Outokumpu confirms massive steel deal
Helsinki, January 31 (YLE)
Finnish metals giant Outokumpu is poised to become the world's largest producer of stainless steel following a major acquisition announced on Tuesday. It is buying the German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp's stainless steel business in a deal worth 2.7 billion euros.
The Finnish company will pay a billion euros in cash for the Inoxum unit, which has annual sales of more than six billion euros and more than 11,000 employees.
The deal, to be financed by a billion-euro rights issue of new Outokumpu stock, will lead to the loss of some 850 jobs in Germany.
ThyssenKrupp, whose estimated market share of 35 to 40 percent in Europe made it the top stainless steel producer in the region, will retain a 30-percent stake in the enlarged Outokumpu.
Its share price slumped by more than 10 percent after details of the deal were announced, while ThyssenKrupp's rose.
NSN to cut up to 1200 jobs in Finland
Helsinki, January 31 (YLE)
Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN), the world's second-largest maker of mobile phone network equipment, is looking to cut up to 1,200 jobs in Finland. The move is part of a global restructuring programme, which aims to cut nearly a quarter of its workforce and to save about one billion euros a year.
The reductions will affect all NSN locations in Finland. The workforce in Espoo may be cut by around 700, in Oulu by some 150 and in Tampere by around 350. At present, Nokia Siemens Networks employs approximately 6,900 people in Finland.
Worldwide, NSN may reduce personnel by as many 17,000. In total it employs some 74,000 people.
Under a new strategy announced in November, Nokia Siemens Networks will focus on wireless broadband, customer experience management and services.
Finland seeks compromise at EU summit
Helsinki, January 31 (YLE)
EU leaders gathered in Brussels on Monday for a summit aimed at the adoption of the permanent bailout fund and reaching an agreement over the new fiscal pact. Finnish Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen set off to the summit in search of a compromise on issues that could breed discord.
The official focus of the summit were growth and job creation in the EU, but they were overshadowed by worries over Greek debt and smoothing out the details of the new fiscal pact, which would involve writing balanced budget rules into the participantsf national law. Arm-wrestling between eurozone and non-eurozone states could ensue as the latter say that, upon entering the pact, they want to have the right to participate in eurozone summits.
Finland, represented at the summit by Prime Minister Jyrki Katainen, hoped to see compromise on the thorny issues, including the one of non-eurozone membersf participation in eurozone summits.
Voters turn out at home and abroad
Helsinki, January 29 (YLE)
Advance voting in the second round of the presidential election has continued at a brisk pace. Voters were given the opportunity to start casting ballots on Wednesday. As of Saturday evening, 23% of eligible voters had visited the polls. Finns living abroad have also shown unusually high interest in voting.
Six years ago, at the same point, advance voting in the second round of the 2006 presidential election was at 19.7%.
Women have been more active than men in casting advance votes.
Traditionally, more votes are cast in advance in the second round of Finnish presidential elections.
Advance balloting continues through Tuesday. Election day is Sunday, February 5th.
Nokia Q4: Fewer smartphones sold
Helsinki, January 26 (YLE)
Fourth quarter 2011 Nokia smartphone sales declined sharply. According to results published on Thursday, smartphone sales fell 31 percent from a year earlier to 19.6 million handsets.
Nokia on Thursday reported what it called "solid" Q4 performance in mobile phones and a strong balance sheet, with net cash and other liquid assets of EUR 5.6 billion at the end of Q4 2011. The Nokia board of directors will be proposing a dividend of 0.20 euros per share for 2011.
Nokia's fourth quarter core earnings per share of 0.06 euros compared to market expectation for 0.04 euros.
Fourth quarter smartphone sales were down to 19.6 million handsets, compared to 28.6 million for the same period of 2010. Nokia said that it had sold about one million of its new Windows-based Lumia series smartphones.
Nokia unveiled a high-profile strategy shift to Microsoft software on its smartphones last February in a bid to rival Apple and Google's Android. Apple this week released record quarterly results, reporting profits of 13 billion dollars during the last three months of 2011.
Altogether, Nokia Q4 mobile phone sales totalled 113.5 handsets, a decline from the 123.7 million sold during the final quarter of last year.
Even so, results were better than expected and the Nokia share price rose by around 7 percent on the Helsinki Stock Exchange immediately after figures were released.
Outokumpu in merger talks with ThyssenKrupp
Helsinki, January 23 (YLE)
Finnish metals giant Outokumpu confirmed on Monday that it is negotiating with German conglomerate ThyssenKrupp on a possible merger of their stainless steel businesses. Outokumpu owns Europe's largest stainless steel mill, located in the northern city of Tornio.
