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The Wall Street Journal, 04/25/01 CMS Preferred Bidder on 320 MW Saudi Power Plant, MEED Says Bloomberg, 04/25/01 Bill could force refund from Reliant Houston Chronicle, 04/25/01 Signaling Change, Bush Picks 3 Executives for Pentagon Jobs The New York Times, 04/25/01 Stocks Fall Back After Profit Reports The Washington Post, 04/25/01 India State Ready To Pay Enron Unit For March Dow Jones International News, 04/25/01 Law minister: India's court system hindering economic progress Associated Press Newswires, 04/25/01 Indian state ready to pay Enron bill for power Associated Press Newswires, 04/25/01 INDIA: Enron action tarnishes India's investment image. Reuters English News Service, 04/25/01 INDIAN COMMITTEE TO RENEGOTIATE POWER AGREEMENT WITH ENRON Asia Pulse, 04/25/01 Enron mum on Indian project sale reports The Daily Deal, 04/25/01 India: Babus as negotiators Business Line (The Hindu), 04/25/01 Markets / Your Money Poor Earnings Reports Drag Markets to Moderate Losses Los Angeles Times, 04/25/01 Aquila Shares Rise 24% After IPO Raises $420 Million (Update1) Bloomberg, 04/24/01 A Bandwidth Glut Exists in the Long-Haul Market, but a Shortage Exists in the Metro and Access Markets PR Newswire, 04/24/01 Businesses back bill to refund Texas utility customers billions Associated Press Newswires, 04/24/01 Starwood Hotels Meets 1Q Despite Economy, 2Q Views Cut Dow Jones News Service, 04/24/01 Enron, Napster take honors at MIT eBusiness awards Associated Press Newswires, 04/24/01 INDIA: UPDATE 1-Termination on Enron's Dabhol meeting agenda. Reuters English News Service, 04/24/01 International World Watch Compiled by David I. Oyama 04/25/2001 The Wall Street Journal A15 (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) ASIA/PACIFIC Chinese Delisting May Signal Cleanup China announced the first delisting of a company, signaling a new effort to clean up its stock exchanges by ridding them of their most troubled companies. The decision to delist Shanghai Narcissus Electrical Appliance follows months of heated talks between the company and the Shanghai Stock Exchange. Shanghai Narcissus was once the country's second-largest maker of washing machines but this month reported its fourth straight annual loss. The delisting could pave the way for the China Securities Regulatory Commission to delist as many as 12 similarly unprofitable companies. But pressure from local governments, which control many indebted listed firms, could slow reforms. U.S., Singapore Rated Most Competitive The U.S. and Singapore kept the top spots as the world's most competitive nations, and strong growth in Hong Kong moved it back to sixth place from 12th, according to an annual survey. Japan, once a leader, fell to 26th in the poll of business leaders by the International Institute for Management Development in Lausanne, Switzerland. Canada slipped one spot to No. 9. The top 10 places were filled out by Finland, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Ireland, Sweden and Switzerland. Dabhol Board May Take Preliminary Step U.S. power company Enron's Indian unit, Dabhol Power, may take a preliminary step toward ending its $3 billion project near Bombay, as part of a dispute over payments by its main customer, the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, or MSEB, a Dabhol board member said. At a meeting today in London, Dabhol's board will consider a preliminary termination notice, according to Don Sturmer, a vice president at Bechtel Enterprises and member of the board of Dabhol Power, in which Bechtel owns 10%. Mr. Sturmer said the "procedural" step would allow Dabhol to suspend deliveries as it negotiates its dispute with the MSEB. Enron holds a 65% stake in Dabhol. Besides Bechtel, other shareholders are General Electric of the U.S., with 10%, and the MSEB, with 15%. Intel Cuts Stake in CyberWorks Venture U.S. semiconductor maker Intel has scaled back its stake in Network of the World, the debt-burdened interactive television service it has been developing with Hong Kong telecommunications and Internet company Pacific Century CyberWorks. Intel's move means CyberWorks will have to bear a greater share of any further investment in the service. CyberWorks disclosed in its annual report yesterday that Intel exercised part of an option that allows it to exchange its stake in the venture, known as NOW, for shares in CyberWorks. The transaction reduced Intel's stake to around 35% from 40%. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. CMS Preferred Bidder on 320 MW Saudi Power Plant, MEED Says 2001-04-25 03:19 (New York) Riyadh, Saudi Arabia, April 25 (Bloomberg) -- CMS Energy Corp., a U.S. power provider based in Michigan state, is the preferred bidder to develop what may be Saudi Arabia's first privately owned power plant, Middle East Economic Digest reported, without citing sources. CMS, together with a local partner, AH Al-Zamil Group, is negotiating details with the government-owned Saudi Petrochemical Co. to build a 320 megawatt plant in the kingdom's largest purpose- built industrial town at Jubail, 190 miles north-east of the capital, Riyadh, London-based MEED said. CMS, for which the Industrial Bank of Japan is acting as financial advisor, is bidding against the U.S.'s Enron Corp. and the local Xenel Industries, the weekly magazine said. The magazine did not say what the plant will cost to build. The Saudi government has pledged to increase the kingdom's electricity generating capacity from about 23,000 megawatts now to 60,000 megawatts in 2023 at a cost of $100 billion, according to Saudi American Bank. It has decided to open up the power and water industry to foreign investment to share the costs. April 25, 2001 Houston Chronicle Bill could force refund from Reliant PUC would have power to order profits returned By JANET ELLIOTT Copyright 2001 Houston Chronicle Austin Bureau AUSTIN -- Reliant Energy customers could get refunds of up to $590 each under legislation the utility industry is fighting. Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, and other supporters of House Bill 2107 held a news conference Tuesday to counter intense lobbying against the bill giving the Public Utility Commission of Texas the authority to order excess earnings refunded. Turner said the utilities recently took the unusual step of holding a luncheon for legislative staffers to "trash the bill." "If HB 2107 does not pass, the Legislature will allow utilities to enjoy the benefits of the regulated market and the windfall of the restructured market at the expense of ratepayers," he said. The lawmakers announced that Enron and Shell, two companies entering the electricity market, are supporting the bill, which may be debated by the full House next week. They join the city of Houston and business and industrial electricity customers backing the bill. Turner said the backing of Enron and Shell shows that the legislation is pro-competition, not anti-business as the utilities are saying. Turner said data compiled by the Public Utility Commission showed that Reliant, TXU Electric and three other investor-owned utilities have been allowed to overcharge customers $4.9 billion under the state's 1999 electric deregulation bill. Reliant's overcharges are estimated at $2.2 billion. Utility companies say they are against the bill because it's too soon to say if the market forces that have turned nuclear and coal-fired plants into valuable properties will last. "Reliant Energy does not support the bill as proposed because the bill would require utilities to make payments to customers based on an estimate of stranded costs, and we believe that the only way to determine the true value is through market valuation, which will take place in 2004," said Alicia Dixon, a spokeswoman for the utility. Utilities may be reaping a windfall because of changes in the electricity market that weren't anticipated when lawmakers passed the restructuring bill last session. Utilities were allowed to