Industry Comlsqaolxjparison TEXT

7/24/2019 Industry Comlsqaolxjparison TEXT

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Department of AccountingUniversita Bocconi

DRIVERS OF INDUSTRY FINANCIAL STRUCTURE

Antonio MarraEmilia Merlotti

Angela Pettinicchio

Attached materials:All relevant materials linked

Academic year 2015/16


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A few days had passed since Steve began working in the B.U.P. Equity fund but, despite the

(very) hard work pace to which he had to become accustomed he was beginning to appreciate the

colleagues with whom he shared the office, the work environment, the tasks he was set and even

the revolting coffee dispensed by the machines placed at the entrance of each floor of the building.

Certainly the appreciation shown by Mr. Johnson for the solution Steve presented to the

valuation problem of the first day had been useful in increasing his self-esteem and he was

beginning to think that he would be able to make the grade!

Thanks in fact to the useful advice received from Sarah, Steve had managed - in the one hour

conceded to him, to analyze Euroflys main financial documents and to isolate the most important

information so as to come up with a company profile able to orientate the investment decision.

Steves brilliant ideas had helped him to gain the confidence of his boss

Back from a coffee break with his colleagues, while he was still thinking about the compliments he

had received, Mr Jonhson called Steve to his office.

My dear Steve, began the boss, in view of the excellent job you did on the Euroflys financial

statement, I have decided to put you to the test again!

Having said this, Mr. Johnson picked up a heavy sheaf of documents and passed them to Steve.

Steve gave a quick look at this material and realized that it was a series of reports, each of which

referred to a different listed company.

Mr. Johnson continued as you can see, here you have financials reports regarding eleven

companies operating in as many different industries as primarily one major business segment.

Some of them have headquarters in an European country (Italy, Norway, United Kingdom) some

others in the United States.

In particular, please make sure you learn as much as you can with regard to these companies

finding for each one:

- an overall view of each company, with a summary of its history and a brief business description;

- common -size financial statements (the latest annual financials statement ending in 2007/2008) ;

- a synthetic selection of financial ratios.

What I want you to do is to have a look to the material so that we can consider together the

investment opportunities that these industries may offer. If you agree, I would say we could meet

here in my office early tomorrow morning.

Obviously he could not contradict his boss, but he did manage to fix the appointment for the early

afternoon- So he hurried out of the office and went back to his desk.

Unfortunately (probably due to the anxiety he was starting to feel because he had so little time

again) he did not notice a chair in front of his pc and he bumped against it. The result was

disastrous! All the folders containing the material pertaining to each company fell on the floor

creating an indistinct carpet of paper! What a terrible mess!


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Steve noticed that on each sheet there was no name of the company under reference, but only a

progressive number. At this point the only thing he could think was how can I identify the correct

report for each company?!

Once again he remembered Bocconis course.

He recalled (if only he had paid more attention) that according to the industry it is possible to

identify certain significant and peculiar items.

He knew that these elements werent enough to solve his problem but it was a starting

point.

This motivated him to find a solution to the chaos he had created. He therefore decided to

make an attempt by following a logical procedure.

First of all he started to put the folders with the names of the companies in order:

A2ABJ's Wholesale Club Inc

EasyJet

eBay Inc

Gruppo COIN SpA

Intercontinental Hotels

Microsoft Corporation

Nokja Oyi

Permasteeelisa SpA

Recordati SpA

Tesco Plc

Then he picked up the sheets N. 1.

As Mr. Jonson had told him they gave a summary of the companys history and a brief

description of the activity carried out.

Thanks to them Steve started to understand the industry to which the companies belong.

See the Appendix 1 for the companies overview.

Finally, the last but most difficult bit

Considering that, in practice, it was not possible to match up so much data in so manypapers, Steve decided to summarize it in one single table. Then he could more or lessidentify the industries to which these values belonged., and so the names of thecompanies.


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Based on the table given on the following page and using, more than your accountingcompetence, your logic, try to help Steve in his difficult task.


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APPENDIX 1


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HISTORY

AEM, now A2A, was established in 1910 as Azienda Elettrica Municipale.From the 1920s to 1940s, the company grew and consolidated through the interwar years, with new plantsbeing constructed to accompany the existing plants in Valtellina.In 1950s, the company made heavy investment, with a focus on the construction of hydroelectric plants.

This eventually brought about a doubling in production capacity by 1963.Enlargement of the company's existing plants was completed in the 1970s.The company expanded its operations to become a multi-utility company in 1976 with the management ofthe traffic light and public lighting systems of Milan.In 1981, the company began the distribution and sale of gas following the acquisition by Milan City Councilof the city's gas network. AEM was known as Azienda Elettrica Municipale until 1996 when the company wasrecognized as a joint stock company called AEM. The newly named company was listed on the Italian StockExchange in 1998. In the following year, the company reorganized its operations, adopting the identity of agroup separated into companies operating by sector.In 2001, the company formed a number of strategic alliances with industrial and financial partners, out ofwhich emerged new companies such as Electrone, Italpower, and Plurigas. In the same year, the companyalso entered the telecommunications market by establishing a network of fiber-optic cables throughoutMilan. During 2002, AEM acquired Eurogen as a joint venture with other industry operators; and Air Liquide

Italia to develop a number of projects linked to the production, distribution and use of hydrogen.The company sold its 30.8% stake in FastWeb, the Italian leader in the broadband telecommunicationsmarket in the cities in which it created its own fiber-optic infrastructure, to e.Biscom in 2003.