"Following recent speculation, Outokumpu confirms preliminary discussions with ThyssenKrupp to evaluate potential strategic options, including a potential business combination of Outokumpu and Inoxum," the company said on Monday morning.
Outokumpu's share price rose 7.4 percent after ThyssenKrupp confirmed the talks.
The German newspaper Rheinische Post was first to report that ThyssenKrupp plans to merge its stainless unit Inoxum with Outokumpu, citing senior company sources at ThyssenKrupp.
ThyssenKrupp aims for a minority stake in the newly formed entity, the paper added.
ThyssenKrupp is close to selling its stainless steel arm and a deal could come as early as February, an investment banking source with direct knowledge of the process said earlier this month.
Presidential elections: Niinisto, Haavisto headed for second round
Helsinki, January 22 (YLE)
Pekka Haavisto and Sauli Niinisto will face off for the presidency on February 5th.
With 100% of the votes counted, the election has shaped up as a first-round victory for National Coalition Party candidate, former finance minister Sauli Niinisto, who will face off against internationally minded Green League candidate Pekka Haavisto in the second round on February 5th.
Results with 100% of the vote counted
Sauli Niinisto (NCP) 37.0%
Pekka Haavisto (GREEN) 18.8%
Paavo Vayrynen (CEN) 17.5%
Timo Soini (FINNS) 9.4%
Paavo Lipponen (SDP) 6.7%
Paavo Arhinmaki (LA) 5.5%
Eva Biaudet (SPP) 2.7%
Sari Essayah (CD) 2.5%
Finns Party candidate Timo Soini conceded defeat as soon as the first initial results were released at 8pm.
Soini called his own his own fourth place in advance voting "expected".
"Not good, but satisfactory," Soini said of the 9.5% of the advance vote that he gleaned.
Lipponen: "Could have gone better"
Social Democratic Party candidate Paavo Lipponen said that the election could have gone better for him. However, he noted that early results of 7.3% looked better than what the polls had forecast.
.Gasoline prices continue steady rise
Helsinki, January 18 (YLE)
The average price of 95-octane gasoline in Finland has now reached more than 1.60 euros per litre.
The steady increase is, in part, due to the strengthening of the US Dollar.
Since the end of last year?just a few weeks?gasoline and diesel prices have risen on average by six cents a litre.
A new diesel tax that went into effect at the start of 2012 brought the price difference between gasoline and diesel to around five cents.
Halonen raises property purchases with Putin
Helsinki, January 18 (YLE)
Finland's president, Tarja Halonen, is currently in Moscow winding down the last weeks of her presidency. While Halonen, her Russian counterpart, Dmitry Medvedev, and Prime Minister Vladimir Putin are on first-name terms, the trio did not evade difficult questions when they met on Tuesday.
One such issue is land deals. Russia has banned real estate sales to foreigners in most of the areas bordering Finland. There had been hopes in Finland that Russia would reciprocate Finns' relaxed attitude towards Russians buying property in the east of Finland.
Halonen hinted to Putin that real estate deals could be eased for Finns in Russia. The Russian leader asked for examples of the difficulties faced by Finns, which the Finnish leader agreed to provide. Finnish irritation at property policies for foreigners in Russia has not previously been raised at such a high level.
Finnish consumer confidence improves
Helsinki, January 16 (YLE)
Consumer confidence in the Finnish economy did not weaken in the final quarter of last year, but improved slightly, according to a poll by EPSI Rating.
The research organisation says Finnsf sunnier outlook can be attributed to less bad news from Europe at the end of the year than last summer, when Finnish consumer sentiment nosedived.
While the outlook now is slightly brighter, Finns do not expect to see much improvement in the countryfs economic situation, according to the survey.
Those with the smallest incomes, such as students and the unemployed, were the most upbeat about prospects for their own and the countryfs finances.
Across the Nordics, consumer sentiment remains weak in relation to indicators from 2010. EPSIfs survey data suggests Russia is the only country in the region experiencing a significant increase in confidence.
EPSI surveyed 5,000 Finns between October and December 2011.
Fewest annual working hours in the EU
Helsinki, January 16 (YLE)
A statistical analysis published by the French economic research institute Coe-Rexecode shows that the Finns and French work fewer hours a year than do employees in any other part of the EU. Romanians and Hungarians meanwhile work the most.
