|
|
Enron Mail |
USA: Cinergy sees 45 pct of 2001 EPS target in H1.
Reuters English News Service, 04/09/01 USA: IntercontinentalExchange volumes rise 33 percent in March. Reuters English News Service, 04/09/01 India State Govt Panel To Review Dabhol Power Agreement Dow Jones International News, 04/09/01 EC Outlook Signs Licensing Agreement with Enron Business Wire, 04/09/01 Utility Bonds Slip on PG&E Unit Bankruptcy: Corporate Bonds Bloomberg, 04/09/01 When a Name Doesn't Always Ring a Bell Newsday, 04/09/01 USA: Cinergy sees 45 pct of 2001 EPS target in H1. 04/09/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. CINCINNATI, April 9 (Reuters) - Cinergy Corp. , a major Midwestern power company, said on Monday it expected 45 percent of its 2001 earnings target of $2.75 to come through in the first half of the year, helped by power plant acquisitions in the past 18 months. Cincinnati-based Cinergy, which also has utility operations distributing natural gas and electricity to more than 1.4 million customers in the Cincinnati area and central Indiana, said the remaining 55 percent was forecast for the last half of 2001. Analysts currently expect 47 percent in the first half and 53 percent in second half, according to research company Thomson Financial/First Call. Cinergy shares closed up 70 cents, or 2.06 percent, at $34.75 on the Nasdaq market. The highlights of the group's recent acquisitions include two merchant generating facilities in the Southeast from Enron North America . The plants are the 494-megawatt Brownsville generation facility in Haywood County, Tennessee, and the 504-MW Caledonia generation facility in Lowndes County, Mississippi. Both are natural gas-fired units. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. USA: IntercontinentalExchange volumes rise 33 percent in March. 04/09/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. NEW YORK, April 9 (Reuters) - Monthly trade on Internet-based IntercontinentalExchange (ICE) rose 33 percent in March, bringing its total volume to $70 billion since its inception last year, the exchange said Monday. Over 42,000 trades have been made on ICE since the start of trading last August, ICE said. That brings daily average trading volumes up to about $350 million, a tenth of those of EnronOnline, where Enron is on one side of every transaction. ICE hosts 'over the counter' (OTC) trading - trading done outside regular exchanges - of derivatives in crude and refined oil products, natural gas, power and metals. During March, a total of 168 million barrels of crude oil and refined products were traded on ICE, along with 55 million megawatt hours of electricity, 820 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 8 million gold-equivalent ounces. Last month, ICE set new records of 19 million barrels of oil, 97 billion cubic feet of natural gas and 4.6 million megawatt hours of power for daily trading on its system. On the New York Mercantile Exchange, trading regularly exceeds 400 million barrels of crude in a day. ICE enjoys a market share of 20 percent in OTC electronic trading of North American power, according to the exchange. IT has a 14 percent share in North American natural gas and derivatives, 8 percent share in global precious metals and 7 percent in global oil and refined products derivatives. The ICE system is installed on 3,750 desktops worldwide to trade more than 600 listed contracts. Oil majors BP Amoco , Royal Dutch/Shell and TotalFinaElf joined international banks to establish ICE last year, with several U.S. power companies joining the consortium later in 2000. ICE is seen as the firm favorite to strike a deal with London's International Petroleum Exchange (IPE), Europe's largest energy futures market, that could provide IPE a shortcut to expand electronic trading and get onto the Internet. The two organizations have been for some months discussing a share swap that could result in a merger, industry sources say. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India State Govt Panel To Review Dabhol Power Agreement 04/09/2001 Dow Jones International News (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- India's Maharashtra state government said Monday that it has set up a panel of experts to review the 1995 power purchase agreement signed between Dabhol Power Co., a subsidiary of the U.S. energy major Enron Corp. (ENE) and Maharashtra State Electricity Board, Press Trust of India reported Monday. "The Godbole Committee, appointed by the government to review the controversial power project, has been authorized to hold negotiations with DPC on behalf of the state government and MSEB, which is finding it extremely difficult to pay the exorbitant electricity bills," PTI quoted Maharahtra's junior Power Minister Rajendra Darda as saying. DPC has a controlling 65% stake in the controversial 2,184-megawatt electric power project in the western Indian state of Maharashtra, which supplies power to the state-run electricity board. Under a 1996 counter guarantee agreement, the federal government is obliged to pay Enron when MSEB defaults. Critics object to Dabhol charging 7.1 rupees a kilowatt-hour ($1=46.4602) for its power compared with INR1.5/KWh charged by other suppliers. As reported, Dabhol Power Co. sent the MSEB a notice of political force majeure to enforce its rights under the power purchase agreement between the two parties. "I can confirm that Dabhol Power Co. has sent the MSEB a notice of political force majeure," said Jimmy Mogul, Enron India spokesman, in a faxed company statement. -By Himendra