AEM Calore e Servizi, an AEM's company sold its branch of heating and facility management services withclients outside the city of Milan to Cofathec Servizi, a Gaz de France Group's company in 2005. In the sameyear, the group acquired a 30% stake in Ecodeco, the industrial holding company for the Ecodeco Groupthat operated in Italy, the UK and Spain in waste treatment and disposal, as well as waste to energy (WTE).

Also in the same year, Transalpina di Energia, a company half-owned by AEM, acquired control of Edison.The group sold Metroweb to Burano, an Italian registered company indirectly controlled by Stirling SquareCapital Partners which held 76.47%, with the remaining 23.53% share held by AEM (with an investment ofE8 million ) in October 2006.

AEM, Terna and RTL divested 99.99% of the share capital in AEM Trasmissione to RTL and the remainder,0.01%, to Metropolitana Milanese in November 2006.In May 2007, as part of its strategy to consolidate the company's environmental services and alternative

energy generation business, the group announced to acquire 70% of Ecodeco, of which AEM already owned30%. The merger of AMSA into AEM was approved with a share swap ratio of 1.6x (every ASM shareholderreceived eight AEM shares in return for five ASM shares) in June 2007. AMSA was wholly owned by theMunicipality of Milan to manage environmental services (waste cleaning, collection and disposal) in the cityof Milan and some of the surrounding municipalities. Through its subsidiaries the company managed someservice to the private sector and municipalities near Milan.

BRIEF BUSINESS DESCRIPTION

A2A SpA is an Italy-based multi-utility company created as a result of merger of ASM, AEM and AMSA. Itoperates in the fields of electricity production, sale of electricity and gas, gas and electricity networks,heating, integrated water cycle and environment. The Company also offers engineering, telecommunication,information technology and customer relationship management services, as well as project and facilitymanagement and planning and realization of telecommunication networks.

A2A SpA operates through its subsidiaries, including Aprica Studi, Selene, Aem Service, Aem Calore&Servizi,Itradeplace and Bascom, among others. The Company is headquartered in Milan, Italy.

INDUSTRY CLASSIFICATION

Dow Jones: Industry Electricity/Gas UtilitiesSIC: 4939 Combination UtilitiesNAICS221122 Electric Power Distribution


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HISTORY

Zayre Corporation introduced BJ's Wholesale Club warehouse club concept to New England in 1984. Zayrepurchased the California-based HomeClub chain of home improvement warehouses in 1986.TJX Company sold Zayre (BJ's parent) Stores division to Wab an in 1988. In 1997, BJ's Wholesale Club,became an independent, publicly owned entity when Waban, BJ's parent company at the time, distributed to

its stockholders, on a pro rata bas is, all of th e company's outstanding common stock. BJ's entered theAtlanta market in 2002 and opened four new clubs.BJ's opened 14 gas stations in 2002 and 10 gas stations in 2003. BJ's launched its BJ's Rewards Membership(SM) program in 2003. The company opened a 480,000 square foot cross-dock facility in Florida, in 2003.The company opened eight new BJ's stores in 2005.In 2006, BJ's opened its 618,000 square foot new distribution center in Uxbridge, Massachusetts. Thecompany launched its retail shopping website, www.bjs.com in 2006.The company closed 46 in-club pharmacies in February 2007. During the same month, BJ's voluntarilyrecalled its pre-packaged Wellsley Farms brand fresh mushrooms, purchased between February 11 andFebruary 19, 2007, from the market due to a potential health risk. The company also recalled its 25-countpackages of '"Berkley & Jensen" Full-Cut Pig Ears dog treats due to suspected Salmonella contamination inMarch 2007.BJ's Wholesale Club launched BJ's Visa card in partnership with Barclays, in August 2007. The new credit

card offers cardholders a faster, consumer-friendly way to earn BJ's Bucks, and introduces a number of new,convenient card features that provide additional value to qualified BJ's Members.


BJ's Wholesale Club (BJ's) is a warehouse club operator in the eastern US. The company's product offeringsinclude branded gourmet and grocery products and a range of general merchandise. BJ's also markets arange of private label products. The company also offers specialty services and premier benefit programs.BJ's operates 158 full-sized warehouse clubs that averaged approximately 113,000 square feet and 19smaller format warehouse clubs that averaged approximately 71,000 square feet. Additionally, BJ's operates100 gas stations in its clubs.Food categories at B J's include fresh and frozen foods, fresh meat and dairy products, beverages, drygrocery items, fresh prod uce and flo wers, and ca nned goods. Its general merchandise offerings includeoffice supplies and equipment, consumer electronics, pre-recorded media, small appliances, auto

accessories, tires, jewelry, health and beauty aids, basic household products, computer software, books,greeting cards, apparel, tools, toys and seasonal items.The company's specialty services include full service optical stores, food courts, full-service Verizon Wirelesscenters, home improvement services, BJ's Vacations services, garden sheds, patios and sunrooms; apropane tank filling service, an automobile buying service; a car rental service, muffler and brake servicesoperated along with Monro Muffler Brake and Tuffy Associates.BJ's also has 100 gasoline stations in operation at its clubs. The company's electronic commerce business,bjs.com, provides additional products generally not found in clubs. The website also offers services such asauto and ho me insurance, home i mprovement, travel services, and membership services. Items sold onwebsite include electronics, computers, and office equipment, products for the home, health and beautyaids, sporting goods, DVDs and music, baby products, toys and jewelry.