keep rates artificially high because of concern that a competitive market would not allow them to recover "stranded costs" -- mainly the value of nuclear plants and coal-fired plants that at the time were more expensive producers of power than natural gas-fired plants. But in the past two years, rising natural gas prices have made nuclear- and coal-powered facilities more valuable because their fuel costs are relatively stable. The PUC has said that the situation has resulted in extra profits for utilities, but it does not have the power to change portions of the law allowing the utilities to collect billions to cover stranded costs. At a legislative committee hearing last month, Reliant Energy Delivery Group Senior Vice President Steve Schaeffer said that rate likely would have been reduced 6 percent last year without the stranded cost recovery provisions in the restructuring bill. Reliant Energy has reported strong profits, but that included gains from unregulated operations outside Texas. "They're not hurting at all, and we don't want to hurt them. We just want to do what is fair to the ratepayers," said Rep. Kevin Bailey, D-Houston, a co-sponsor of the bill. Turner said he hopes to begin discussions with utility representatives the week. And he says he is willing to compromise for refunds of less than $590 so long as the amount is enough to help customers struggling with rising bills. Reliant bills this summer are expected to be 30 percent higher because of increased fuel prices at electric plants. Utilities are allowed to pass through increased natural gas costs under the current regulation and will continue to be able to do so after the market opens in January. About half of Reliant's electricity is generated by gas-fired plants, and the rest comes from coal and nuclear generators. The deregulation bill allows the utilities to keep any excess earnings until 2004, when they can be returned. But Turner said he is worried that utilities will find some way to create stranded costs. For example, Reliant is splitting into two companies -- a regulated "wires" company to handle electricity transmission and an unregulated company to buy and sell electricity. "They're dumping all their costs on the regulated company, which makes it unattractive," Turner said. National Desk; Section A Signaling Change, Bush Picks 3 Executives for Pentagon Jobs By JAMES DAO 04/25/2001 The New York Times Page 15, Column 3 c. 2001 New York Times Company WASHINGTON, April 24 -- President Bush signaled his intention to impose a more corporate management style on the Pentagon bureaucracy today by nominating three business executives -- two of them from the weapons industry -- to be the secretaries of the Army, Navy and Air Force. Mr. Bush and his secretary of defense, Donald H. Rumsfeld, have argued that the military must be more efficient in buying weapons and providing health care, housing and other services to its personnel. For that reason, today's announcement was widely viewed as a first step toward new management policies, including privatizing services. The nominees ''have been persistent advocates of outsourcing, relying more on the marketplace and re-engineering the core military functions so they perform more efficiently,'' said Loren Thompson, chief operating officer of the Lexington Institute, a military analysis group. But the announcement drew criticism from watchdog groups because two nominees -- Gordon R. England, Mr. Bush's choice for Navy secretary, and James G. Roche, chosen to run the Air Force -- come from military contractors that sell billions of dollars of equipment to the armed forces. Mr. Roche is a corporate vice president with the Northrop Grumman Corporation, which builds aircraft and electronics equipment, including the Global Hawk, an unmanned reconnaissance plane that is widely praised by some Bush advisers. The company also hopes to sell more B-2 bombers -- at a cost of at least $500 million each -- to the Air Force. Mr. England is executive vice president of the General Dynamics Corporation, a highly diversified company that makes items like grenades, armored vehicles and communications equipment. The company's divisions include Electric Boat in Groton, Conn., which is building a new class of attack submarines for the Navy, and the Bath Iron Works in Maine, which builds Arleigh Burke destroyers and is competing to build a new class of destroyer known as the DD-21. Mr. Bush's nominee for secretary of the Army, Thomas E. White, is the vice chairman of Enron Energy Services, a division of the Enron Corporation, the Texas energy company that was a leading contributor to Mr. Bush's campaign last year. ''I'm troubled that we're setting the stage for promoting the interests of the military-industrial complex,'' said Eugene Carroll, a retired admiral who is vice president of the Center for Defense Information, a nonprofit policy group. ''I see no inclination on the part of the Bush team to rein in our military programs.'' But other military analysts said that corporate executives could bring the kinds of business skills needed to shake up a stodgy and inefficient Pentagon bureaucracy. ''Who better to know how the business runs than those who have run the business?'' said Jack Spencer of the Heritage Foundation, a conservative policy organization. Mr. Roche served in the Navy for 23 years. Before joining Northrop Grumman in 1984, he worked as the Democratic staff director for the Senate Armed Services Committee and was assistant director of the Pentagon's Office of Net Assessment, which formulates policy, in the Ford and Carter administrations. Mr. White, a West Point graduate, served in the Army for 23 years, retiring as a brigadier general. He was executive assistant to General Colin L. Powell, then the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, from 1989 to 1990. He joined Enron in 1990. Mr. England joined General Dynamics in 1980 and has served in several senior positions, including director of avionics and president of the land systems division. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Financial Stocks Fall Back After Profit Reports Associated Press 04/25/2001 The Washington Post FINAL E03 Copyright 2001, The Washington Post Co. All Rights Reserved NEW YORK, April 24 -- Stocks gave up early gains and closed moderately lower today as poor earnings reports weighed on investors, prompting them to again cash in recent profits. Throughout the day, investors were torn between their newfound optimism about earnings and the economy and fears that it will be much longer before the business environment improves. The Dow Jones industrial average fell 77.89, to 10,454.34. Investors became more cautious as the session progressed, pulling back after sending the average up as much as 106.83. Broader indicators also finished lower. The Nasdaq composite index fell 42.71, to 2016.61, but it is still up 23 percent from its low for the year of 1638.80, reached April 4. The Standard & Poor's 500-stock index fell 14.89, to 1209.47. Analysts expected the decline after last week's big rally in which the Dow gained 453 points and the Nasdaq picked up 202. "We did make a pretty giant leap. I think we are just consolidating," said Steven Goldman, market strategist for Weeden & Co. He and other analysts also said the profit-taking had little to do with a report by the Conference Board that consumer confidence dropped significantly in April. Investors believe the decline should give the Federal Reserve greater incentive to lower interest rates for the fifth time this year when its policymaking Open Market Committee meets in mid-May. Wall Street, which last week ended its two best weeks of the year on positive earnings news and an unexpected interest rate cut by the Fed, is having conflicted emotions about the economy -- while hoping that business and earnings will turn around soon, investors also are fearful that a recovery could take much longer. "Fed rate cuts are pluses for the economy, but they take