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Business Roundup: Europe Sara Vincent & Carleen Pearce June 2001
Cadbury Schweppes to buy Orangina Cadbury Schweppes to buy Orangina Cadbury Schweppes said on June 6 that it is close to reaching an agreement to buy Pernod Ricard's soft drinks brands and businesses in Continental Europe, North America and Australia for $595 million (£419 million). The deal - which comprises Pernod's Orangina, Pampryl, Champomy, and Yoo-Hoo brands - will be dependent upon regulatory approval. In France - Europe's third largest soft drinks market - Orangina-Pampryl is the second largest soft drinks producer. The Orangina brand is also present in numerous export markets. In the US, Yoo-Hoo is the leading brand in the chocolate drink category, with 75 percent market share. "Our beverages operations are now clearly focused on the profitable markets of North America, Continental Europe and Australia. Europe is our second largest beverages market and has demonstrated strong profit growth over the last few years." said John Sunderland, Cadbury Schweppes' CEO. "The potential acquisition… would make a significant contribution to our objective of building robust and sustainable businesses in our chosen markets." Sunderland added. Pernod Ricard said the sale of its soft drinks brands would be a key step in the Group's refocus on its core business, wines and spirits, the industry in which it will become one of the major global players following the anticipated acquisition of Seagram's brands.
Best educated work force in 30 years Statistics recently released by Eurostat, the European Union statistical agency, showed that the EU as a whole has experienced a significant increase in education levels over the past 30 years. In fact, the number of young adults (ages 25-29 years) that completed a high school education has risen from less than 50 percent in the 1970's to 71 percent by the end of the 1990's. Europe Business News said in a recent article, "To find the best educated work force, US investors should look to the colder climes of Finland and Sweden, which far surpass their European rivals in academic achievement." In Finland, 31 percent of the adult population had post-secondary education qualifications. Sweden came in a close second, with 29 percent of all adults having post-secondary education. Britain, Belgium and Denmark were ranked third, at 27 percent. Denmark and Germany had the highest number of adults with a high school education, at 80 percent. Relatively low percentages were recorded in the countries in the south of the EU, with Italy at 43 percent, Spain at 35 percent and Portugal at 21 percent. Despite this notable progress in education within the EU communities, one in five high school students dropped out of school on or before completing their high school education, which is in most cases the end of compulsory education. Of all the large European economies, Italy had the worst record for education. Only 10 percent of its adult population had post-secondary education qualifications, and the high school dropout rate was high at 27 percent.
Internet portals and major financial institutions are trying to persuade consumers to check and pay their utility bills on-line. The idea may appeal to Web-savvy consumers, but are the rest of us ready for this time and cost cutting exercise? Recent research by Macro 4, a UK-based provider of e-billing solutions, showed that 69% of UK Internet users would prefer to receive their bills on-line. That leaves 31% of us either unhappy or unsure. So, what are the benefits? For billers, the economics are compelling: The cost to mail a bill to a customer varies from £1 to £2.50 by the time printing, envelopes, postage, and personnel costs are taken into account. On-line bill presentment saves billers on labor and postage costs, and being paid electronically can reduce the costs in receivables and improve cash flow. The US is already embracing this new technology and last year saved over US$ 180 million through the practice of e-billing. However, Europe has developed a very effective payment system of direct debit that takes a direct payment every month from the consumers' bank account to the service providers. Many of the utility companies already using this method have been able to improve services and offer discounts to customers utilising direct debit. So, will e-billing catch on in Europe? A recent case study into Dutch utilities has found that a new utility company (as yet unnamed) will operate entirely on-line. They will be able to offer very competitive rates, enable customers to sign up on-line and address queries interactively. But consumer adoption represents a classic chicken-and-egg conundrum: Consumers will not want to check and complete bill payments on-line until enough billers convince them that it's faster, easier, cheaper and more secure than getting bills through the mail. Moreover, billers will not be able to justify the cost of investing in an e-billing solution until enough consumers are using the systems. However, if e-billing does become as successful as hoped, we might see a dramatic change in billing practice over the next few years. Writer: © Copyright 2001. Galt Western Personnel Ltd. Unless otherwise specified, you may reprint this article, quote from it, use it in research or projects, duplicate it or distribute it. Credit of authorship and source MUST be given to galtglobalreview.com. Ownership of Copyright remains with Galt Western Personnel Ltd.
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