Dow Jones: Industry Food WholesalingSIC: 5399 Miscellaneous General Merchandise StoresNAICS: 4529 Other General Merchandise Stores


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HISTORY

EasyJet Airline Company Limited, styled as easyJet, is a low cost airline based at London Luton Airport.It was established on 18 October 1995 and started operations on 10 November 1995.It was launched by Stelios Haji-Ioannou with two wet leased Boeing 737-200 aircraft. The aircraft wereoperated initially by GB Ai rways, and subsequently by Air Foyle as easyJet had not yet received its Air

Operator's Certificate. easyJet initially operated two routes: London Luton to Glasgow and Edinburgh.Nowadays it is the second largest low-fare airlines in Europe, after Ryanair, operating domestic andinternational scheduled services on 387 routes between 104 European and north African airports.The airline holds a United Kingdom Civil Aviation Authority Type A, operating licence permitting it to carrypassengers, cargo and mail on aircraft with 20 or more seats.The parent company, easyJet plc, is listed on the London Stock Exchange in 2000(LSE: EZJ) but Sir Haji-Ioannou and his family remain major shareholders in easyJet PLC . He separately owns easyGr oup IPlicensing Ltd , the company that owns the easy brand and licenses it to the airline but also othercompanies. There are no "cross-shareholdings" between easyJet and these other easyGroup licenseecompanies. easyJet PL C operates independently from the other companies, although some "cross-marketing" agreements do exist on arms length terms.EasyJet has seen rapid expansion since its establishment in 1995, having grown through a combination ofacquisitions and base openings fuelled by consumer demand for low-cost air travel. The airline now operates

166 aircraft from 20 bases across Europe.


EasyJet is one of Europe's leading low-cost airlines. It is engaged in the provision of a low-cost airline service on short-haul and medium-haul point-to-point routes principally within Europe. In order to be able to offer low fare airlineservices, easyJet attempts to cut all costs t hat it deems unnecessary so that it can b oost its tight profit margins. Forexample, easyJet uses the Internet to reduce its distribution costs. Over 90% of all seats on easyJet's flights are soldover the Internet, making easyJet one of Europe's biggest Internet retailers.EasyJet currently has operating bases throughout th e UK and mainland Europe. The company's network of ope ratingbases was constructed due to easyJet taking advantage of the reforms offered by the single European aviation market.easyJet operates routes from a number of airports in the UK and mainland Europe. The company flies from a number ofairports with b ases including London Luton, London Stansted, Liverpool John Lennon, Geneva, Amsterdam, Belfast,London Gatwick, Paris Charles De Gaulle, Pari s Orly, East Midlands, Bristol and Newcastle.The Companys subsidiaries include easyJet Airline Company Limited, easyJet Switzerland SA, easyJet Aircraft Company

Limited, easyJet Sterling Li mited, easyJet Leasing Limited and easyJet Malta Li mited and on January 31, 2008, itcompleted the acquisition of GB Airways.


Dow Jones: Industry Low Cost AirlinesSIC: 4512 Air Transportation, ScheduledNAICS: 481111 Scheduled Passenger Air Transportation


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HISTORY

eBay was formed as a sole proprietorship in 1995, when Pierre Omidyar, a computer programmer, wrote thecode for a n auction website that he ran from his home computer. The company was incorporated inCalifornia in 1996. The company reincorporated in Delaware in 1998 and became public in the same year.

Around the same time, America Online (AOL) and eBay signed a three year agreement under which AOL

received guaranteed payments totaling $12 million from eBay. The new all iance secured eBay a largepotential customer base in the form of AOL members.The company acquired several entities in 19 99: Butterfield & Butterfield, an auction houses; Alando.de,Germany's largest online auction house; and Kruse International, one of the largest land-based auctioneersof collectible cars in the world.eBay expanded through joint ventures in Australia and Japan in 2000. In the same year, eBay took an equitystake in the online used-car dealer AutoTrader.com and also acquired Half.com.During 2001-02, the company further expanded with the acquisition of other entities: iBazar which operatedonline trading sites in Belgium, Brazil, France, Italy, the Netherlands, Portugal, Spain, and Sweden. LatereBay sold iBazar's Brazilian subsidiary to Mercad oLibre in exchange for a stake in MercadoLibre. In late2001, eBay Singapore was launched.eBay introduced its new business-to-business site, eBay Business in 2003.During 2003-04, the company acquired all of Fair Markets technology and business assets; Marktplaats.nl

(www.marktplaats.nl), a classifieds website in the Netherland; Mobile.de, an online classifieds websites forvehicles in Germany; and Baazee.com to expand its business in India. In the same year, eBay raised itsstake in Internet Auction of South Korea from 62% to 86%. From 2005-06, eBay acquired several onlinesites to expand its bu siness (Kurant's and Rent.com; Gumtree.com and LoQUo.com; Shopping.com, Skypeand Tradera.com). In the same period, the company launched eBay Poland (www.ebay.pl). eBay continuedits expansion in 2007 with the acquisition of ot her entities (StubHub, GittiGidiyor.com, StumbleUpon and

ViA-Online). In the same year, eBay entered an agreement with Sanook!,an online portal in Thailand, tolaunch a regional e-commerce site.In February 2008, eBay agreed to a sett lement with MercExchange to dismiss all claims and appealsstemming from the patent lawsuit filed by MercExchange in 2001. The company launched a new applicationin September 2008. The new product was a new mobile application - eBay Mobile - available for iPhone andiPod Touch users in Europe. The new free application gave Apple users the freedom to bid, buy and pay foritems directly from their mobile devices.