Kumar, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-461-9427; himendra.kumar@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. EC Outlook Signs Licensing Agreement with Enron 04/09/2001 Business Wire (Copyright © 2001, Business Wire) HOUSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--April 9, 2001--EC Outlook, a software provider that automates the collaborative commerce activities of Global 1000 companies and their trading partners, has signed a licensing agreement with Enron Corp., one of the world's leading electricity, natural gas and communications companies, providing both companies with technology to enhance their commodity-related businesses. Enron is planning to use EC Outlook's Smart Document Interchange (SDI) Server(TM) software to streamline the exchange of certain documents with trading partners in commodity markets outside of its traditional energy and communications industries. Such industries include metals, pulp and paper and others. The SDI Server product helps companies and their partners share information without invasive hardware and software installations. EC Outlook, in turn, will enhance its software offering with proprietary data interchange applications developed by Enron to manage complex logistical activities in natural gas and electricity markets. EC Outlook will integrate industry-specific functionalities and processes from this software into its own applications to deliver enhanced capabilities to customers. "Enron's data interchange technology is a strategic acquisition for us," said Matt Verghese, president and COO of EC Outlook. "Coupled with our existing applications, we can very effectively support the transaction-intensive needs of energy and other commodity businesses." "Commodity markets, like natural gas, electricity and others, will significantly benefit from electronically automating commerce activities among trading partners," said Greg Runyan, senior analyst with Yankee Group. "The agreement between EC Outlook and Enron is a perfect example of how market leaders can gain a competitive edge." About EC Outlook EC Outlook's software applications automate collaborative commerce activities between Global 1000 companies and their trading partners. Powered by SDI Server(TM) software, these applications enable customers and partners to quickly connect with one another to share information, regardless of size, technical sophistication or existing infrastructure. By overcoming connectivity and data disparity issues, customers have achieved increased revenues, working capital reductions and short-term payback on their investment. For more information, visit www.ecoutlook.com. SDI Server(TM)is a trademark of EC Outlook, Inc. in the United States. All other marks referenced are those of their respective owners. CONTACT: EC Outlook Jeff Byron, 614/718-9290 jeff.byron@ecoutlook.com or Golin/Harris International for EC Outlook Jackie Jones, 415/808-9800 jjones@golinharris.com 08:08 EDT APRIL 9, 2001 Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Utility Bonds Slip on PG&E Unit Bankruptcy: Corporate Bonds 2001-04-09 18:00 (New York) Utility Bonds Slip on PG&E Unit Bankruptcy: Corporate Bonds New York, April 9 (Bloomberg) -- Bonds of utility and power- generating companies slipped in value after PG&E Corp.'s Pacific Gas & Electric unit filed for bankruptcy protection on Friday. Debt of San Jose, California-based Calpine, which has at least 15 power plants operating or under construction in the Golden State, was among the hardest hit, traders said. NRG Energy Inc., Dynegy Inc., Duke Energy Corp., and other power producers with less exposure to California also saw drops as bond investors grew concerned that write-offs would threaten credit ratings. ``There are a number of suppliers who are owed money and are hoping to be paid,'' said Mark Luftig, fund manager of the Strong American Utilities Fund in Jersey City, New Jersey. Concern bills will remain unpaid, along with worries utilities in other states may suffer from deregulation, has caused utility debt to lag corporate bonds. Gas- and electric-utility bonds rose 3.3 percent this year including price gains and interest, according to a Merrill Lynch & Co. index, less than the 4.7 percent gain on U.S. investment-grade corporate bonds. Yields on Calpine's 8.5 percent notes due in 2011 have risen about 0.4 percentage point since Friday to 3.6 percentage points above U.S. Treasuries, traders said, though Moody's Investors Service today confirmed the company's ``Ba1'' senior debt ratings. Bond prices move inverse to yield. NRG and Dynegy bond yields rose about 0.2 percentage point relative to Treasuries. Even yields of Public Service Enterprise Group and other East Coast utilities that do little or no business in California crept up about one-tenth of a percentage point on the bankruptcy news, traders said. Unwarranted? Eric Cheung, who holds bonds of Duke Energy Corp. and Enron Corp. in the $8 billion he helps manage at Wilmington Trust Corp. in Wilmington, Delaware, suggested some selling was unwarranted. ``We're not negative at all'' on the utility industry, he said. ``You have to take a look at each state on a case-by-case basis.'' Pacific Gas & Electric and Southern California Edison, California's two largest utilities, said they've accumulated more than $14 billion in debt since last year because a failed deregulation plan has forced them to buy power at rates far higher than regulators allow them to charge customers. By contrast, Public Service Enterprise Group, owner of New Jersey's largest utility, reported earnings of $764 million last year, up 5.7 percent from 1999 levels. New Jersey has deregulated its power market, but the utilities haven't been forced to sell off their generating assets like they have in California. 