time to work their way through the system," said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president of Fahnestock & Co. Investors sold companies that posted disappointing profits. Consumer-products maker Kimberly Clark plunged $6.17, to $56.61, on news that it missed earnings expectations by a penny a share. JDS Uniphase tumbled $3.36, to $20.82, after announcing that it would restructure its business, laying off 20 percent of its workforce and closing several operations. Although earnings for its fiscal third quarter met forecasts, the company said it expects a fourth-quarter profit of 5 cents a share, 7 cents shy of expectations. When investors bought stocks today, they did so with caution, gravitating toward some of the market's safest sectors, such energy issues. Enron rose 22 cents, to $61.87. Investors also rewarded companies that posted better-than-expected profits. DuPont, a Dow stock, rose 67 cents, to $44.80, on earnings that beat expectations by 3 cents a share. Other Indicators * The New York Stock Exchange composite index fell 4.80, to 613.97; the American Stock Exchange index fell 0.67, to 902.87; and the Russell index of 2,000 small stocks rose 1.28, to 462.35. * Declining issues matched advancing ones on the NYSE, where trading volume advanced to 1.22 billion shares, from 1.03 billion on Monday. On the Nasdaq, decliners outnumbered advancers by 11 to 10 and volume totaled 1.93 billion, up from 1.8 billion. * The price of the Treasury's 10-year note fell $1.56 per $1,000 invested, and its yield rose to 5.2 percent, from 5.18 percent late Monday. * The dollar rose against the Japanese yen and the euro. In late New York trading, a dollar bought 122.25 yen, up from 121.25 yen late Monday, and a euro bought 89.42 cents, down from 89.62 cents. * Light, sweet crude oil for June delivery settled at $26.82 a barrel, down 79 cents, on the New York Mercantile Exchange. * Gold for current delivery rose to $264.10 a troy ounce, from $263.10 on Monday, on the New York Mercantile Exchange's Commodity Exchange. http://www.washingtonpost.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India State Ready To Pay Enron Unit For March 04/25/2001 Dow Jones International News (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) BOMBAY (AP)--The Maharashtra state power utility said Wednesday it would pay outstanding electricity bills for March as part of an ongoing dispute over tariffs with the American power giant, Enron Corp. (ENE). "We will make the payment of 1.34 billion rupees ($1=INR46.83) today for the March bill. The February bill of INR1.1 billion was already paid up last month," Krishna Rao, a member of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, told The Associated Press. "As far as we are concerned there are no more payments outstanding." An Enron spokesman confirmed receipt of the February dues, but said the company is also due $48 million for nonpayment of electricity bills for December and January. The state electricity board has said the December and January bills should be offset against a fine of INR4 billion rupees it had levied against Enron for non-supply of power during that period. Meanwhile, the state's Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters a committee would be formed in two days to renegotiate a power purchase agreement, or the rate at which the state buys power from Enron. Enron has been under fire from Bombay politicians who say its power charges are unaffordable. Politicians say costs have increased fourfold from four cents per unit agreed in 1995 for the two-year-old, 740-megawatt naphtha plant. Prices shot up to 15 cents per unit following worldwide fluctuation of oil prices and depreciation of the Indian rupee. Enron maintains that a 1,444 megawatt liquefied natural gas plant to be commissioned later this year will lower tariffs. Also Wednesday, Indian newspapers reported that a proposal by the Enron board in London to issue a termination notice to the state electricity board had been temporarily shelved. "Indian financial institutions are reported to have successfully persuaded offshore lenders that there was no need to issue a termination notice right now," The Economic Times newspaper reported. Krishna Rao, of the state electricity board, said a termination notice at this stage would not be in anyone's interest. "Enron will tie itself in knots if a termination notice is issued. It is not good business sense and not in anybody's interest," said Rao. India's largest foreign investment, $3 billion Enron power project has been in trouble since December, when the state government said it would review the price agreement with Dabhol Power Corp., Enron's Indian subsidiary. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Law minister: India's court system hindering economic progress By NEELESH MISRA Associated Press Writer 04/25/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. NEW DELHI, India (AP) - India's law minister urged the country's courts Wednesday to help economic reforms flourish, and not obstruct them by entertaining a barrage of cases against Indian and foreign companies. "Don't interfere in every matter just because somebody has brought an invitation for you to interfere," Arun Jaitley, the minister for law, justice and company affairs, said in an address before hundreds of business leaders. "Major projects cannot be held up because of judicial cases. Delays and lack of interest are the result," said Jaitley, who is a lawyer by profession. India's courts, clogged by millions of pending cases, are notorious for delays in judgment. Several top international and domestic companies have also been adversely affected by court rulings on petitions by environmental and labor activists and other voluntary groups. More than 21,000 cases are pending in the Supreme Court, with each judge hearing more than 800 cases. In the state high courts, more than 3.4 million cases are still to be decided on, Jaitley said. The number of pending cases before the subordinate courts has remained stagnant at 20 million for the last five years, he said. A dlrs 4.5 billion dam project across the Narmada River was delayed for four years because of a flurry of litigation by environmental activists. The objections were finally overruled by the Supreme Court. Last year, the U.S. power company Cogentrix, based in Charlotte, North Carolina, abandoned a dlrs 1.3 billion, 1,000-megawatt electricity project in the southern state of Karnataka after legal wrangles delayed the project by seven years. "We have seen cases in which investment was delayed by half a dozen litigations and finally the investor said, `I don't want to invest, thank you,"' Jaitley said. He was speaking at the annual conference of the Confederation of Indian Industry, an influential industry group. The wrangles have hampered private electricity generation in India, which needs an additional 100,000 megawatts of power per year said Power Minister Suresh Prabhu, speaking on the same conference. Jaitley said that the government and courts had tried to enlarge their jurisdiction into areas traditionally outside their control. He mentioned the changes in economic policy that have swept the country since Prime Minister P.V. Narasimha Rao's government started unshackling controls on the socialist-style economy in 1991. "... We need to tune ourselves to the changes taking place in the commercial world," he said. A dlrs 3 billion project of the American energy giant Enron, India's biggest-ever foreign investment, is currently facing problems with the government-run utility in the western Maharashtra state, which says the power generated by Enron is too expensive compared to prevalent local prices. The state wants to renegotiate the contract. Jaitley also gave the example of 800,000 cases related to bounced checks - litigation that he said did not need years to be decided in courts. He said there were also too many vacancies in judicial appointments. (nnm/lak) Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Indian