eBay Inc. (eBay) provides online marketplaces for the sale of goods and services, as well as other onlinecommerce, or ecommerce, platforms, online payments services and online communications offerings to adiverse community of individuals and businesses. eBay has three business segments: Marketplaces,Payments and Communications.The marketplaces segment enables online commerce through a variety of platforms including the traditionaleBay.com platform and other online platforms such as classifieds websites, Half.com, Rent.com,Shopping.com and StubHub. The company also offers a range of community and support features such asannouncement and bulletin boards, customer support boards, personal pages, and other category-specificinformation exchanges to buyers and sellers.eBays Payments segment, which consists of PayPal, enables individuals and businesses to send and receivepayments online.The company's communications segment consists of Skype, an internet communications company. Skype

Voice over Internet Protocol (VoIP) calls between Skype users, and also provides Skype users' connectivityto fixed line and mobile telephones. The company has more than 190 Skype Certified hardware products.


Dow Jones: Industry Online AuctionsSIC: 5961 Catalog and Mail-Order HousesNAICS: 45411 Electronic Shopping and Mail-Order Houses


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HISTORY

Gruppo Coin was founded in 1916.In 1926, the company started first Coin store in Mirano and Venice and started selling fabrics, yarns andlinen.Gruppo Coin opened first Oviesse store in Milan in 1965.

Between 1966 and 1974, the company opened Coin branches in Brescia, Vicenza, Varese, Pordenone,Vigevano, Mantua, Genoa, Leghorn, Udine, Piacenza, Naples, Taranto and Ferrara.In 1986, the company's Coin brand became the first retailer to develop a fidelity card program in Italy.Gruppo Coin's Oviesse brand entered into apparel retailing business in 1986.In 1998, the company acquired La Standa stores, which were in the textiles and clothing sector. In thefollowing year, the company listed on the Milano Stock Exchange.PAI partners, a leading european private equity firm, became Gruppo Coin's majority shareholder in 2005.In 2006, Gruppo Coin merged into the holding company Bellini Investimenti S.p.A and continued itsoperations.During 2007, the company's Oviesse brand started its international expansion plan and opened 17 stores inMiddle East and Eastern Europe countries.In May 2008, Gruppo Coin's OVS industry brand inaugurated its first store in Qatar.

BRIEF BUSINESS DESCRIPTIONGruppo Coin is an Italy based company that markets and distributes clothing and accessories for men,women and children. It also distributes health and beauty products, and home decorations in Italy. Thecompany operates 427 retail stores, of which 399 are located in Italy and 28 shops are located abroad.Gruppo Coin operates under three distinct brands: OVS industry, Coin and Young Village. Gruppo Coin's OVSindustry brand offers a variety of products, including outdoor clothing, lingerie and accessories for men,women and children in Italy. Its products are targeted at young families with children and are marketed inthe mid to mid-low price bracket. The company's Oviesse shops are primarily located in shopping centers,retail parks and shopping malls. It operates 301 retail stores in Italy and 22 retail stores in abroad.The company's Coin brand offers clothing, lingerie, household articles, perfumes, home decorations,accessories and beauty, cosmetics and gift items in Italy and abroad. It has 71 retail stores, both owned andfranchised.Gruppo Coin's Young Village brand provides modern and metropolitan clothing for children and teenagers. It

operates four retail stores in Milan and Rome.The company's subsidiaries include Oviesse Franchising, Padana, Oriental Buying Services and Gruppo CoinInternational, Wandar, Lagrange Quarantasette and Sirema.


Dow Jones: Industry Department StoresSIC: 5621 Clothing StoresNAICS 44812 Women's Clothing Stores


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HISTORY

The origins of Six Contin ents, the former owner of InterContinental Hotels Group (IHG), can be traced back to1777 when William Bass established a brewery in Burton-on-Trent, trading under his own name (Bass). In 1876,the company's red triangle trademark became the first trademark to be registered in the UK.

As the business grew, it acqui red many regional companies such as Tennents Caledonian in Scotland, and

Mitchells & Butler in the Midlands. Bass merged in 1967 with Charringtons in London. Each regional brewery hadlarge pub estates and as a result Bass became one of the largest brewers and pub owners in the country. Bassalready owned a small chain of hotels, which had been acquired in 1987, but the first significant move into hotelscame in 1989, with the purchase of Holiday Inns International. In the same year, the company acquired HolidayInns of America.In 1991, Holiday Inn Express was launched adding a complementary brand in the limited service segment; andCrowne Plaza was launched in 1994 to move the company into the upscale market. As the business became morebrand focused it sold its US mid scale hotel assets in 1996, whilst retaining the branding through franchiseagreements. Over the next few years that followed, a number of smaller, non-core businesses such as Gala bingoand Coral bookmakers were sold along with more pubs. The pubs business grew and was increasingly branded,having opened its first O'Neills in 1994. These were followed by Harvester and All Bar One in 1995. The companyacquired half of the Carlsberg-Tetley brewing business in the UK in 1996. The company acquired InterContinentalin 1998. The company joined with Punch Taverns in a bid to acquire the pub estate of Allied Domecq in 1999. Inearly 2000, the acquisition of SPHC in Australia confirmed the company's position as the leading hotel company in