51 Cents Pacific Gas & Electric's 7 3/8 bonds due in 2005 were bid today at 51 cents on the dollar, or $510 per $1,000 face value, traders said. That's down from about 90 cents as recently as November. The company -- whose bonds were cut to junk status in January -- has defaulted on $870 million of commercial paper this year, the largest such default ever. The bankruptcy filing didn't result in any credit-rating cuts of other utilities and power generators, said Ellen Lapson, managing director at Fitch Inc. in New York. Still, risks for energy companies working in California will be high until the situation is resolved, which may not happen until new power plants are built years from now, analysts said. ``We are monitoring all energy credits in the western U.S. for the impact they're experiencing from higher gas and power prices,'' Lapson said. PART II When a Name Doesn't Always Ring a Bell Dave Barry. Dave Barry's column appears every Monday in Part 2. 04/09/2001 Newsday ALL EDITIONS B02 (Copyright Newsday Inc., 2001) SEVERAL MONTHS ago, out of the blue, a company named "Cingular" started sending me bills. I had never heard of Cingular, and I honestly did not know what these bills were for, so I put them in the pile where I keep documents that I intend to scrutinize more carefully later on, after my death. Then I started seeing TV commercials for Cingular, but of course they did not make it clear what Cingular is, because the First Rule of Modern Advertising is: "Never reveal what you are advertising." In the Cingular commercials - maybe you've seen them - these little characters that look like mutant starfish from space walk around and make gestures. It is not at all clear why they are doing this. It crossed my mind that maybe they are mutant starfish from space, and Cingular is the name of their home planet, and they've sent bills to all of humanity, and they are gesturing to indicate that if we don't pay them, they'll vaporize the Earth. Eventually, I found out that Cingular is the new name of my cellular telephone company. It used to be named BellSouth Mobility. Before that, I think it was just BellSouth, and before that, it was Southern Bell, and before that, I'm sure it was several other things. If you went far enough back, you'd probably find out that at one time the name actually included the words "telephone company," so you could tell, from the name, what it did, which today would be a serious violation of business ethics. So I paid my Cingular bills, because I need my cellular phone to communicate vital information ("Hello? Hello? Can you hear me? I can't hear you. Hello?"). I apparently have a special cellular plan wherein all my calls are routed through a Burger King drive- thru intercom in Bolivia. I envy the people whose cell phones always seem to work - the people you see in airports with their phones attached to earphone/microphone devices so they can stride around, gesturing and talking really loud into the air, looking kind of like Hamlet delivering his soliloquy ("To be, or not to be, that is the...Hello?"). But my question is: Why do companies keep changing their names? And why do they always change them to names that don't mean anything? We consumers like names that reflect what the company does. We know, for example, that International Business Machines makes business machines; and Ford Motor makes Fords; and Sara Lee makes us fat. But we don't know, from the name "Verizon," what Verizon does. As far as I can tell, Verizon consists of some big telephone companies that joined together. So why couldn't they call themselves "An Even Bigger Telephone Company"? And what in the world is "Accenture"? This is a company that buys a lot of ads, the overall message of which seems to be: "Accenture - A Company That Buys a Lot of Ads." I checked the Accenture Internet site, and here's what it says about the name: "Accenture is a coined word that connotes putting an accent or emphasis on the future." Swell! I am all for the future! But what does Accenture do? What if it sends me a bill? Should I pay it? What if I don't and it turns out that "Accenture" is the new name for the organization formerly known as "La Cosa Nostra"? My body parts would be found in nine separate Hefty bags. The police would shake their heads and say, "Looks like he didn't pay his Accenture bill." This brings me to my idea for how you can make big money. You start by inventing a new, modern-sounding company name, such as "Paradil" or "Gerbadigm," which are coined words that connote a combination of "paradigm" and "gerbil." Then you print official- looking invoice forms for this company, and you send out a mass- mailing of bills for, let's say, $20.38 apiece, to several million randomly selected people. You enclose an announcement with a perky corporate marketing statement that is clearly a lie, and thus appears totally realistic, such as: "We've changed our name to serve you better!" Granted, some consumers would throw the bill away. But a lot of them would pay it, because they're used to companies' suddenly mutating on them. You'd get rich! The only flaw in this plan is that the postal authorities might question its legality. If they give you any trouble, refer them to me, OK? My name is now Enron P. Citigroup. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
|