Financial Review - Bouygues

Main events since 1 January 2005On 10 January 2005, BouyguesTelecom passed the 1 million i-mode customers mark. i-modeusers now make up 25% of its contractcustomers. Bouygues Telecom introducednew products in early 2004,including the Reference Online 4hcontract and the Expression contract,offering unlimited calls to all landlinephones in France after 6.00 p.m. andat weekends.On 12 January 2005, BouyguesConstruction handed over the 75,000m 2 Home Office headquarters inthe UK. The €225m contract will beextended by a 26-year maintenanceand facilities management contractworth approximately €15m a year.On 12 January 2005, ETDE, aBouygues Construction subsidiary,won a contract to supply electricalequipment for a hospital inMartinique, which comes in additionto four similar hospital contracts concludedin 2004.Bouygues Construction was awardeda €140m contract to build twotowers of 71 and 63 floors inSingapore on 24 January 2005. TheSail@Marina Bay towers will be theworld's tenth highest, measuring 245and 215 metres respectively.On 1 February 2005, Colasannounced the completion of sixacquisitions: a quarry in Poland, acivil works contractor in Slovakia, aroads company in Alaska, a crushingand manufacturing company in LaRéunion and two road marking companies,one in France, the other in theNetherlands.On 8 February 2005, BouyguesImmobilier laid the first stone ofExaltis, the latest new office buildingin the heart of the La Défense businessdistrict.On 7 March 2005, Bouygues,Bouygues Telecom, TPS, Orange andFrance Telecom announced a jointventure to test digital televisionbroadcasting via mobile phonesusing the new DVB-H standard, anadaptation of the DTT standard formobile use. The trial will enable customersto receive digital-quality TVchannels directly on their mobilephones, regardless of the number ofusers connected at any given time inthe same area. A panel of testers chosenfrom among operators' existingcustomers will be offered a mini-selectionof channels offering the mostattractive television content (TF1 andM6 plus news, sports, music andyouth channels selected from TPS).New interactive services will also beoffered, for example allowing users towatch a programme and simultaneouslyaccess associated services viatheir mobiles. TPS, Orange andBouygues Telecom will be applying tothe CSA, the French broadcastingauthority, for a licence to broadcast fora six-month trial period starting inJune 2005.On 25 March 2005, Bouygues TravauxPublics secured a contract withFramatome ANP, an Areva andSiemens company, to build theOlkiluoto nuclear power stationin Finland. Winning the contract isimportant for Bouygues Construction,since the project to build a 1,600 MWEPR pressurised water reactor marksa first step in the revival of major constructionplans in the nuclear industry.34