Asia Pacific, and the acquisition of Bristol in the US shortly afterwards gave the company a stronger managementcontract presence in the world's largest hotel market. Later that year, the company entered into an agreement tosell Bass Brewers to a m ajor Belgian brew er. This step also involved the sale of the 'B ass' name and thesubsequent name change to 'Six Continents' to better re flect the global spread of the company's business.Following the sale of Bass Brewers, further 988 smaller pubs were sold in 2001. In 2005 the group anno uncedthe acquisition by Strategic Hotels Ca pital (SHC) of two hotels in the US (IHG Miami and Chicago) and t he saleof numerous hotels: 73 hotels in the UK to LRG Acquisition Limited (consortium comprising LehmanBrothers Real Estate Partners, GIC Real Estate and Realstar Asset Management), 9 hotels in Australia and NewZealand to Eureka Funds Management, the Holiday Inn, S uva, to a subsidiary of Fiji National Provident Fund andInterContinental Hotel Paris. In 2006 the group sold also 24 hotels in the Europe, Middle East and Africa region toWestbridge Hospitality Fund In the same year the company launched the industry's first comprehensive virtualconcierge service for Holiday Inn Hotels and Resorts.In 2007 IHG launched its Crowne Plaza brand in Vietnam, it sold its Crowne Plaza London, it announced plans toexpand its operations in India through new management contracts with real estate developers.In 2008 the group signed some contracts with a lot of partner. Between others with Expedia (to allow consumersto book IHG hotels on Expedia sites), with ALDAR Properties (for the development of new IHG-branded hotels in

Abu Dhabi), with Sun Days International (to develop luxury resort, on the shores of the Jordanian Dead Sea).


InterContinental Hotels Group PLC (I HG), incorporated on May 21, 2004, is a worldwide owner, manager andfranchisor of hotels and resorts. During the year ended December 31, 2007, IHG, through its various subsidiariesowned, leased, managed or franchised hotels and guest rooms in nearly 100 countries around the world. IHGsbrands comprised 3,949 franchised, managed, owned or leased hotels and 585,094 guest rooms. The Companysbrands include InterContinental Hotels & Resorts (InterContinental), Crowne Plaza Hotels & Resorts (CrownePlaza), Holiday Inn Hotels & Resorts (Holiday Inn), Holiday Inn Express, Staybridge Suites, Candlewood Suites andHotel Indigo. IHG operates its hotel u nder three business models: franchised, managed, and owned and leased.Franchised operations are those where the Company neither owns nor manages the hotel, but license the use of aCompany brand and provides access to reservation systems, loyalty schemes and know -how. IHG derives

revenues from a brand royalty or licensing fee, based on a percentage of room revenue. Managed operations arethose where, in addition to licensing the use of a Company brand, IHG manages the hotel for third-party owners.The Company derives revenues from base and incentive management fees and provides the system infrastructurenecessary for th e hotel to oper ate. Owned and leased operations are those where IHG owns (or leases) andoperates the hotel and, in the case of o wnership, takes all the benefits and risks associated with ownership. Inaddition, the Company also makes equity investments in hotel ownership entities.


Dow Jones:Hotels (except Casino)/MotelsSIC7011 Hotels and MotelsNAICS72111 Hotels (except Casino Hotels) and Motels


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HISTORY

Microsoft was founded when Bill Gates and Pau l Allen developed an inte rpreter for Basic programminglanguage at Micro Instrumentation and Telemetry Systems in 1975.The company started its first international office in Japan as ASCII Microsoft in 1978.The company moved from Albuquerque to Bellevue, Washington in 1979.

The company acquired a variant of Unix from AT&T and launched it as Xenix, the company's first operatingsystem in 1980. Microsoft was incorporated in 1981. In the same year, the company launched MS-DOS (DiskOperating System) and entered into a contract with IBM to provide an operating system for IBM's personalcomputer named PC-DOS by IBM.Microsoft created MSX, a home computer system in 1983. In the same year, the company also launched itsfirst Personal Computer (PC)-specific mouse known as the Microsoft Mouse. During the same period, thecompany started Microsoft Press, a book publishing division on various Microsoft technologies.Microsoft started its first inte rnational production facility in the Republic of I reland in 1985. In the sa meyear, the company launched Microsoft Windows, a graphical extension of its MS-DOS operating system. Thecompany was relocated to Redmond, Washington in the following year.The company became a publicly traded company in 1986. In the following year, it released its OS/2operating system for Original Equipment Manufacturers (OEMs). Microsoft bought a relational databasemanagement system from Sybase and named it as SQL server in 1988. In the following year, the company

introduced Microsoft Office, a bundle of separate office productivity applications including Microsoft wordand Excel.In 1991, Microsoft founded Microsoft Research, a division of the company for researching computer sciencesubjects. In the same year, the company also launched Microsoft Visual Basic and Microsoft Access.Microsoft launched MSN (Microsoft network), an umbrella service division for all online services of thecompany in 1995. The company acquired Web TV in the same year. It also introduced Microsoft SQL Server6.5, a data base management system with inbuilt support for internet applications, in the same year.Microsoft signed an agreement with Apple Macintosh operating systems to include Internet Explorer, a webbrowser application in the operating system used by Apple in 1997. In the same year, the company alsolaunched Microsoft Windows 97, Microsoft Office 97 and Internet Explorer 4.0. During the same year, it alsoupgraded its operating system to Window 98 with features such as FAT 32 files system and Internet Explorer4.0 SP1.The company's acquisitions in 1998 comprise the following: Firefly Network, MESA Group, Valence Research,and Beaverton Ore based developer of industry leading TCP/IP load balancing and fault tolerance software

