by panicking on this. Because this company is certainly not the only one who has to cut its prices. All the companies active in this sector will be confronted with those price-cuts. So Pinguin Lutosa has not to be afraid of its competitive position. Besides this company can compensate this price-cut with the price of onions, which is increasing at a rapid rate.

I regret the enormously weak position of the British Pound. Without taking the currency effect in account, the company would realize a growth of at least 4.9 percent instead of a descent of 1.85 percent, which is now realized. I hope a rising of the British Pound as soon as possible will make an end to this regrettable situation.

‘PinguinLutosa snoeit verder’ (de tijd)
‘Zwakke pond speelt PinguinLutosa parten’ (de tijd)

CEO Deutsche Bank: wage multiplied by six

Despite the ongoing criticism concerning the barely credible incomes in the banking sector, Deutsche Bank decided to multiply the wage of its CEO by six. This brings it to 9.55 million Euros on an annual basis. Because of this measure he has become the best paid Chief Executive Officer in Germany.

First of all, Deutsche Bank is clearly not having any problems with the media storm regarding the immoral remuneration in the financial sector. Because of renewed profitability in 2009, the company is renewing its mistakes of the past. Josef Ackermann, CEO of Deutsche Bank, is not the only one within the company who benefits from the profitability I mentioned earlier. Altogether the board of directors, which consists of eight members, received a sum of 38.98 million Euros. In comparison to 2008, this year the total earnings were multiplied by eight.

On the other hand, I must say that 70 percent of the actual wage is linked to the results of the bank and will therefore be rewarded later on. There are even worse cases of immoral earnings, namely Anshu Jain, head of the business bank. In a period of 9 months he earned a total of 7.8 million Euros. On a yearly basis we can conclude that this person, who joined the same Deutsche Bank management team in April 2009, earned even more than Josef Ackermann, who is retiring in May. He has no problem with that remuneration whatsoever. I cite: “Who wants to be part of the best, needs to hire the very best. That’s why you need to pay what the market demands.”

I think it’s quite far-fetched to read this kind of stories. It’s funny how people live the moment and easily forget the bigger story. There is so much poverty and misery in the world, yet still some people on this planet find it necessary to receive such amounts of money. It’s hard to understand that people who haven’t even founded the company, taken the risks or invested in it, dig up these kind of wages.

On the other hand, I really consider it as courageous of Josef Ackermann to impose such measures. In my opinion it's a very nice gesture of a man in his position. But don't lose your eye on the ball there, it's also a nice deceiving method to justify his extremely outrageous pay check.