state ready to pay Enron bill for power By RAMOLA TALWAR BADAM Associated Press Writer 04/25/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. BOMBAY, India (AP) - The Maharashtra state power utility said Wednesday it would pay outstanding electricity bills for March as part of an ongoing dispute over tariffs with the American power giant, Enron. "We will make the payment of 1.34 billion rupees (dlrs 28.5 million) today for the March bill. The February bill of 1.1 billion rupees (dlrs 23.4 million) was already paid up last month," Krishna Rao, member of the Maharashtra State Electricity Board, told The Associated Press. "As far as we are concerned there are no more payments outstanding." An Enron spokesman confirmed receipt of the February dues, but said the company is also due dlrs 48 million for nonpayment of electricity bills for December and January. The state electricity board has said the December and January bills should be offset against a fine of 4 billion rupees (dlrs 85.31 million) it had levied against Enron for non-supply of power during that period. Meanwhile, the state's Chief Minister Vilasrao Deshmukh told reporters a committee would be formed in two days to renegotiate a power purchase agreement, or the rate at which the state buys power from Enron. Enron has been under fire from Bombay politicians who say its power charges are unaffordable. Politicians say costs have increased fourfold from four cents per unit agreed in 1995 for the two-year-old, 740-megawatt naphtha plant. Prices shot up to 15 cents per unit following worldwide fluctuation of oil prices and depreciation of the Indian rupee. Enron maintains that a 1,444 megawatt liquefied natural gas plant to be commissioned later this year will lower tariffs. Also on Wednesday, Indian newspapers reported that a proposal by the Enron board in London to issue a termination notice to the state electricity board had been temporarily shelved. "Indian financial institutions are reported to have successfully persuaded offshore lenders that there was no need to issue a termination notice right now," The Economic Times newspaper reported. Krishna Rao, of the state electricity board, said a termination notice at this stage would not be in anyone's interest. "Enron will tie itself in knots if a termination notice is issued. It is not good business sense and not in anybody's interest," said Rao. India's largest foreign investment, the dlrs 3 billion Enron power project has been in trouble since December, when the state government said it would review the price agreement with Dabhol Power Corp., Enron's Indian subsidiary. (rtb/lak) Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA: Enron action tarnishes India's investment image. 04/25/2001 Reuters English News Service (C) Reuters Limited 2001. NEW DELHI, April 25 (Reuters) - India, already a black hole when it comes to foreign investment, cannot afford the headlines it's grabbing now: news Houston-based energy giant Enron may be bailing out of an almost complete $2.9 billion power project. Unable to collect $48.3 million for power supplied to a virtually bankrupt Indian state electricity board - even after invoking state and federal government guarantees - Enron this week asked creditors to approve taking steps toward terminating the project. Analysts warn the action is likely to further tarnish India's lousy image as a place to invest, causing direct foreign investment (FDI) to decline from a trickle to a drip. "Foreign investments may dry up because of Enron," says Gajendra Haldea, senior consultant at the National Council for Applied Economic Research. The amount multinational corporations (MNCs) invest in India has been low. India attracted just $2.6 billion in direct foreign investment last year, three times less than Singapore, a nation with an economy one-fourth its size - and 250 times fewer people. China, the one nation with a roughly comparable population and an economy twice the size of India's, attracts 20 times more. Due to bureaucratic delays in approving new projects, drastic changes in government policies and regulations, and disappointing returns, foreign direct investment in India has withered in recent years, even as FDI flows boomed globally. FDI inflows into India fell by 26 percent in 1998, and by another 17.7 percent the following year. Last year global FDI flows rose an estimated 23 percent to $1.1 trillion, according to the Economist Intelligence Unit. India's portion - $2.6 billion or 0.24 percent. FORGOTTEN PROMISES The situation was a lot different a decade ago. In the early 1990s, India looked set to turn its back on decades-long dedication to socialism and Gandhi-inspired self-sufficiency by opening its economy to trade and foreign investment. The U.S. government for one reacted enthusiastically by designating India as a "big emerging market", prompting Fortune 500 companies like General Motors, Ford and Proctor and Gamble to draw up plans to build factories there. But old habits die hard, and over ensuing years the impulse toward change was stifled by political factionalism in the world's largest - and messiest - democracy. Ambitious plans to privatise state-run companies that dominate the petroleum, power generation, telecommunication and airline industries foundered, often due to opposition by labour unions. The cost to India can be gauged by the amounts that flowed into countries where privatisation did occur. Last year Brazil attracted $30.6 billion primarily from the sale of state assets; in 1999, Argentina tripled its FDI inflow, and Chile sucked in $9 billion, due largely to disinvestment. Some Indian government officials figure Delhi could raise $20 billion within a half year if disinvestment were pursued properly. DISAPPOINTING RETURNS FDI has also declined because of the disappointment felt by MNCs that have invested in India. An A T Kearney study of the global FDI market found that while India is perceived as offering one of the highest potential returns on investment, actual returns are among the lowest - lower than Africa. With so little evidence of the benefit of investing in India, and Enron-like evidence of the problems faced by companies which try, many multinationals avoid the country. About 30 percent of the top 100 transnationals have no presence in India. Carmakers like Nissan Motors of Japan and Volkswagen of Germany, retailers like U.S.-based Wal-Mart Stores and Royal Ahold of the Netherlands, and metals producers like Broken Hill and Rio Tinto have no operations in India. HOSTILE TAKEOVERS Indian government restrictions on corporate takeovers have also caused FDI to shrink. There have been no hostile corporate takeovers in India since 1997, when the government began requiring multinationals to get a no-objection certificate from the board of an Indian takeover target. And restrictions on financing make even friendly takeovers difficult. As a result India has missed out on the boom in cross-border mergers and acquisitions. According to the Economist Intelligence Unit, cross-border M&As accounted for about 30 percent - or $290 billion - of FDI flows last year. But in India, only $776 million of cross-border M&As took place in 1999, down nearly 50 percent from the 1997 figure. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India Maharashtra State Elec Bd Pays Dabhol Pwr Feb Dues 04/25/2001 Dow Jones Energy Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW DELHI -(Dow Jones)- India's Maharashtra State Electricity Board said late Tuesday it has made payments for electricity consumed during February to U.S. energy major Enron Corp.'s (ENE) Indian unit Dabhol Power Co. This follows a prolonged ongoing dispute between MSEB and the DPC over nonpayment of electricity dues. "We have paid Dabhol Power's bill of 1.1 billion rupees ($1=INR46.83) for the month of February under protest. Tomorrow (Wednesday) the bill for March is due. We have every intention of paying that bill as well which I believe will be to the tune of INR1.34 billion," said MSEB chairman Vinay Bansal in a telephone interview with Dow Jones Newswires. Enron India spokesman Jimmy Mogal confirmed that MSEB had paid its February bill. MSEB is contesting its December 2000 and January 2001 bills of INR1.02 billion and INR1.1 billion, respectively. For its part, MSEB said it wanted its December 2000 bill to be offset against an INR4 billion fine it levied on Dabhol for what it said was the non-supply of power for intermittent periods between October 2000 and the end of January. Dabhol and the federal government recently started a conciliation process, governed by the provisions of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law, aimed at resolving MSEB's contested December power bill. Enron has invoked a federal counter-guarantee for payment of the disputed January 2001 bill. -By Himendra Kumar, Dow Jones Newswires; 91-11-461-9426; himendra.kumar@dowjones.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIAN COMMITTEE TO RENEGOTIATE POWER AGREEMENT WITH ENRON 04/25/2001 Asia Pulse © Copyright 2001 Asia Pulse PTE Ltd. NEW DELHI, April 25 Asia Pulse - A high-level committee comprising representatives of the federal Government, Maharashtra Government, and Maharashtra State Electricity Board (MSEB) will renegotiate the Power Purchase Agreement (PPA) including cost of power with US energy giant Enron promoted Dabhol Power Company (DPC). "Various parameters of the contract entered into by MSEB with the DPC would be renegotiated by a negotiating team that will be constituted in the next 2-3 days," the Maharashtra Chief Minister, Vilasrao Deshmukh, said. The major objectives of the negotiating team would be to find ways and means to significantly reduce the cost of power from Dabhol project so as to make it more affordable, he said adding recommendations of the Energy Review Committee headed by M G Godbole would serve as inputs for negotiations. "We hope DPC would not take precipitate legal actions since the Government of India and Maharahstra are fully seized of the problem and are exploring ways to solve the dispute," Deshmukh said. Deshmukh had an hour long meeting with the Finance Minister, Yashwant Sinha, on Monday where it was decided to renegotiate the PPA with DPC. Stating that the state cannot absorb all the power generated from 740 MW Phase-I of DPC, the Chief Minister said the 1,444 MW Phase-II, scheduled for commissioning by January 2002 was not needed by the state. "Alternative solution of wheeling the Phase-II power out to energy deficit states needs to be worked out," he added. (PTI) 25-04 1750 Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. InPlay Enron mum on Indian project sale reports 04/25/2001 The Daily Deal Copyright © 2001 The Deal LLC Bechtel Group Inc. - General Electric Co. - Enron Corp. Houston energy giant Enron Corp. wouldn't comment Tuesday on reports it would consider selling its 65% stake in a $2.9 billion Indian power project at Wednesday's board meeting in London. The 2,184 megawatt facility is in India's western state of Maharashtra. Maharashtra State Electricity Board, which owns 15%, told Reuters the matter is on the agenda. MSEB is expected to send representatives, as are Fairfield, Conn. based General Electric Co. and San Francisco based Bechtel Group Inc., which each own 10%. Enron met with the project's lenders Monday. Enron is believed to want to sell its interest after financially strapped MSEB failed to invest in the project's second phase, purchase 15% of Enron's stake and defaulted on $48.2 million in electricity payments. -Claire Poole http://www.thedeal.com Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. India: Babus as negotiators 04/25/2001 Business Line (The Hindu) Copyright (C) 2001 Kasturi & Sons Ltd (KSL); Source: World Reporter (TM) - Asia Intelligence Wire The bureaucracy that fattened itself in the era of the paramountcy of the public sector has decided to preside over the matters of disinvestment and privatisation. The pity is that the nation will be called to foot the bill for every error of the 'Babu Negotiator Brigade' that was a disaster in the Socialist era, and is turning out to be more disastrous in India's transition to an open society, says Sharad Joshi. "ALL decisions in economic planning are, mathematically speaking, in the nature equalising the marginal rates of substitution between any two commodities or factors of production in different uses...", Fredrick Hayek brought out in his path-breaking article, 'The Use of Knowledge in Society' (American Economic Review XXXV, No. 4; September, 1945). If we possess all relevant information and if we can start out from a given system of preferences and have complete knowledge of all available means, the problem of optimum allocation by itself does not present any serious difficulties. But that is not the crux of the economic problem. The economic calculus developed by several eminent economists is potent enough apparatus to resolve the logical workout. The real crux of the problem lies in the predicament that the knowledge of the circumstances in perpetual change exists, not as concentrated or integrated aggregate data but as dispersed, incomplete and often contradictory bits of knowledge in the possession of separate persons placed generally in the thick of markets and industry. The highly fluid and dialectical information they accumulate over years and update continuously is the kind of knowledge required for the application of economic calculus. This knowledge is not transmissible in a statistical format the locationally distant and functionally detached Central planning authorities require for their decision-making processes. Planning, therefore, becomes an exercise in application of increasingly sophisticated calculus to progressively relevant knowledge database. Hayek's postulation was the first concrete demonstration of why all Central planning must fail. India was not listening to the likes of Hayek at the epoch and was treading its weary socialist way inebriated by the doctrines of Harrod- Domar, Frisch, Lange and Mahalnobis. Hopefully, that debate stands resolved now, never mind that there are a few leftists who continue to believe in the superiority of Central planning, and dream of the return of the licence-quota-permit Raj and the end of the spectre of liberalisation and the WTO. The contradiction between the knowledgeable grassroots operators and the commissars feeding on statistical aggregates is coming to the fore in another context. Balco dealings, Enron tractations and negotiations around the WTO table on the Agreement on Agriculture (AoA) and Trade Related Intellectual Property Rights (TRIPs) bring into straight confrontation, professionals from the private sector, the multinationals and governmental delegations from developing countries. That is a cruel encounter between opponents of entirely different ilks and bouts, between two very unevenly matched sides. That ought to provoke protests from Humanists and Animal lover groups. On the one hand, people who have been in the trade and on the floor for decades and developed finely tuned sixth and even seventh senses that permit them to sense even the remotest consequences of any proposal from the other side - briefly, Hayek's 'knowledge people'. Top it up with the additional gifts of articulation skills that come from varied exposure and decades of practice. Add further to boot, training in the fines and even less couth arts of diplomatic maneouvres that permit them to see the smallest chink in the opponents' armour and wee bits of vanity, gullibility and vulnerability in the members of the opposite delegations and the alacrity to pounce on it; as if this were not enough, they are a highly motivated group who stand to benefit or lose by the outcome of the parleys. Facing these formidable gladiators is your big babu with a university degree that has little practical utility, no experience of trade or of the floor, and brief administrative experience