for the Microsoft Windows NT operating system.In 2004, the company also acquired some other company enlarging its dimensions In 20 05, Microsoftacquired Sybari Software and Groove Networks (which helps geographically distributed workgroups to be asproductive as t hose that work in a sin gle physical location) and FrontBr idge Technologies, a provi der ofmanaged services that a ddress corporate e-mail security, compliance and availability requirements. Thistechnology is delivered in unique ways through a variety of software and Web applications. During the sameyear, Microsoft acquired mediastreams.com, that develops communications applications based on voice overinternet protocol (VoIP) technology. The company also acquired FolderShare, MotionBridge, 3GSM WorldCongress 2006, the assets of Onfolio and Apptimum to use its acquired intellectual property and technologyassets to provide customers of Microsoft Windows with the tools they need to simplify the transfer of theirapplications to their new computers.In 2006, Microsoft acquired ProClarity, a developer of advanced analysis and visualization technologies thatwork in association with Microsoft's business intelligence (BI) platform, and Softricity, a provider of

application virtualization and dynamic streaming technologies for reducing complexity of IT management in2006.In November 2007, Comcast and Microsoft launched a new internet-based communications product for smalland medium-sized businesses (SMBs), which gives SMBs access to services that were traditionally availableto only larger companies with IT staff.In May 2008, Mic rosoft proposed to the B oard of Dir ectors of Yahoo! an offer to acquire all outstandingshares of Yahoo.


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Microsoft Corporation develops, manufactures, licenses and supports a range of software products forcomputing devices. The Company's software products include operating systems for se rvers, personalcomputers and intelligent devices, server applications for distributed computing environments, informationworker productivity applications, business solution applications, high-performance computing applications

and software development tools and video games. It provides consulting and product support services, andtrains and certifies computer system integrators and developers. Microsoft Corporation sells the Xbox 360 videogame console and games, the Zune digital music and entertainment device, PC games, and peripherals. The Companyhas five segments: Client, Server and Tools, the Online Services Business, the Microsoft Business Division, and theEntertainment and Devices Division.


Dow Jones: Industry Systems SoftwareSIC: 7372 Prepackaged SoftwareNAICS 511210 Software Publishers


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HISTORY

Nokia Corporation was established in 1967 as a company under the laws of the Republic of Finland.This was the result of the merger of three Finn ish companies: Nokia, a wood-pulp mill founded in 1865;Finnish Rubber Works, a manufacturer of rubber boots, tires and other rubber products founded in 1898;and Finnish Cable Works, a manufacturer of telephone and power cables founded in 1912. Nokia ntered the

telecommunications equipment market in 1960, when an electronics department was established eat FinnishCable Works to concentrate on the production of radio transmission equipment.The company introduced the first fully digital local telephone exchange in Europe in 1982. In the same year,Nokia introduced the world's first car phone for the Nordic Mobile Telephone analogue standard. Nokia waslisted on the major stock exchanges like London in 1987 and Frankfurt in 1988. According to Nokia, the firstGSM call was made with a Nokia phone over the Nokia built network of a Finnish operator called Radiolinjain 1991.In the same year, Nokia won contracts to supply GSM networks in other European countries. In early 1990s,the company made a strategic decision to make telecommunications as a core business and divested basicbusinesses to form two main business groups: Nokia mobile phones and Nokia networks.Nokia was listed on the New York Stock Exchange in 1994. In the same year, it launched mobile phones forall major digital systems: GSM, GSM 1800 (PCN), and TDMA. The company added CDMA and GSM 1900mobile phones in 1997. Two years later, it launched the first WAP handset to the global mass market in the

form of Nokia 7110. Nokia acquired DiscoveryCom, a pr ovider of broadband digital subscriber line (DSL)services in 2000.In the following year, the company acquired Ramp Networks a US based provider of purpose built internetsecurity appliances, specifically designed for small office ap plications, and Am ber Networks, a US basednetworking infrastructure company that develops fault tolerant routing platforms.Subsequently, Nokia and Sony collaborated to develop an open middleware platform. In the next year, Nokiaunveiled the world's first TDMA handset with a full-color display. The company also reached an agreementwith IBM to collaborate on th e delivery of ente rprise wireless eBusiness solutions. Subsequently, Nokia'sstock was de -listed from the London Stock Exchange. In 2004, Nokia's shares were de-listed from ParisStock Exchange and the company were reorganized into four business groups namely mobile phones,multimedia, enterprise solutions and networks to further align the company's overall structure with itsstrategy. Nokia sold its professional mobile radio business to a defence and space company, in 2005. In 2006,Nokia acquired Intellisync Corporation, a provider of platform-independent wireless messaging andapplications for mobile devices and subsequently, it entered into an agreement with Sanyo Electric to form a

company comprising their respective CDMA mobile phone businesses. In the same year, Nokia inauguratedits manufacturing facility in India. This made Nokia the only company in India who manufactured bothmobile devices and network infrastructure equipments.Later, Nokia and Siemens announced a plan to combine Nokia's n etworks business and Siemens' carrierrelated operations for fixed and mobile networks to form a new company called Nokia Siemens Networks,owned jointly by Nokia and Siemens and consolidated by Nokia.Nokia continued its acquisition spree by acquiring companies which include LCC International's USdeployment business. Subsequently, Motorola and Nokia announced an agreement for interoperabilityamong their DVB-H (Digital Video Broadcast-Handheld) enabled mobile devices and network services. Also in2006, Nokia along with Citigroup, MasterCard Worldwide and Cingular Wireless (now AT&T) started aconsumer technology trial of Near F ield Communication (NFC) enabled mobile phones with MasterCardPayPass contact-less payment capability in New York City. In January 2007, Sprint Nextel selected Nokia asa key infrastructure and consumer electronic device provider for Sprint Nextel's 4G WiMAX next generation

mobility network along with Intel, Samsung and Motorola to create advanced network infrastructure andaccess devices.In the same month, Nokia announced its decision to apply for the delisting of its Swedish DepositoryReceipts (SDRs) from the Stockholm Stock Exchange, due to their decreased trading volumes (Nokia's SDRsfinal trading day on the Stockholm Stock Exchange was in June 2007). In April 2007, Nokia SiemensNetworks started operating as a communications infrastructure services provider.In September 2007, Nokia joined Check Point and Intel to work on the development of network securityappliances for enterprises.