According to figures from Coe-Rexecode, a private French research institute, Finns who are employed full time in steady jobs work only 1,670 hours a year. The French spend nine more hours on the job annually. In Sweden, the figure is 1,719 hours, which is also below the EU average.
At 2,095 a year, Romanians clock the most hours, with Hungarians in second place. Germans, on average, spend 1,904 hours a year at work.
The results from Coe-Rexecode are based on basic figures for 2010 published by the European statistical centre Eurostat.
However, the original Eurostat statistics do not reflect the actual time employees spend at work, as they do not include a deduction of hours for sick leaves, parental leaves or other reasons for being away from work. Researchers at Coe-Rexecode also re-classed figures to separate statistics for full time employees from those for part-time employees and entrepreneurs.
Urpilainen wants rich to shoulder debt crisis
Helsinki, January 12 (YLE)
Finance Minister and SDP chair Jutta Urpilainen would like to increase taxes on wealthy Finns. Urpilainen says that higher taxes on the rich would make ethical and economic sense in the current difficult conditions.
Urpilainen pointed out that a more equitable income distribution would improve competitiveness and help guarantee social harmony.
"Are the other parties and candidates ready to take real action to make high-earners pay their share?" asked Urpilainen. "That is the question in these negotiations."
The government is to start discussions on the budget agreement this spring to decide where to cut spending and raise taxes.
Urpilainen echoed SDP presidential candidate Paavo Lipponen in saying that it is time the affluent in society bore more of the load, as she claimed it would now make ethical and financial sense to increase taxes on those better equipped to pay them.
She added that the current European economic difficulties are a result of debt-driven right-wing policies, and said that political values are especially important in hard times.
Nokia launches 4G Windows phone in US
Helsinki, January 10 (YLE)
Nokia unveiled its Windows-based smartphone at an annual technology-related trade show in Las Vegas on Monday. The Lumia 900 will be offered exclusively on the latest generation 4G LTE network of US telecom giant AT&T.
The move is part of the ailing Finnish mobile phone giant's continued effort to gain a stronger foothold in the US market. AT&T's mobile-phone network is the second largest in the US, making the deal a significant one for Nokia.
The two firms did not disclose the price or release date for the Lumia 900. The company plans to start its US invasion on January 11 with a Lumia 710 model that will be priced at 49 dollars when bought with T-Mobile service contracts.
Nokia launched its first two Windows-based phones in October of last year. The predecessor of the Lumia 900, the Lumia 800, is on sale in a number of European countries, but estimates of sales figures vary.
Nokia's share price climbed steadily on Helsinki's OMX exchange all Tuesday, ending the day up by nearly five percent.
Finance Minister Urpilainen supports financial transaction tax
Helsinki, January 9 (YLE)
Finland's Finance Minister Jutta Urpilainen hopes a tax aimed at curbing currency speculation will be adopted widely across the EU. She added Finland was one of the keenest promoters of such a financial transaction tax within the union.
"I hope the tax would be effective over the widest possible geographical area with the participation of several European countries. We need to agree on a tax model that other nations can accept. As a result France would not need to go forward solo on the issue," Urpilainen said.
Last Friday, French President Nicolas Sarkozy warned France will go it alone if it cannot convince its European partners to quickly impose a new tax on financial transactions. He believes in the financial transaction tax along the lines of the so called "Tobin tax" intended to penalize speculators from short-term financial round-trips into other currencies
In Urpilainenfs view, a jointly agreed tax was the best solution.
Several EU nations support the tax aimed at curbing currency speculation but appear divided on how to approach the issue. Britain's Prime Minister David Cameron declared his opposition to such a tax on Sunday.
The idea of such a tax was first mooted by Nobel Laureate economist James Tobin. It has been dubbed by some as "a Robin Hood Tax".
NY Times: Helsinki 2nd most interesting destination in the world
Helsinki, January 7 (YLE)
The New York Times has listed Helsinki as the second most interesting destination in the world in 2012. The prestigious newspaper especially highlights Helsinki's year as World Design Capital.
In addition to Helsinki's rich design offerings, the newspaper also singles out some of the city's outstanding restaurants and the new Helsinki Music Centre.
Every year The New York Times publishes an article on the "45 Places to Go" in the world. Topping this year's list is Panama, while Myanmar comes in third after Helsinki.
Bank of Finland sees 0.4 pct growth next year
Helsinki, December 15 (STT)
The Bank of Finland said in a forecast Thursday it saw the country's gross domestic product growing by 0.4 per cent next year after three other banks predicted earlier this week that the country would dip into recession.