limited to handling the irrelevant 'aggregates', and who is personally quite indifferent to the outcome of the tractation, except to the extent that they provide chances of foreign jaunts, shopping and banking. No wonder Rebecca Marks can carry everything before them. Not surprising that the Maharashtra State Electricity Board officials end by overpaying hundreds of crores of rupees they need not have conceded. The Balco deal comes a copper and, in the WTO, India ends by committing itself to abolition of QRs, unable to foresee the contingency of favourable balance of payments and omitting to make reservations for geographic appellations for 'Darjeeling' tea and 'Ratnagiri' Alphanso on a par with Scotch whisky and Champagne bubbly wine. The bureaucracy that fattened itself in the era of the paramountcy of the public sector has decided to preside over the process of disinvestment and privatisation and arrogate to itself full powers for negotiating in the WTO, rather than associating the floor-level people from the trades and fields concerned, and is now being made mince-meat of by the highly motivated and skilled professionals. The pity is that the nation will be called to foot the bill for every error of the 'Babu Negotiator Brigade' that proved to be a disaster in the socialist era as Babu commissars, and are turning out to be even more disastrous in the transition to an open society. (The author is Chairman of the Task Force on Agriculture, Government of India. The views expressed are personal.) Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Business; Financial Desk Markets / Your Money Poor Earnings Reports Drag Markets to Moderate Losses From Times Wire Services 04/25/2001 Los Angeles Times Home Edition C-4 Copyright 2001 / The Times Mirror Company Major stock indexes gave up early gains and closed moderately lower Tuesday as poor earnings reports weighed on investors, prompting them to again cash in recent profits. Throughout the day, investors were torn between their newfound optimism about earnings and the economy and fears that it will be much longer before the business environment improves. The Dow Jones industrial average lost 77.89 points, or 0.7%, to close at 10,454.34. Investors became more cautious as the session progressed, pulling back after sending the Dow up as much as 106.83 points earlier. Wall Street's broader indicators also finished lower. The Nasdaq composite index fell 42.71 points, or 2.1%, to 2,016.61, but it is still up 23% from its low for the year of 1,638.80, reached April 4. The Standard & Poor's 500 index fell 14.89 points, or 1.2%, to 1,209.47. The loss put the S&P 500 back into bear market territory, defined as a loss of 20% or more from a recent peak. Despite the declines in the indexes, the overall picture was less bleak. Advancing stocks actually led declining issues by a razor thin margin on the New York Stock Exchange, while decliners led advancers by a 10-9 margin on the Nasdaq Stock Market. Trading was active on both markets. Analysts expected the market to pull back after last week's big rally, which saw the Dow gain 452 points and Nasdaq pick up 201. "We did make a pretty giant leap. I think we are just consolidating," said Steven Goldman, market strategist for Weeden & Co. He and other analysts also said the profit taking had little to do with a report by the Conference Board that consumer confidence dropped significantly in April. Investors believe the decline should give the Federal Reserve greater incentive to lower interest rates for the fifth time this year when its policymaking Open Market Committee meets in mid-May. Wall Street, which last week ended its two best weeks of the year on positive earnings news and an unexpected rate cut by the Fed, is having conflicted emotions about the economy--while hoping that business and earnings will turn around soon, investors also are fearful that a recovery could take much longer. "Fed rate cuts are pluses for the economy, but they take time to work their way through the system," said Alan Ackerman, executive vice president of Fahnestock & Co. Investors sold companies that posted disappointing profits. Consumer products maker Kimberly-Clark plunged $6.17 to close at $56.61 on news it missed earnings expectations by a penny a share. JDS Uniphase tumbled $3.36 to $20.82 after announcing it would restructure its business, laying off 20% of its work force and closing several operations. Although earnings for its fiscal third quarter met forecasts, the company said it anticipates fourth-quarter profit to be 5 cents a share, 7 cents shy of expectations. Another victim of poor earnings: Compaq Computer. The computer maker's first-quarter results were a penny below already lowered expectations. The stock slid 15%, losing $3.15 to $17.50. Dell Computer also fell, losing $3.50 to $25.85. The Philadelphia Computer Box Maker index ended the day off 3.8%. When investors bought stocks Tuesday, they did so with caution, gravitating toward some of the market's safest sectors, such as energy issues. Enron rose 22 cents to $61.87. Investors also rewarded companies that posted better-than-expected profits. DuPont, a Dow stock, rose 67 cents to $44.80 on earnings that beat expectations by 3 cents a share. In overseas markets, Argentine stocks rose after a three-day drop as the nation's $1-billion bond sale renewed optimism the government would be able to raise financing to make debt payments. Argentina's Merval index rose 2.1% to 420.32. Argentina, mired in recession, on Monday sold $1 billion in three-year promissory notes to banks and other companies to help pay $6.2 billion in debt coming due in the next four months. That helped build confidence that the cash-strapped country would be able to roll over maturing debt. * Market Roundup, C7, C8 GRAPHIC-CHART: Daily Diary: Tuesday, April 24, 2001; Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Aquila Shares Rise 24% After IPO Raises $420 Million (Update1) 2001-04-24 11:08 (New York) Aquila Shares Rise 24% After IPO Raises $420 Million (Update1) (Updates share price. Adds planned spinoff in sixth paragraph.) Kansas City, Missouri, April 24 (Bloomberg) -- Aquila Inc. shares rose as much as 24 percent after the electricity and natural-gas trader owned by UtiliCorp United Inc. raised $420 million in its initial public offering. Aquila shares rose $3.60 to $27.60 in late-morning trading, up from the initial price of $24. They traded as high as $29.80. Shares of UtiliCorp, the third-largest U.S. utility owner, rose 7 cents to $35.46. They had risen 87 percent in the past year. UtiliCorp sold 17.5 million shares of Aquila yesterday to take advantage of investor interest in energy traders and generators. Shares of Atlanta-based trader Mirant Corp. have risen 59 percent since their debut in September. Minneapolis-based NRG Energy Inc., which builds and runs power plants, has more than doubled since selling stock in May. The Aquila sale, through Lehman Brothers Holdings Inc. and Merrill Lynch & Co., is one of the few new offerings favored by investors. The Nasdaq Composite Index had fallen 41 percent in the past year, limiting new offerings by computer-related companies. Aquila is among 25 companies to go public so far this year, compared with 179 a year ago. Aquila's profit last year more than doubled to $98 million from the previous year. Aquila and UtiliCorp are based in Kansas City, Missouri. Spinoff Next Year UtiliCorp will get $119 million after expenses in the stock sale, and Aquila will get $273 million, Aquila said in a corporate filing. UtiliCorp keeps control of Aquila with about 81 million shares and 98 percent of voting rights. UtiliCorp intends to spin off its stake in Aquila to UtiliCorp shareholders in about a year, company spokesman Ethan Hirsh said. Wide swings in energy prices and a surge in gas demand have boosted energy traders' first-quarter profits. Houston-based Dynegy Inc.'s profit rose 73 percent, and Charlotte-based Duke Energy Corp.'s profit rose 54 