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In the following months the company continued its acquisition policy with Avvenu, Symbian, NAVTEQ andPlazes. Nokia in 2008 announced also fresh investments towards its manufacturing plant in India and theintention to discontinue the production of mobile devices in Germany. As part of this, it closed its Bochumsite by mid-2008, and moved its manufacturing facilities to other cost-competitive places in Europe.


Nokia Corporation (Nokia) is player in mobile industry. The Company makes a range of mobile devices withservices and software that enable people to experience music, navigation, video, television, imaging, games,business mobility and more. From January 1, 2004 through March 31, 2007, Nokia had four business groups:Mobile Phones, Multimedia, Enterprise Solutions and Networks, supported and serviced by two horizontalgroups: Customer and Market Operations and Technology Platforms, in addition to var ious CorporateFunctions.


Dow Jones: Industry Telecommunications EquipmentSIC: 3663 Radio and Television Broadcasting and Communication EquipmentNAICS33422 Radios and Television Broadcasting and Wireless Communications Equipment Manufacturing


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HISTORY

ISAs activities (now Permasteelisa) started in 1973. The Companys growth starts by taking over andintegrating into the group over more and more companies specializing in the engineering and production ofcurtain walls and internal partitions, with the consequence that orders started to be no longer limited to theItalian market, but were extended to the whole of Europe.

The first important step towards international markets took place in 1986 with the acquisition of a minori tyinterest in the Australian company, Permasteel Industries Pty Ltd., which produced steel doors and windows.The name Permasteelisa results from the combination of the name Permasteel and ISA.The international expansion continued throught the 1990s with the creation of nume rous subsidiaries indifferent countries, such as Permasteelisa UK Ltd. in England, Permasteelisa Benelux S.A in Belgium,Permasteelisa Pacific Pte. Ltd, in Singapore company and also company in Thailand, Taiwan, China, FranceSpain, Holland and Hong Kong.With the acquisition in 2001/2002 of the Gartner Group, Permasteelisa became the worldwide leader in theengineering, manufacturing and installation of architectural envelopes (curtain walls) and internal partitions.


Permasteelisa is one of t he world's leading operators in the design, construction and installation ofarchitectural envelopes. In particular, the Companys activity is divided into four sectors: architectonic

envelopes (curtain walls), internal walls and partitions, internal fitting for shops and offices, and industrialdoors.Permasteelisa Group SpA operates worldwide through its subsidiaries. It has a network of more than 60companies (among others Permasteelisa Interiors Srl, Permasteelisa International B.V., Permasteelisa GroupUSA Holding Corporation, Josef Gartner GmbH and Permasteelisa Pacific Holdings Ltd) in 27 nations andcompleted many projects around the world, including the Sydney Opera House, various European Parliamentbuildings in Brussels and Strasbourg, the Canary Wharf development in London, the headquarters of FranceTelevision in Paris, the headquarters of ABN AMRO in Amsterdam, the headquarters of Deutsche Post inBonn, the airports serving Munich, among others.The company operates primarily in Italy. It is headquartered in Vittorio Veneto, Italy and employs 5,420people.


Dow JonesIndustry Building ConstructionSIC: 3444 Sheet Metal WorkNAICS:332322 Sheet Metal Work Manufacturing


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HISTORY

Recordati was founded in Correggio as Laboratorio Farmacologico Reggiano by G. Recordati in 1926.The company moved to a new headquarters in Milan in 1953. The company signed an exclusive licenseagreement is with Syntex in 1961.Recordati was listed on the Italian Stock Exchange in 1984. It comp leted the joint acquisition, with Byk

Gulden, of Elmu Quimica Farmaceutica in 1995. The company's flagship product Zanidip (lercanidipine) wasfirst launched in 1997. In the next year, Recordati acquired the pharmaceutical chemicals company Almu,located in Murcia, Spain.The following year, Recordati acquired the pharmaceutical company Doms Adr ian in France.The companyacquired the French pharmaceutical group Bouchara in 2000.Recordati established Bouchara Recordati in France in 2001 a fter the reorganization of the Frenchpharmaceutical companies acquired in 1999 an d 2000. Also in the same year, all savings shares wereconverted into ordinary shares. The U.K. Medicines Control Agency granted a Product License (marketingapproval) for Zanidip (lercanidipine) 20 mg(milligram) tablets in 2002. The following year, the 20mg strengthof lercanidipine was lauched in Germany, France and Australia in 2003.Recordati sold its shares in Kutnowskie Zaklady Farmaceutyczne Polfa (Polfa Kutno) to IVAX in 2004. Thenext year the company acquired German pharmaceutical company, Merckle and also entered into a multi-territorial license agreement with Lavipharm Laboratories for a new transdermal patch containing the

narcotic analgesic fentanyl in the same year.Also in the s ame year, the company established Recordati Pharmaceuticals in the United Kingdom andRecordati Hellas Pharmaceuticals S.A in Greece.Recordati entered into an agreement with Apotecnia for the sale of it s pharmaceutical chemicals plant inBeniel, Spain in January 2006 and in November, it acquired Jaba Farmacutica and the other pharmaceuticalbusinesses belonging to the Grupo Jaba in Portugal.The company signed a non-exclusive agreement with Meda, an international pharmaceutical company basedin Sweden, for the marketing and sale in Germany of Zaneril in February 2007. In December 2007, thecompany acquired Orphan Europe, a European pharmaceutical group for E135 million.