The central bank expects the economy to grow by 1.8 per cent in 2013.
"The Bank of Finland forecast is based on the assumption that the euro area debt crisis will not get any worse, and the slowdown in growth in both the euro area and the global economy will be relatively short-lived," the bank said in a statement.
Erkki Liikanen, the governor of the bank, said in a statement: "The deteriorating economic outlook puts Finland's public finances in a different light."
"To bring the public finances onto a sustainable footing will require substantial measures in addition to the decisions already announced by the government."
Finnair strikes pay deal with pilots
Helsinki, December 14 (STT)
Finnair and its pilots struck a two-year pay and conditions deal late on Tuesday, ending an overtime ban.
The old pay and conditions agreement had expired last month.
The Finnish government holds a majority stake in the flag carrier.
Finnish November inflation steady at 3.4 pct
Helsinki, December 14 (STT)
Finnish consumer prices rose by 3.4 per cent year-on-year in November, compared with October's inflation rate of 3.5 per cent, Statistics Finland said in a statement Wednesday.
According to preliminary data on the harmonised consumer prices index, which excludes things like owner occupancy and interest, inflation was 3.2 per cent in Finland and 3.0 per cent in the eurozone as a whole in November.
Lappset and Rovio launch Angry Birds playgrounds
Helsinki, December 12 (STT)
Finnish playground equipment maker Lappset said in a statement Monday it and software maker Rovio had signed a collaboration agreement.
Lappset is to make equipment and turnkey playgrounds based on characters from Rovio's hit video game Angry Birds.
The company did not disclose the value of the deal.
The first Angry Birds playgrounds are to be built in Finland next year.
All eurozone members must take part in bailout fund -Finnish PM
Helsinki, December 12 (STT)
Jyrki Katainen (cons), Finnish prime minister, told the Finnish Broadcasting Company (YLE) on Sunday that every eurozone member must participate in the currency bloc's permanent bailout fund.
Last week, the Finnish Parliament's grand committee ruled that doing away with unanimity and replacing it with so-called qualified majority voting in the bailout fund clashed with the country's constitution.
The rest of the eurozone agreed during a summit on Friday that decisions on using the fund would be subject to an 85-per cent majority.
Katainen said he was committed to the parliamentary committee's interpretation of the constitution but added that the issue should be thought through in a very calm manner.
"There are two sides to it," he said.
"The first one is whether others can decide for us. But we could also find ourselves on the other side of that fence, that is, defending the euro and Finland's economic interests, with some other country standing in the way. That is not a good state of affairs either."
Nokia to sell luxury handset arm Vertu -FT
Helsinki, December 8 (STT)
Struggling Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia is to sell its luxury handset arm Vertu, the Financial Times reported Thursday.
The FT added that Nokia had tasked Goldman Sachs with overseeing the sale of the unit with annual sales of up to 300 million euros.
Retail prices of the British-made Vertu handsets start from 3500 pounds and range up to more than 200,000 pounds.
Nokia Siemens to sell Wimax to NewNet
Helsinki, November 30 (STT)
Finnish-German joint venture Nokia Siemens Networks (NSN) said Tuesday it expected to sell its Wimax business to US firm NewNet by the end of the year.
The value of the transaction, which affects about 300 workers, was not disclosed.
NSN announced last week it would cut some 17,000 jobs.
Raikkonen to return to F1
Helsinki, November 29 (STT)
Kimi Raikkonen is to return to Formula One racing next season behind the wheel of a Lotus Renault car, the team said in a statement Tuesday.
The Finn left Formula One in 2009 to pursue a career in rallying after winning the F1 drivers' championship in 2007.
Lotus Renault said Raikkonen had signed a two-year deal.
Raikkonen said in the statement that he could not deny that his hunger to return to F1 racing had become overwhelming of late.
Finnish consumer and business confidence remains weak
Helsinki, November 28 (STT)
Statistics Finland said in a statement Monday that its consumer confidence indicator had scored +1.5 points in November versus +1.3 points the month before and +20.8 points in the year-ago period.
The long-term average of the indicator is +13.1. points.
The Confederation of Industries said in a separate statement that its business confidence indicator had fallen to -10 points in November from a revised October figure of -7 points.
Finnish PM says eurobonds are no solution to debt crisis
Helsinki, November 23 (STT)
Jyrki Katainen (cons), the Finnish prime minister, said eurobonds were not a solution to the eurozone debt crisis.
Speaking after the European commission unveiled its eurobond plans, Katainen said the bonds came with a lot of problems.