percent. Sales of Enron Corp. the largest energy trader, almost quadrupled to $50.1 billion, and profit rose 20 percent. Reliant Resources, a unit of Reliant Energy Inc. that buys and runs power plants, is planning an IPO through Goldman, Sachs & Co. next week. It increased the sale to $1.46 billion from $1.3 billion to meet demand. Aquila has business in the U.S., the U.K., Germany, Norway, and Spain. It also trades communications bandwidth. In eight U.S. states and Jamaica, it owns or controls power plants that can generate 2,013 megawatts, or enough power to light about 2 million U.S. homes. In Illinois and Missouri, it plans to complete plants next quarter that can generate 894 megawatts. UtiliCorp sells power to 4 million customers in the U.S., Canada, New Zealand, and Australia. It also installs and runs cable-television and fiber-optic networks. UtiliCorp raised $288.7 million in a secondary offering of 10 million shares a month ago. UtiliCorp will use money from the Aquila sale to buy utilities and networks outside the U.S., Chief Financial Officer Peter Lowe said in an interview this month. A Bandwidth Glut Exists in the Long-Haul Market, but a Shortage Exists in the Metro and Access Markets 04/24/2001 PR Newswire (Copyright © 2001, PR Newswire) BOSTON, April 24 /PRNewswire Interactive News Release/ -- IGI Consulting's (IGIC) recent "Bandwidth Glut: Fact or Fiction" Conference held last week in Boston challenged attendees and speakers to define and defend their position on whether the markets suffer from either too much or too little bandwidth. The interactive sessions encouraged debate, and presenters found themselves passionately defending their individual positions. Despite the difference of opinions, the overall message conveyed by both presenters and attendees was that a bandwidth glut exists in the terrestrial long-haul and submarine cable markets, while a bandwidth shortage exists in the metro and access markets. But this conclusion was not easily reached. On the first day of the conference, Andrew Odlyzko, the Head Mathematics and Cryptography of AT&T Labs, armed with concrete data, and a believer that a fiber glut exists, showed that Internet traffic is doubling every year, not every three to four months as is often quoted in the trade press. On the surface, smashing the Internet traffic myth seemed damaging; however, Odlyzko's conclusion, that "Internet traffic is growing vigorously but only about doubling every year," is still optimistic. It solidifies the concept that the Internet "may fundamentally change relationships between buyers and sellers, producers and consumers," which was discussed by the FCC's Chief Economist Gerald Faulhaber during his morning keynote address. Appearances are deceptive, even when it pertains to a discussion of the bandwidth glut. Dr. Paul Polishuk, President of IGIC, pointed out that "existing bottlenecks in the Access and Metro markets cause concerns of a capacity glut." He pointed out that this capacity glut is deceptive, because the bottleneck is directly attributed to a bandwidth shortage, not a bandwidth glut. For evidence to support his opinion, he said that when broadband services, such as xDSL, cable modems, and fixed wireless are more widely deployed, the bottleneck will grow and the bandwidth shortage will be very clear. Mool Singhi, the Director of Network Planning and Forecasting for Global Crossing, concurred with Dr. Polishuk that appearances are indeed deceptive. Singhi, referring to the submarine cable market, said that "what appears to be a glut is actually an industry inventory management process." In fact, he said, "supply should always be higher than demand" in order to provide maximum service to bandwidth buyers. One of the chief reasons a glut is perceived in the submarine cable industry is that announced design capacity is mistakenly interpreted as available capacity. "It takes huge amounts of capital to convert design capacity into available capacity," Singhi said, a process that may take years if the capacity is needed. Other issues in the submarine cable industry were also discussed. One of the most provocative statements introduced was from America's Network March 1, 2001 edition: "Industry insiders admit that announcements of 6 to 8 Tbps cable systems are designed to discourage competitive entry ... .it is doubtful that all those systems will be built." Even if they are built, that capacity may never be lit, because of the prohibitive costs involved. The submarine cable industry also came under fire at the conference's bandwidth trading panel discussion. Grant Zimmerman, a bandwidth broker for Enron Broadband Services, said that he has "20 sellers for every buyer on the New York to London cable." In fact, the IRU price of a Transatlantic STM-1 has dropped to "$850,000 from $8.5 million in 1998," according to Tim Stronge, Director of Research for TeleGeography. Stronge also cited data from TeleGeography's recent report that shows Transatlantic route capacity will reach 12 Tbps in 2005, and Transpacific route capacity will reach16 Tbps in that same year. "Supply is leading demand in the early years in major ocean crossings," Global Crossing's Mool Singhi concluded. In the metro network, attendees and speakers agreed a bandwidth shortage exists and that Tier 1 cities are better served than Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities. Bob DeRosa, Vice President of Marketing at American Fiber Systems, said there is "no glut in the metros, because of prohibitive construction costs and a complicated process that involves permits and rights of way." An alternative metro solution that was not discussed is Free-Space Optics (FSO). FSO is an upcoming topic in IGIC's Photonics Briefings Series. The FSO conference will be held on May 9th in Boston. FSO and fixed wireless are still options available to carriers that want to solve the last mile problem in metro areas. FSO in particular, with speeds up to 2.5 Gbps, can complete a carrier's metro fiber ring at wireline speeds. FSO in Metro Optical Networks will be the topic of the keynote on May 9th. Metro connectivity is robust in the major markets across the US. According to Telegeography, 23 of the major markets in the US have more than 14 network options. Of course, Tier 2 and Tier 3 cities are not as bandwidth rich. Their options are limited. On the surface, the major markets seem well served, but it is an industry axiom that only 5 percent of all businesses in the US have fiber to the building, leaving the other 95 percent with a fiber shortage. Finally, the idea that there is a bandwidth glut was expanded into other areas of the market by Mark Langley, Research Director of Epoch Partners. He asks, is there a carrier and equipment manufacturer glut in addition to a bandwidth glut? On the bandwidth glut question, Langley concurred with other attendees that some fiber routes are commoditized, and some are not. For evidence of an equipment manufacturer glut, Langley said that Epoch estimates that more than 25 companies are pursuing optical integrated circuits and more than 60 companies are focused solely on MEMS. His conclusion: The industry is ripe for consolidation, driven by the carriers' choice of "best of breed" technologies over end-to-end solutions. On the carrier glut issue, Langley said that lack of access to capital limits carrier build-out strategies and that "investors are putting established and emerging carriers on a level playing field." The bottom line: "earnings matter." What matters to IGIC is that attendees and speakers at the Bandwidth Glut Conference held last week were treated to stimulating sessions, interactive debates, and to industry intelligence that will help improve their investments and business models. If you or your company is interested in taking an in- depth look at relevant topics, research IGIC's Photonics Briefings Series and check out our website at www.photonicsbriefings.com or www.igigroup.com for our upcoming schedule. Conference proceedings