Recordati SpA is an Italy-based company active in the pharmaceutical industry. The Company's core activityis the research, development, manufacture and marketing of pharmaceuticals.

The Company is also active in the field of pharmaceutical chemicals, producing both active ingredients for itsown pharmaceuticals and active ingredients and intermediates for the generic drug market.The Company focuses on various therapeutic areas, including cardiology, gastroenterology, central nervoussystem (CNS) and analgesia. The company's leading product is lercanidipine, a latest generation calciumchannel blocker for the treatment of hypertension discovered and entirely developed by Recordati.Lercanidipine has been approved in a total of 98 countries and is currently on the market in 84 of these.Recordati sells its proprietary pharmaceuticals directly to the market in France, Germany, Greece, Ireland,Italy, Portugal, Spain and the United Kingdom and through licensees outside these countries. Recordati'spharmaceutical production is based in Italy (Milan and Campoverde, Latina) and France (Montluon). Itsplant for the production of proprietary active ingredients is situated in Cork (Ireland).The Companys subsidiaries are Recofarma Srl, Innova Pharma SpA, Recordati Portuguesa LDA andRecordati Espana SL, among others.


Dow Jones: Industry PharmaceuticalsSIC: 2834 Pharmaceutical PreparationsNAICS:325412 Pharmaceutical Preparation Manufacturing


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HISTORY

Tesco was founded by Jack Cohen in 1919, when he first sold groceries in the East end of London. Thebrand name of Tesco first appeared on packets of tea in the 1920s. The Tesco name came from the initialsof TE Stockwell, who was a partner in the firm of tea suppliers, and CO from Jack Cohen's surname.The first Tesco store was opened in 1929 in Burnt Oak, Edgeware in the UK. Following the success of self

service stores in the US, the group opened its first self service supermarket in Maldon in 1956. The businessexpanded from stores to supermarkets, and by the early 1960s, Tesco had become a familiar householdname, selling household goods and clothing. The group established its gasoline station services in 1974.Throughout the 1990s, Tesco continued its international expansion. In response to a growing EasternEuropean market, Tesco opened stores in Poland, Hungary, Slovakia and the Czech Republic. During thesame period, Tesco also ventured into Taiwan, Thailand and South Korea. The group launched its website in2000. Tesco announced in 2001 that it formed a strategic relationship with American supermarket Safeway,to take the tesco.com home shopping model to the US. In the same year, Tesco entered the Malaysianmarket. In 2002 the group purchased T&S and HIT and in 2003 the small Turkish hypermarket chain, Kipa.In the same year, the group launched Tesco home and mobile phone.Tesco and Carrefour swapped assets such as stores in the Czech Republic, Slovakia and Taiwan in 2005.Tesco acquired 21 former BP Safeway gasoline stations from William Morrison in 2005 and adapted them tothe Express convenience store format.

Tesco launched a new internet telephone service in January 2006. The group intends to start convenienceformat stores on the West Coast in 2007. The development of the business will be through organic growth,with initial planned capital expenditure of up to 250 million per year. This move would allow Tesco to buildits position in the world's largest markets and would further the company's strategy of International growth.In May 2006 Tesco was named 'Online Retailer of the Y ear', 'Grocer of the Year' and 'Britain's FavoriteSupermarket' by Grocer Gold Awards. In July 2006, Tesco bought t he Polish convenience retailer LeaderPrice which is a convenience retailer that is part of the Casino group.Tesco launched Tesco Direct, in non food retail segment for se lling non food items to its customers in

August 2006 and in September it announced its plans to open 6 new regional buying offices to increase localsourcing and make it easier for small producers to sell goods through the Tesco.Tesco was voted Consumer's Favorite Retailer at the Retail Week Awards in March 2007.


Tesco is one of the largest food retailers in the world, operating 3,263 stores. The group operates throughmultiple store formats, including Extra, Superstore, Metro, Express and hypermarkets. The group operates inthe UK, other European countries and Asia.Its stores stock roughly 40,000 food products. In addition, the group also sells nonfood items includingelectrical goods, home entertainment, clothing, health and beauty, stationery, kitchen utensils, softfurnishings and seasonal goods. The group also markets products under its own labels at three levels: value,normal and finest. The group operates over 1,988 stores in the UK, its largest geographic market. Apartfrom regular groceries, the UK stores also have gas stations. The group has become one of UK's largestindependent petrol retailers. Furthermore, the group has a joint venture with Royal Bank of Scotland toprovide personal finance (Tesco Personal Finance) in the UK.The group has operations in the rest of Europe, including the Republic of Ireland, Hungary, Poland, CzechRepublic, Slovakia, Turkey, Malaysia, China, Japan, Thailand and South Korean The group provides onlineservices through its subsidiary, Tesco.com. The group also provides broadband internet connections (Tescobroadband) and telecommunications services (Tesco Mobile and Home Phone) through a 50-50 joint venturewith O2, a mobile phone company. The group also provides its financial services through its website.


Dow Jones: Supermarkets/Grocery StoresSIC: 5411 Grocery StoresNAICS4451 Grocery Store


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