Katainen repeated that each member state was responsible for its own public finances and debt.
He also said that eurozone countries must comply with the existing EU stability and growth pact rules before joint bond issuance could be considered.
In addition to the eurobonds, the commission also proposed that it should be handed powers to vet member states' draft budgets.
Nokia reports "excellent start" of Windows handset sales in UK
Helsinki, November 23 (STT)
Nokia said in a statement Wednesday that sales of the Lumia 800, the company's first Windows-based handset, were off to an "excellent start" in the UK.
"Based on earliest data the sales start of the Lumia 800 is the best ever first week of Nokia smartphone sales in the UK in recent history," Nokia added.
By contrast, analysts have reported lacklustre sales.
Nokia began shipping Windows handsets in western Europe earlier this month.
Nokia raises Finnish job cuts to 1,700
Helsinki, November 18 (STT)
Finnish mobile phone maker Nokia concluded statutory cooperation procedure talks in Finland on Thursday, with the number of job cuts going up to about 1,700 from 1,400, a preliminary figure the company had announced in April.
Nokia said the cuts would be carried out in stages by the end of next year.
Finland's Stubb says EU has too many cooks
Helsinki, November 17 (STT)
Alexander Stubb (cons), Finland's Europe minister, said Thursday that the EU offices of commission chief, president of the European council and eurozone head should be combined in order to muffle a "cacophony" of voices amid the eurozone debt crisis.
Speaking in Bruges in Belgium, Stubb said the sheer number of leaders was hampering efforts to combat the sovereign debt crisis.
Stubb added that there were too many cooks in the EU kitchen.
Stubb went on to say that he was in favour of handing extra powers to the European commission's economic affairs commissioner, an office currently held by Olli Rehn, a Finn.
He also said he was opposed to creating so-called eurobonds on the grounds that they would create an incentive for poor fiscal policies.
Finland's Stubb confident about Monti's Italy
Helsinki, November 16 (STT)
Alexander Stubb (cons), Finland's European affairs and foreign trade minister, said Tuesday that he had every confidence that Mario Monti, Italy's new prime minister, was capable of pulling Italy out of its debt crisis.
Stubb underlined that Italy could not be compared to Greece.
Speaking in Brussels, Stubb added that Italy had the will to carry out reforms when it had no choice.
Finnish analysts see recession
Helsinki, November 11 (STT)
Economists and thinktanks told the Finnish News Agency (STT) on Friday that the eurozone sovereign debt crisis was increasingly likely to tip Finland into recession.
The Pellervo Economic Research (PTT) has the gloomiest forecast. The thinktank expects the country's economy to contract by 1.5 per cent next year.
"The eurozone crisis has been tackled for one and a half years now," said Pasi Holm, the head of PTT.
"There is genuine concern in the background that economic growth will wane."
Holm added that he did not see the crisis ending any time soon.
"The crisis will soon get a lot worse."
Standard & Poor's keeps Finland's top ratings
Helsinki, November 10 (STT)
Credit ratings company Standard & Poorfs on Wednesday kept Finland's ratings at the top treble-A and A-1+ levels.
AAA is S&P's highest long-term credit rating while A-1+ is the top short-term rating.
The company hailed the Nordic country's solid public finances but warned that aging and unemployment continued to exert long-term fiscal pressures.
Eurozone's debt-ridden countries are top culprits -Finnish PM
Helsinki, November 8 (STT)
Jyrki Katainen (cons), the Finnish prime minister, said in Parliament Tuesday that the biggest culprits in the eurozone debt crisis were the debt-ridden countries themselves.
Katainen added that market confidence in the single currency bloc had shielded weak countries from the first wave of the crisis, allowing them to continue to borrow at artificially low rates.
"They racked up massive amounts of debt by raising income transfers and benefits on borrowed money while failing to tend to economic fundamentals," Katainen said.
Katainen continued to reject Greek debt restructuring.
Finnish PM Katainen voices hope over Italy
Helsinki, November 7 (STT)
Jyrki Katainen (cons), the Finnish prime minister, said Monday that Italy could avert becoming the next victim of the eurozone sovereign debt crisis if it delivered on its promise to address its deficit.
"I have seen the [spending cut] programme and it is good," Katainen said.
"Now it is simply a question of implementation. That is why the monitoring by the International Monetary Fund is extremely important."
Katainen added that Italian and Spanish government bond yiels had fallen in August once the two countries' governments took further action.
Italy's borrowing costs rose sharply on Monday.
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