from the Bandwidth Glut Conference, as well as for all our briefings, are also available. IGIC's position is that opportunities still exist in the telecom industry, and that if Internet traffic is doubling every year, that's a huge opportunity for entrepreneurs, equipment manufacturers, carriers, investors, and other telecom executives. Contact: Dr. Hui Pan Chief Economist IGI Group, Inc. 617-232-3111 hpan@igigroup.com MAKE YOUR OPINION COUNT - Click Here http://tbutton.prnewswire.com/prn/11690X37837607 /CONTACT: Dr. Hui Pan, Chief Economist of IGI Group, Inc., 617-232-3111, hpan@igigroup.com/ 14:40 EDT Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Businesses back bill to refund Texas utility customers billions By LISA FALKENBERG Associated Press Writer 04/24/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. AUSTIN (AP) - Two business heavyweights, Enron and Shell, are backing a bill that would force utilities to refund customers about $4.9 billion in overcharges allowed under the electric deregulation law passed last session. The bill's author Rep. Sylvester Turner, D-Houston, announced the alliance Tuesday, saying he hoped it would convince his colleagues that his bill isn't antibusiness. "It's not just legislators versus businesses," Turner said of his bill. "This is a pro-business bill if it's pro-competition." Enron and Shell are competitors of the utilities that would be forced give refunds. The bill also helps Enron and Shell lower the cost of doing business. Under Turner's bill, a residential customer in TXU Electric & Gas's service area would get a refund of $481 while a residential customer in Reliant Energy Inc.'s service area would get $590, about five times the amount in state and property tax breaks granted last session, Turner said. About 2.3 million Texans are residential customers of TXU while 1.5 million are residential customers of Reliant. Customers of municipalities or electric cooperatives would not get refunds. Refund estimates include money rate payers have paid and are expected to pay. Turner said he expects lawmakers to debate the bill in the House early next week, after he conducts negotiations with the utilities that oppose the bill. "It gives back to the rate payers their money," Turner said of the bill. "And they're in a better position to decide what to do with their money than regulated utilities." Utilities have argued that they don't owe the refunds. A TXU official has said refunding customers now might mean rate increases later if the market takes a different turn. "Customers would be ill-served by any refund now which would be based on a PUC estimation model using incomplete and inaccurate data," Tom Baker, president of TXU, has said. The disagreement over the refunds stems from the deregulation law, which allows utilities to charge customers higher-than-necessary rates to make up for money they were expected to lose through investments in nuclear power and coal plants. Those plants were expected to lose value in an unregulated market. But soaring natural gas prices made gas-fired power plants more expensive to operate, increasing the value of nuclear power and coal plants, and resulting in extra profits for utilities. The utility commission would have the authority to decide if and how a repayment could be reimbursed to the customers under the bill. Most utilities argue that it is too early to determine what their costs will be and that under the deregulation laws, Texas utilities have until 2004 to determine it. Electric deregulation starts Jan. 1. A pilot program begins in June. But Turner and others say that if the companies are not forced to return the excess earnings now, they will find a way in 2004 to make sure that they do not have to return money to consumers then. "If you allow them to hold on to it in 2000 to 2004, it will not be there," Turner said. "People are saying we need help on our utility bills right now." PUC Chairman Pat Wood has said that estimates show that gas prices will stay high, keeping the value of other power plants high as well. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Starwood Hotels Meets 1Q Despite Economy, 2Q Views Cut By Janet Morrissey Of DOW JONES NEWSWIRES 04/24/2001 Dow Jones News Service (Copyright © 2001, Dow Jones & Company, Inc.) NEW YORK -(Dow Jones)- Starwood Hotels & Resorts Worldwide Inc. (HOT) managed to stave off the worst effects of the economic downturn in the first quarter as the company posted quarterly results in line with analysts' projections. However, the weak economic conditions will cause the company to fall short in the second quarter. In a conference call Tuesday, Chief Financial Officer Ron Brown lowered his guidance for the second quarter to 58 cents a share, which is down 5 cents from Thomson Financial/First Call's current consensus projection of 63 cents a share. While Brown expects business to improve in the third and fourth quarters, he concedes "there is more downside risk than upside opportunity for the rest of the year." The White Plains, N.Y., company, which owns and operates hotels under the St. Regis, Luxury Collection, Sheraton, Westin, Four Points and W brand names, reported first-quarter earnings of 30 cents a share, up from operating earnings of 26 cents a year ago. The slumping economy has taken a toll on the lodging industry as demand for hotel rooms fell off in the first quarter. The impact didn't bypass Starwood. Indeed, the company's revenue per available room, or revpar, which is a measure of occupancy and room rate growth, rose 4.3% at North American hotels it has owned for at least a year, which is short of the 6% growth it had previously projected for 2001. While room rates rose 5.7% on average in the quarter, these gains were offset by lower occupancy rates. Occupancy levels slipped 90 basis points to 67.1% at its North American hotels in the quarter. Chairman Barry Sternlicht said a number of factors affected occupancy. The highly-publicized and much-feared Winter storm that was forecast to hit the Northeast in March caused a significant disruption in travel and hotel bookings, which affected bookings in the Big Apple and the Northeast corridor. Although the storm never actually arrived, its anticipated arrival created havoc, he said. "The loss of a week or two to bad weather had a huge impact" on the company's occupancy, he said. Starwood was able to offset the lower revpar growth in the quarter by wider profit margins. Cost-cutting measures, a hiring freeze and the company's energy agreement with Enron helped to lower costs and expand margins in the quarter. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. Enron, Napster take honors at MIT eBusiness awards 04/24/2001 Associated Press Newswires Copyright 2001. The Associated Press. All Rights Reserved. CAMBRIDGE, Mass. (AP) - Despite a string of court defeats in recent months, Napster stole the show at the Massachusetts Institute of Technology's Sloan eBusiness awards. Napster founder Shawn Fanning was named ePerson of the Year, and the online music trading service, which a judge has ruled violated copyright laws, also won the "Disruptive Technology" award and the MIT Student Choice Award at a ceremony Monday night. Houston-based Enron was named eBusiness of the Year for a system that lets customers buy and sell over the Internet. The system has grossed more than $336 billion in transactions since its inception, accounting for more than 60 percent of trading volume. Fanning, who grew up in Brockton and Cape Cod, called his online service Napster after his own childhood nickname. Vindigo, whose product turns handheld devices into personal navigators, was Rookie of the Year. Web services firm CitySoft received the Social Responsibility Award. The winners were selected by a jury from more than 600 nominations. Copyright , 2000 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved. INDIA: UPDATE 1-Termination on Enron's Dabhol meeting agenda.
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