Vattenfall: building strength in northern Europe

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Vattenfall: a likely super-league star

Having been expanding outside of its core Nordic market for several years now, Vattenfall wants to take its expansion strategy to the next level. With a target market share of 10% in Europe as a whole, the Swedish energy giant wants to become one of the key players in the region's emerging utility super-league and is well placed to realize its plans.

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Vattenfall/Mirant: Neue Kraft a strong partnership

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Vattenfall Europe: where next for growth?

Plans by German electricity grid owners Vattenfall, RWE [RWE.F] and EnBW [EBK.F] for price hikes of over 20% have prompted an investigation by the cartel office. Vattenfall is also currently exiting the Dutch power supply market. Taken together, these developments raise several questions over Vattenfall's current European positioning.

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Vattenfall Europe: step on the gas

Vattenfall's CEO has seemingly confirmed the company's desire to move into the German gas sector. Vattenfall's existing electricity operation in the country accounts for 60% of its consolidated annual revenues. Having established itself as the third largest player in German power, gas is the logical next step to continue strong profit growth.

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Utility switching: the weakest link

Energywatch receives over 50,000 complaints a year from consumers experiencing difficulties as a result of failures in the transfer process. This is likely to be only the tip of the iceberg, and has an impact upon acquisition costs and customer development potential.

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Utility switching: the knocked will keep on knocking

Even though energy suppliers are under fire for doorstep mis-selling it still remains an important channel for customer switching, keeping prices competitive. UK residents will have to continue to expect doorstep visits and in a minority of cases, dubious sales techniques since the alternative would be higher energy prices.

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Utility profits: what are they good for?

Several European energy utilities have posted impressive financial results for Q3 2006. The profits of utility companies in Europe are driven by their position in the value chain and the overall commodity cycle. While profits are important for future investments in utility infrastructure, they are currently usually spent on shareholder dividends and M&A activity.

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Utility products: tuning in to customers' wavelength is not so easy

The Spanish players Telefonica [TEF.MA] and Gas Natural [GAS.MA] have ventured into the multi-utility arena that proved something of a minefield for UK utilities. Energy products will succeed if they are attuned to a range of market drivers: indeed, the contrasting fortunes of flat bills and the multi-utility model demonstrates that energy retailers have not always understood these drivers.

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Utility execs believe Brussels must continue push towards market opening

While the UK has pushed ahead with the liberalization of its gas and power markets, in Europe the progress has been somewhat less than stellar. Indeed, a poll of leading utility executives suggests that the industry believes that the European Commission may have to act to prompt increased customer switching in the marketplace.

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